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Concert Mon Jan 30 2012
Dark Star Orchestra Channels the Dead for Two Chicago Shows
Say what you will about the Grateful Dead but few if any bands in the history of rock have engendered their level of fanatical devotion. Need proof? Look no further than the fact that Dead cover band extraordinaire Dark Star Orchestra has the truck to play two shows in Chicago in the next week, this despite the fact that kids born after legendary lead-man Jerry Garcia died are in high school and working on getting their driver's licenses.
Dark Star Orchestra, or simply DSO to those in the know, have made their bones by shadowing the fountainhead band through a slavish, completest knowledge of the original band's catalog, and shows which attempt to recreate particular historic shows song by song. Don't be fooled into thinking that they are strictly a nostalgia band, however. Any given DSO show looks remarkably similar to any late '80s or early '90s Dead show, with a mix of aging baby boomers and their teenage children who missed the circus the first time around. The band is comprised of virtuoso musicians who share with their fan base a wide-eyed love of the source material, and play to the level of that devotion.
DSO wheels into town for two shows, a marquee gig at the Vic Theater on Saturday, February 4 and, for those of you wishing you could have seen the Dead at the Matrix in 1966, a club gig at Martyrs on Monday, February 6.
scarlet.fire / January 31, 2012 8:17 AM
They do not play note for note shows. They use the setlists to build a unique, improvised show. Do your homework.