Best ever. No fooling. Don't miss Mickey and Billy dueling each other at the frenzied end jam before heading into SSDD. Whole version insane!

Crazy hard driving insanisty to end the first set. One of those jam segments that builds and builds and KABOOMS into final verse. Phil fans: a must

Sweet & melty....gorgeous harmonies from Brent.

1977 was a helluva year for this song. I have no quarrel w/ 5/5, 5/19, or 5/21, but I think this one beats 'em all by a nose!

With all due rfespect to Barton Hall & others, this is the best version out there (IMO). Bluesy, rockin', jammin', just exactly perfect

Dang, this is special! I don't know about the rest of y'all, but sometimes I think we've exhausted every possible primo version of a song on this site...that we're all just rummaging through the dregs because all the good stuff has been plucked...and then I come across a recommendation like this one and realize that it's worth exploring those versions that maybe only have a single or 2 votes and are so far down on the list they get ignored. It'd be a shame to let this one go by.

Yep. I gotta bump this as a great example of a true "early bird" that soars to some impressive heights. It really is all about the middle jam section and this will give you glimpses of great birds to come in '72 and '73 while also standing very much on its own as a mind-bending vehicle for Garcia Grateness. It would be a shame to pass this up and it deserves more attention than it's gotten so far.

This would have to be my #1 wish for a better available SBD/copy of a show. The AUD choices range from crappy to pretty decent/OK but this Dark Star and all its weaving, wandering segue partners (all equally jaw dropping) is so good it screams for a crystal clear board to hear just how insanely good it really is. There are moments in this Dark Star where you can hear Jerry achieve that "ringing" sound to his guitar that's a level above where you thought it could possibly go--it's not a "loudness" thing, it's an ethereal, other-worldly quality that literally rings throughout the venue (and one good thing about the AUDs is you can hear the audience respond in uncontrollable ecstasy), and there's layer upon layer of this playing throughout, It's all jam, and very little junk (I tolerate the Mickey gong section b/c it's short enough and doesn't detract from the overall flow like so much of the feedback over-indulgence of just about every '72-'74 version that mars the otherwise gorgeous jazzy quality of the song), but it would be nitpicking to worry about this brief foray into goofy "space"junk loudness here. This is an extraordinary Dark Star and this entire musical suite of segues in and out of it defines what the Dead did best and what no one else could do at all.

Should add that this version is packed with the kind of energy and execution most others fail to live up to. It's a tour de force. Wish there was a better sounding copy available.

In no way was this song past its prime by 1977...point in fact being that the best two versions which exist came YEARS after this one or any version from 1977 (which is my favorite year of Dead). #2 all time being 7/22/84 and the reigning champ beating all comers in 1990 with 3/24/90 at the Knick. This version IS very good but doesn't even compare with those other two.