A forty-eight-minute-long jam has been cited as a favourite of Deadheads across the globe.
Grateful Dead‘s live version of Dark Star received heaps of praise from listeners, who were convinced this bootleg recording is the very best version of the song. The 11/5/72 show features what many believe to be the best version of their Dark Star song, which features on the officially released Live/Dead album. That’s nothing compared to this staggering, lengthy rip of the song featured on Dick Didn’t Pick Vol. 4, though, as many fans believe the Rotterdam Civic Hall performance is an all-time great. An upload of the song to YouTube left listeners praising the tour, the song, and The Dead for what is an all-time great moment on stage.
One user wrote: “The Dark Star‘s from the Europe ’72 tour are my favourites. My favourite sound of the band, in terms of instrument tones, my favourite playing. Great improvisation, and Billy Kreutzmann is killing it on the drums. THIS is the stuff!” Another agreed, adding: “Some parts are so relaxing you could just drift off to sleep if you are listening with your eyes closed, while at the same time it can sound like a nightmare.
“Beautifully dissonant, and certainly explorative with the Tiger Jam and Feedback sections. Pigpen comes in at all the right spots. This is the longest Dark Star I’ve heard. Wow.” A third listener has since claimed this is the “longest” Dark Star Grateful Dead ever played.
Deadheads are frequently returning to the Dark Star version from Rotterdam Civic Hall, with one user suggesting it’s worth listening to every few years. They wrote: “Going down a Dark Star wormhole is a wonderful excursion to take a few times a year… headphones late at night, optimal listening conditions.”
Another agreed, adding: “The smoothness of the flow in the early Dark Star’s, especially the early ’70s, is unmatched in later years. In some regards, the later ones seem almost contrived, whereas these seem almost a natural flow of musical talent combined.
“It seems that everyone in the band here is totally connected, not rushing any part through, not trying to dominate. Just wonderful. Of course, saying that, there are exceptions to the rule. Miami 26/10/89 was a phenomenal one, but for the most part, this is the heart of it.”
Other listeners were left wondering if this was the longest Dark Star the band had ever performed. One asked: “Is this the longest Dark Star they ever did? It must be, it has to be!” The Dead would segue from Dark Star through to Truckin’ in a thirty-song show. A setlist for the 11/5/72 date from The Dead can be found below, as well as Dark Star from said show.
- Playing in the Band
- Sugaree
- Mr. Charlie
- Black-Throated Wind
- Deal
- Chinatown Shuffle
- Mexicali Blues
- China Cat Sunflower
- I Know You Rider (traditional cover)
- It Hurts Me Too (Tampa Red cover)
- Beat It on Down the Line (Jesse Fuller cover)
- Brown-Eyed Woman
- Jack Straw
- Big Railroad Blues (Cannon’s Jug Stompers cover)
- Good Lovin’ (The Olympics cover)
- Casey Jones
- Morning Dew (Bonnie Dobson cover)
- Me and My Uncle (John Phillips cover)
- The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)
- El Paso (Marty Robbins cover)
- Tennessee Jed
- Next Time You See Me (Junior Parker cover)
- Dark Star
- Drums (with Dark Star reprise)
- Sugar Magnolia
- Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)
- Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley cover)
- Truckin’
- Uncle John’s Band
- One More Saturday Night
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