Open Listening and Phenomenology

The first minute is one of the most magical parts of the song for me. We hear a booming bass, noodling around what sounds like it could be Dark Star, but not for certain. The Piano and drums check their levels and then we hear the cries, “Dark Star, Dark Star! Yeah! Yeah!” echoing throughout the ancient concert hall. When the band breaks into the song, I get this overwhelming feeling of community. Just as the audience calls for the song, the band responds with it. It is this exchange of energy through music that the bands live material is know for.

The ensuing jam is very interesting. Lesh and Garcia seem to be leading it, and their discourse is phenomenal. At first it seems like there isn’t much direction, just one stagnant texture. But, as the jam goes on, more and more melodic and rhythmic aspects are added. The group then decides on dynamic progressions, like every 8 bars falling and crescendoing into the downbeat. After barreling into the downbeat, they let the decay echo and disseminate through the hall, create a remarkable texture. Perhaps something like the feeling of being in outer space, with sound dissipating forever in all directions.

Once they dynamically peak, they fall back on the progression on the rhythm guitar, letting it set the scene for the verse. This falling back takes place over the course of a couple minutes. In a way, they give the progression some breathing room after being elaborated on for the past 6 minutes.

When the verse hits, the voice is jarring. We have been listening to instruments for the past 7 minutes, and my mind is in a “far off place” so to speak. The voice brings me back to the concert, back to earth. Garcia’s voice was never considered technically impressive, but the character inherent in it makes up for his technical shortcomings. The guitar doubling lets his voice soar over the musical foundation. When the chorus enters we are given a harmony: a female voice. This addition adds to the already complex texture of the song. The voices do not necessarily blend, but they do compliment one another.

A quick unison lick with the bass and guitars and we’re back in the jam. I feel this movement brings the listener back to “outer-space”. This jam is much less linear. Lesh begins displacing beats and Garcia explores lines outside the mixolydian mode he has been in for the whole song. Splashes of the parallel minor are thrown in and out. When Weir responds to one of these minor lines, Garcia modulates the meter and BAM! we’re into the next song, a deviant 6/8 groove that pulls us back to earth and puts us right in front of the band to receive the words of “The Other One”.