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alvarhanso, very interesting you spoke highly of the DaP 19 Dark Star. I've never considered this one of the stronger ones, but I'm going to give it a re-listen right now, sans The Other One. I have a little bit of a mental block on 1970 dark stars. They seem to either be in a class of their own or sound exactly the same to me. I'm not saying that as a fact just an impression. You also spoke of the Rockin the Rhein bonus disc Dark Star. This one's in my top 10. I read about someone on the Steve Forum site not liking this one and could do nothing but a Scooby-Doo "whaaaat??" I hunted that bonus this down for years on eBay and then ended up putting on two of them in the same week thinking I wasn't going to win both auctions, but I did. Ended up trading the second one for the closing of winterland bonus disc and one other, I forget which. The February 2nd 1970 Dark Star is also one of my favorites, if not top 10 definitely top 15. This first 10 fill up very quickly. Jimbo thanks for the reminder on the 1019 Dark Star. I've been meaning to merge the Mind left body track that follows it with the actual Dark Star for some time now, but I always forget. I'm going to take care of that this morning. I figure, it do it on a few other dark stars, you know, include mind left body is part of the Dark Star. The real motivation is having the two pieces of music run contiguously on shuffle play. I'd like to start merging all of my China Riders as well. I'm on the fence about some of the other big ones. I merged all the dark stars with there medley tracks on Europe 72. I just keep them at the end of the tracklist in my digital music folder for each record. Definitely retirement activity, if that day ever comes.

I don't have a favorite Dark Star. To complicate things.. I find my mood and willingness to invest in what is often at least a half hour song impacts what I think of it. This sucks a bit.. but without a little mood enhancing help, that's just the way it is. Plus, I'm pretty busy as are likely most of you. So I have learned not to judge or invest myself into the outcome... just let it be and when I am rewarded I try to simply enjoy the moment. This approach seems to work just fine. The last one I listened to? Happens to be 10/19/73. It's currently my favorite but tomorrow never knows. Imagine that.

I love Dave's 6 2/2/70 and 12/21/69, featuring two magnificent Dark Stars, each very different. Veneta 8/27/72 is just amazing, a 30 minute one that breezes by on a lysergic wave of energy before winding up in El Paso sung by a freaked out Weir. One that it reminds me of in an odd way is 11/11/73 Winterland, this one covers a lot of ground from a fantastic jazz excursion to some nice melodic weirdness towards the end of the nearly 36 minutes into a Mind Left Body Jam in double time. Dave's 13 also at Winterland 2/24/74 is another fantastic venture into the realm of Dark Star. My last listen to Dave's 19 1/23/70, I really enjoyed that one, too, but it did come out of That's It For the Other One, which adds extra oomph from the jump. And a show we probably all want to come out 2/18/71 with the infamous Dark Star> Wharf Rat (debut)> Beautiful Jam> Dark Star. One Normanized Star I want to hear is 3/24/72 from Rockin' the Rhein bonus disc. One Dark Star I avoid is Dave's 9 5/14/74, that one gets a little too dissonant for my tastes and does it for so long. Every time I try it again thinking I'll get over it I don't. But there's many other awesome Stars to focus on. For latter day versions, 3/29/90 of course and 4/1/91 Greensboro.

Actually it's 12/12/73 and thank you - never heard that show. Crazy-fun soundcheck setlist, a late 2nd set China>Rider that smokes! And a happy birthday Dicky Betts (maybe he hung backstage but didn't play? I checked the 12/12/ date and it was not an ABB double-bill - or maybe they were just going for an easy cheer from the Atlanta audience). And yes some nice Keith in there! Thanks (to you AND Charlie Miller!).

Thanks McGrupp for posting the link. As the article states, Rhino paid a lot of money for an exclusive 10-yr "licensing deal". The GD did not "sell the vault". Buying is different than leasing. Pretty nifty payday - the Dead got $30 mil and no longer has to hire staff, maintain a vault, and deal with the overhead, headaches, inventory, monthly business meetings... yet they retain "creative control". Smart. As for the DaP27 sound Q, Sounds a lot like the 10/15/83 Dick's Picks. Not horrible, but not great either - one of the better '80's recordings, which is kind of a backhanded compliment. Vocals are a little high in the mix since the guitars in the room also had amplifiers and didn't need to be as prominent out the PA. And yes the drums are as virile as a wet brown paper bag. However I'm relieved the drums don't seem to have quite as much kick-drum "Wap wap... wap wap...." as some of the '84/'85 recordings. But I'm glad that we get some '80s representation in the DaP series. Also, I don't mind aud patches. It suddenly transports you to a seat in the arena.

....they can fit in any musical category if you look at them right. Like the Boxilla '68 Greek one, which just cued up. Or the Miami '89 mindfuck thats on deck. Worth the ticket price alone. Everything else is icing.

It's been a while since I gave that one a spin, will have to change that. ..I've never met a Dark Star I didn't like.

BRAND NEW/SEALED/BONUS LISTED ON AMAZON @ WARNERMARKET............DAVE'S PICKS: VOLUME 22 SEALED w/Bonus...$29.95! HIT IT!

Like JiminMD says, the best Dark Star is whichever one happens to be the most recent one I listened to. I like this from 2/2/70 on Dave's Picks 6 a lot but its too short so I put it on again. I don't remember this ever getting much hoopla before. Is it really that great or am I just in a happy mood? When Dave's 27 arrives I feel like I want to start with disc 2.

Speaking of Dave's 17, Im surprised it doesn't get much love, just like vol.15, i think its a awesome show.