Dark Star
Sept. 24, 1972
Palace Theatre
Well, I feel this is still somewhat underrated. As mentioned by others above, a large part of this Dark Star unfolds in-between harmony/melody and dissonance/noise. While this form of musical tension is not unique in the Dead's live canon, it usually occurs rather briefly (e.g., in transitions in and out of more 'overt' forms of noise/weirdness). I cannot recall hearing a DS (or PITB, Bird Song, etc.) that 'floats' in that sort of middle-space the same way as this one does for such a long stretch of time.
