Dark Star Orchestra convened their annual Dark Star Jubilee festival on the venerated grounds of Thornville, Ohio’s Legend Valley for a Memorial Day weekend full of friends, family, and fun in the spirit of their inspiration, the Grateful Dead. Luckily for DSO, they had plenty of help on the way to their goal, from bands and artists like Greensky Bluegrass, Melvin Seals, and Keller Williams, plus the tireless stage crews and organizers, and the fans themselves.
It was especially fitting that the gathering took place in an area of the country—Ohio and more specifically, the aptly named Legend Valley—that the Grateful Dead fully embraced during their long, strange trip. With close to 80 appearances in the Buckeye State over the course of their existence, the Dead obviously favored the region and always delivered their best. Similarly, Dark Star Orchestra and their curated lineup of Dead-inspired bands and projects gave their all over the course of the weekend. Here’s a breakdown of each day’s supporting acts as well as an overall look at the seemingly mirror-perfect replications provided by the DSO:
Friday
The Jennifer Hartswick Band:
The always-soulful songstress Jennifer Hartswick brought her ever-impressive, towering vocal range, her trusty trumpet, and two thirds of the funk- and soul-drenched trio The Nth Power. Guitarist Nick Cassarino and bassist Nate Edgar were joined on the skins by drummer Conor Elmes to fill in for the only missing Power member, Nikkie Glaspie.
Keller Williams Grateful Gospel:
Keller Williams, the jam scene’s royal jester, brought his Grateful Dead Sunday tent revival project for a reverential and revved-up set of funky soul. Backed by members of his More Than A Little funk/R&B project and founding Dark Star Orchestra and Furthur guitarist John Kadlecik, Keller’s own six string efforts made for a mighty fine mixture. There’s no way of knowing how many souls the band managed to save, but the percentage of joyous fans in the audience was easy enough to calculate with a clear and clean 100% for all within earshot.
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Saturday
Doom Flamingo:
Rising stars Doom Flaming brought their soulful synthwave vibe to the Jamboree for a much-welcomed blast of fresh energy. Their danceable brand of jammy electro-rock was a welcome detour from the Dead-flavored content that permeated the rest of the lineup, with lead singer Kanika Moore commanding the fans’ attention as if she was born for the role. Though their time was brief, they surely earned every cheer they received and then some.
Doom Flamingo – Dark Star Jubilee – 5/25/24
Melvin Seals and JGB:
From his years as Jerry Garcia‘s sideman through his current role as the heart and soul of the JGB, keyboardist Melvin Seals does everything with a heaping helping of love. With Kadlecik on guitar and sharing vocal duties, this iteration of the JGB are masters of splitting the difference between true fidelity to the source material and putting their own stamp each performance. Especially entertaining was the verve of Seals’ organ talents mixed with Kadelecik’s faithful take of Garcia’s guitar tone and vocal homage. Whether in the form of slow simmering grooves or fast boiling sonic stews, the flavor was both eerily familiar and something all their own. As intros for the headlining Dark Star Orchestra go, Seals and his collaborators gave attendees the easiest transition to fest hosts DSO out of any other act on the bill.
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Sunday
Sam Grisman Project:
Son of Jerry Garcia’s Old & In The Way bandmate David Grisman, bassist Samson “Sam” Grisman and his bandmates Ric Robertson, Aaron Lipp, and Chris J. English brought a potent combo of nature and nurture, legacy and talent, though they weren’t alone for long. Greensky Bluegrass pillars Paul Hoffman and Anders Beck came out and reinforced the band for a solid chunk of the set before slipping back in the wings to watch as their friends wowed the crowd.
Sam Grisman Project – Dark Star Jubilee – 5/26/24
Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country:
The near-meteoric trajectory of Daniel Donato and his Cosmic Country outfit is one of the most exciting in recent jam history. Though encroaching inclement weather started to soak the enthusiastic crowd, Donato and his band had enough shelter to rain down their own musical mayhem on the crowd, which was all too happy to dance their cares away to the soaring and speedy fretwork of Donato and Co. These Nashville titans have shown themselves to be a powerful force unified by a unique musical vision. If you haven’t been following their cosmic rise already, you’re not too late to watch their bright future materialize.
Greensky Bluegrass:
While regional band-done-good Greensky Bluegrass collectively clearly enjoy Legend Valley, it seems like the aforementioned Hoffman is perhaps the reigning champ when it comes to revering the venue. Hoffman shared the emotional tale of graduating high school and rolling into the venue the very next day to watch the elder Grisman wail away on his mandolin, inspiring Hoffman to purchase his own strung-up box and launch what would become his life and livelihood. That tale inspired Beck to urge the young men who now stood in that same spot, 24 years later, to run out as soon as possible and purchase themselves a mandolin in hopes that lightning strikes twice.
Hoffman and Beck, alongside brothers-in-bluegrass Michael Bont, Dave Bruzza, and Michael Devol are in mid-tour form, and their relaxed proficiency and road-sharpened skills were on full display. Friend and frequent collaborator Holly Bowling helped out not only on songs from their recent collaborative effort, The Iceland Sessions, but on a bevy of Greensky classics as well. Adding to the more-the-merrier, barn-storming feel of the set, Sam Grisman Project fiddler Ric Robertson and Daniel Donato both popped out for memorable sit-ins. After opening with the Grateful Dead tune “Feel Like A Stranger” and closing the set with an always-welcome “Don’t Lie”, GSBG cleared the stage for the last epic stand of the three-night headliners Dark Star Orchestra.
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Dark Star Orchestra:
Though they are not the only ones who have made a career recreating the music of the Grateful Dead, there is no band who can match the effort and exactitude that Dark Star Orchestra delivers at every performance. With their uncanny ability to evoke the feel of the originals, the current lineup of Lisa Mackey, Skip Vangelas, Rob Koritz, Dino English, Rob Eaton, Rob Barraco, and Jeff Mattson might seem like they’re just playing in a band to some, but to those in the know, they are the true and stalwart guardians of a musical legacy and culture they know full well is bigger than them.
Over their decades of service to the immense catalog the Dead left behind, there are no peers for what they do. DSO doesn’t just go through the motions of redoing the songs; part of their mystique is that they recreate entire shows so as to follow the twisting, turning grooves the Dead themselves carved in history. It’s simultaneously as impressive as it sounds and yet made to look easier than it could possibly be.
All three of DSO’s full headlining sets are available to stream via nugs.net.
Dark Star Orchestra – Dark Star Jubilee – 5/24/24
Dark Star Orchestra – Dark Star Jubilee – 5/25/24
Dark Star Orchestra – Dark Star Jubilee – 5/26/24
Just as Dark Star Orchestra can faithfully recreate the music and performances of the Grateful Dead, their Jubilee manages to encapsulate much of the spirit and sense of community the Dead managed to create and cultivate over the course of their existence. The fact that the songbook, vibe, and love that flourished in the world thanks to the Dead and their decades-long road trip has continued long since the original band finally bowed to time and contrition is a fitting testament to the soul of one of the Dead’s most beloved closing tunes, “Not Fade Away”.
Indeed, whether directly, as in the case of Dark Star Orchestra and Melvin Seals and JGB, or simply as part of their pedigree and spirit, such as in the hearts of Greensky, Keller Williams, and players like Sam Grisman, Donato, and so on, the love is real, and it truly looks like it won’t ever fade away. It’s nigh impossible to think of any modern artists who deserve such an honor more.
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The post Dark Star Jubilee 2024 Invokes The Grateful Dead Spirit With Keller Williams, Daniel Donato, Greensky Bluegrass, More [Recap/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
