Dark Star Orchestra Breathes New Life into the Music of the Grateful Dead

For those who experienced and enjoyed the live music of the Grateful Dead during the group's 30-year run, the Dark Star Orchestra might prompt the question - can a collection of younger musicians recreate the unique chemistry of one of the most inventive bands to come out of the psychedelic '60s?!

While the answer is probably no, DSO comes pretty darn close to conjuring the same kind of musical magic that kept ever-expanding legions of fans coming to Grateful Dead shows year after year right up to the band's last performance in 1995.

It might be difficult for some to accept that the oeuvre of their favorite group has been co-opted by the likes of what is in effect a Dead-mania outfit, yet the musicianship demonstrated by DSO is (pardon the pun) dead-on, which makes it easy to like them. It's not unusual to hear fans say "Wow, if I close my eyes I'm at a Dead show."

The band does not show its emotions a la the original. There's no demon-driven Jerry Garcia to bare his soul via song, no wild-eyed Brent Mydland to yowl at the assembled; yet 45-year-old Rob Eaton does a better than fair impression of the slinky crooning and shambling stage manner of Bob Weir and Lisa Mackey, a talented spinner (dancer), often surpasses the sometime sketchy stage vocals of Donna Jean Godchaux. In fact, the entire ensemble coalesces well in the familiar Dead gestalt style.

On balance, DSO is probably tighter than the Dead were, for better or worse. Part of the fun of the original band was the seat-of-the-pants improvisation and penchant for exploration that came to define it. If anything, Dark Star Orchestra is a bit too scripted - the tribute group recreates past Dead shows and then announces what show it just played at the end of the evening (for those in the audience who hadn't already guessed).

But all of this aside, DSO is plenty capable of breathing the Dead's music back to life. And judging from the reaction of its growing audience, the band does this very well.