Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Dark Star Orchestra, Live at the Higher Ground, and Dead Set, Live at Club Metronome, Nov. 13th, 2018


     Hello everyone. Hope things are good in your hood. Winter temps have arrived right on schedule with it getting down to 11 degrees tonight. Last was cold and smoking hot, all at the same time. Why? Because Dark Star Orchestra was paying a visit to Burlington on a Tuesday night, the same night of the week as Dead Set at Nectar’s. 2 different dead acts in town. The next day off from both jobs and its Switzer’s birthday. I am all over that like brown on rice. So with no further delay, Kempepedia is proud to present Dark Star Orchestra Live at the Higher Ground and Dead Set at Nectar’s, Nov. 13th, 2018.
    My crew was going to go to DSO to celebrate Switzer’s birthday but then plans changed and they couldn’t go. Ghost Light on Sat. worked better for them and she could get a free ticket for hanging posters. So she hung posters downtown in temps in the teens and ran into Mike Gordon. So I had to rage even harder in their absence. Management is on it.
   The DSO show was sold out and very crowded. They opened the showcase lounge and played the audio so people would have space to dance. 

Set I

Big Railroad Blues
Me and Bobby McGee
They Love Each Other
The Race Is On
Loose Lucy
Next Time You See Me
Big Iron
To Lay Me Down
Good Lovin'
China Cat Sunflower>
I Know You Rider

Set II
Sittin' On Top of the World
Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)
Pride of Cucamonga
Eyes of the World>
Dark Star>
Drums>
Other One>
Uncle John's Band>
Other One>
Morning Dew
encore: Rockin' Pnuemonia 


You can stream it here


     Whole show had 1974 vide. The Dark Star and the incorporated jams were AMAZING. Words can’t do it justice. I saw 2 mike stands so hopefully a recording will surface. The Eyes had the ’74 eyes jam and the China Cat transition was very reminiscent of how they did it in 1974. I knew it wasn’t an actual show as the Dead never performed Pride live.Loved Two Souls , a rarely performed Pigpen ballad. The crowd definitely skewed older. As a wise man said, it can be intimidating to go to Nectar’s while they can go to an HG show, which starts earlier, and still make it to work the next day. I left towards the end of the show because I didn’t want to wait for an Uber. On to Nectar’s.
      I got there and headed up stairs. The vast majority of shows I have seen there have been downstairs. The upstairs is called Club Metronome and that is where the first Phish gig was. It is much bigger than the downstairs so lots more room to dance. And they have a coat rack! It’s all about the simple things.
      I walked after the first verse of Franklin’s Tower and it was raging. The energy was so much higher for whatever reason and I worked out a lot of aggression in the most positive way possible. They shredded it up and down until a peak like a mini volcanic eruption. We all needed a break after that.
    For the second set, Rob Eaton of DSO came out. He is originally from Vermont and the band then laid waste to all our minds, bodies, and souls.
Set 2: Scarlet>Fire, Shakedown St.
 Over an hour.
During Scarlet there was a cool little breakdown where the 2 drummers, the incredibly talented Russ Lawton and Ryan Clausen of Haley Jane and the Primates, or as they are known on the street as Clawton, did a fantastic calypso thing. Just high powered pure energy emanating from some secret place only masters can unlock.
     Feel so grateful and blessed how things are going up here. I know enough people now as they say hi to me at shows, which is great as I dance alot with my eyes closed. It has been a great November. A visit from PA friends the first weekend, a harvest party with a genetics swap the next weekend. Don’t forget, cannabis is legal up here. Thanksgiving next week at the Talberts and my annual thanksgiving yoga class. Been here a little over a year and already have a tradition. And then the November 27th Dead Set is my birthday show as I turn 46 at midnight. Yipyaw!

Dave Kemp
BA American Studies, PhD Rock and Roll

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