Dark Star Orchestra - University of Florida Performing Arts

University of Florida Performing Arts
presents
Dark Star Orchestra
Winter Tour 2013
Continuing the Grateful Dead Concert
Experience
Friday, February 22, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Phillips Center
Premise
Dark Star Orchestra’s (DSO) shows are built off the extensive catalog of the
Grateful Dead. On any given night the band will perform a show based on a set
list from the Grateful Dead’s 30 years of extensive touring or use the catalog of
original songs and often-played covers to create a unique set list for the show.
This allows music fans both young and old to share in the experience. Dark Star
Orchestra presents its critically acclaimed live show at esteemed venues from
coast to coast and internationally. Grateful Dead classics are performed in the
same way an orchestra interprets music of classical composers. The composer
spirit is derived and channeled as the players capture the excitement and
innovation of the original performances and compositions. Touring nationwide
for 11 years to the tune of more than 1,700 shows since forming, the band’s
determined commitment to “raising the Dead” has drawn national media
attention.
“Fanatical attention to detail.”
— Rolling Stone
“Dark Star Orchestra takes its act to a level of detail that befits a rock band
famous for its fanatical following.”
— Associated Press
“The hottest Grateful Dead tribute act. A cover band for people who don’t
like cover bands.”
— The Washington Post
Critics aren’t the only ones singing Dark Star Orchestra’s praises. Five original
members of the Grateful Dead have played alongside DSO and have this to say:
“Playing with Dark Star Orchestra is something that feels just exactly like it
felt when I was playing with the Grateful Dead.”
— Donna Jean Godchaux-McKay
Grateful Dead vocalist and frequent DSO guest
Precision is king with DSO; the band adapts their stage positioning, vocal
arrangements, specific musical equipment and instruments to fit the era of the
show they are performing. Following each performance the band announces the
date and venue of the original performance. Dark Star Orchestra could dip into
any incarnation of the dead at any of their shows, allowing fans to experience
shows that happened long before they were born.
History
It’s really about the sound that’s created. It’s about a sense of familiarity. It’s about
a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It’s about a contagious energy: it’s
about the experience.
Dark Star Orchestra has been delivering this experience to old and new Grateful
Dead fans since 1997, after guitarist John Kadlecik contacted keyboardist Scott
Larned with a concept — performing complete Grateful Dead shows from out of
the band’s long touring history. When Larrned mentioned having the same idea,
Kadlecik knew they were on to something.
The newly formed Dark Star Orchestra secured four Tuesday night gigs at Martyrs’
in Chicago. The first night, November 11, 1997, saw only 78 people, but by the
fourth week they had sold out the room. One year later, on the eve of their first
anniversary, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish joined the band at Martyrs’
after their own show in Chicago. Fishman sat in for the majority of the evening,
which included a rollicking drum section with four percussionists!
The ensuing buzz caused national interest in the band. That winter, their Colorado
tour sold out almost every performance, their MP3 website was getting millions of hits
and everyone wanted to know how they got their sound so precise. The Washington
Post declared them “the hottest Grateful Dead tribute act going” and USA Today
raved that DSO was “channeling the Dead.” Dark Star Orchestra had arrived.
Committed to their original mission of recreating the Grateful Dead’s live
experience, Dark Star Orchestra has performed as many as 250 dates in a single
year. They continue to grow their fanbase, playing at larger venues for two and
even three-night stands. Fans haven’t been the only people joining in, as the band
has featured guest performances from original Grateful Dead members Bob Weir,
Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten
and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy.
Tragically, during the band’s 2005 spring tour, band co-founder Scott Larned died
of a heart attack. The band reeled from the loss but continued on — featuring
the talents of a series of guest keyboardists and vocalists until Rob Barraco
permanently joined the band in the summer of 2007.
A much happier parting came in 2009, when Kadlecik was asked to join original
Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, in their new band, Furthur.
As DSO’s newest member, Jeff Mattson (of Phil Lesh & Friends, Donna Jean
Godchaux Band and the Zen Tricksters) brings Garcia’s fluid guitar work to life
with uncanny verisimilitude.
The core of Dark Star Orchestra remains strong and as the members’ musicianship
refines, their recreations ring ever truer to the Grateful Dead’s sound and style.
Playing a full Hammond B3 and on vocals, Barraco channels to the sound of three
of the Grateful Dead’s keyboardists. When the show is from the ’70s, vocalist Lisa
Mackey provides the female harmonies, performing the Godchaux parts in perfect
key. Dino English combines his training in percussion and jazz and his experience
in Dead-oriented groups to deliver the rhythmic drumming sounds of Kreutzmann.
On the other drum set, Rob Koritz, a classical and jazz influenced musician gets
into the soul and spirit of the music while filling the Mickey Hart role. Like Phil Lesh,
Kevin Rosen provides a very distinctive and fluid style of bass playing in addition
to his devotion to the music of the Dead. On rhythm guitar and vocals, Rob Eaton
provides an extension of the incredible feeling, instrumentation and tone created
by Dead co-founder Bob Weir.
More than 12 years since the band first performed together, Dark Star Orchestra
has gone on to perform more than 1,800 shows worldwide. They do not simply
pay tribute to the Grateful Dead, but a testament to the enormous catalogue
of shows the band performed in addition to original set lists created to give the
listener a wholly unique experience. “For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the
magic that was created for us over the years,” Eaton explains. “We offer a sort of a
historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978
or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they’ve been to a hundred shows in
the ’90s, we offer something they never got to see live.”
Biography
Dark Star Orchestra’s shows are built off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the
talent of these seven fine musicians. By recreating set lists from the past, and by
developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually
evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the
fans, Dark Star Orchestra’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each
era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.
Dark Star Orchestra offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they
truly encapsulate the energy and the experience. It’s about a sense of familiarity.
It’s about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It’s about contagious
energy ... in short, it’s about the complete experience and consistent quality show
the fan receives when attending a Dark Star Orchestra show.
Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the United States and Europe, and
at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, All Good Festival, Gathering of the
Vibes, Mountain Jam, Summer Camp, Wakarusa and 10,000 Lakes. In addition,
Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual gathering, Dark Star Jubilee, where they
headline three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up and coming
national touring acts.
Aside from original Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann,
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and longtime
Dead soundman, Dan Healy, other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and
Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan,
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many more.
“…I can close my eyes and go back 30 years and have it be every bit as
rewarding and satisfying. Dark Star is an amazingly legitimate
representation of the Dead.”
— Dan Healy
Grateful Dead sound engineer 1966-1994
“Channeling the Dead”
— USA Today
“The Dark Star Orchestra re-creates Grateful Dead shows with a flashbackinducing meticulousness.”
— The New Yorker
“In fact, Dark Star Orchestra often sounds more like the Dead than the
Dead sometimes did...”
— Chicago Tribune