Reflections on having done our 2000th show..

As I sit hear early Monday morning enjoying some peace and quiet on the bus before the rest of the gang shows up I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on the 2000th show we did in Ithaca on Saturday night. These sorts of things can get a little strange and esoteric but this one proved welcome and friendly. There are always so many emotions associated with special shows like this especially when we think of the ones that are no longer with us who helped get us to where we are. Scott is the first to come to mind, if it wasn't for his dedication running this dog and pony show early on we never would be here now. My dear friend Glen "Chub" Carrier who started in 2001 and passed away while on tour in 2005. He truly believed in what we were doing and that comes from a guy who worked on the GD crew from 1985-1995. Our manager Tim Walther came with our booking manager Jeff Laramie. They brought everyone in the band and crew and very nice custom DSO winter coat. Very kind gesture from them. In closing we had fun playing and the vibe all around was beautiful.. Thanks to all who came out to help us turn a corner with our 2000th show..

Peace

Rob Eaton

Start of East Coast Tour...

Hey All,

Having just returned home from my first vacation in 10 years I'm very relaxed and energized for the start of our big east coast tour. As I sit here in the small band room at the Wilber Theater in Boston I'm reminded how lucky I am. I get to play music for a living. Not just any music but Grateful Dead music. Though we experience hard times on the road and sacrifice much to do what we love I still am very humbled and respectful of the music and the scene. With 45 min till sound check I thought I'd at least take a few minutes and say thanks to all of you for your support of DSO over the years especially as we approach our 2000th show this Saturday in Ithaca NY where I'm sure to post another Blog...

Peace and out

Rob Eaton

It's been awhile but we are still here

Hey there people! We are all still here. We've been resting our bones and rejuvenating for the Fall tour fast approaching which is always one of favorites. We haven't completely forgotten how to blog. We see that some have pointed out that we haven't had any entries lately and it's nice you to see you are paying attention. It's not for lack of exciting things happening.

Last tour we had our biggest gig to date considering the size of the audience at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in Golden Gate Park San Fransisco. Estimations on the size of the crowd seem to be something like 25,000 to 30,000. It's really hard to say but the promoter who hired us said it was the most people they have ever had in that space and jokingly commented that they can't have us back because we drew too many people. The band felt very honored to be able to play that space and to have so many show up. Needless to say we all had a blast. Thank you! Hopefully we can make it back to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in a couple of years!

We felt very positive about the way we played many of the shows on the rest of the tour as well. We had a lot of fun with the late 60's style elective in the Yost Theater in Santa Ana CA area to the awesome new venue Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, Austin TX.

New App for smart phones:

I want to share with you an awesome app I found for smart phones. Search for "archivist" from your app store. It's an app that makes it easy to listen and stream any DSO show on archive.org as well as any other show including the 7000 plus recordings of Grateful Dead shows. It cost a couple dollars but it will allow you to easily navigate to any show quickly and easily. It breaks it down by recordings per year. It's interesting to note that there are 312 DSO shows up at the time of this writing and most of them have been from the last few years. I did however listen to some old school stuff from 2000 which I hadn't listened to a very long time and I gotta say it was fun to look back on the development of the band.

Hope to see you all soon for our upcoming Fall Northeast tour to help us celebrate our 2000th show and 14 years since the bands first gig (which happened on 11/11/1997)!

Until then, Cheers!

Dino English

Konichiwa! Japan is Shinji rarenai!

That is supposed to mean "Hi! Japan is incredible." Disclaimer: If I accidentally translated wrong and put something untoward up, Sumimasen, indeed! Seriously, Japan is fantastic. Last night me and Barraco, Koritz, and Nicky went to see the Parrots, AKA the Japanese Beatles at a club in Tokyo called Abby Road and we had a blast. I think we all rebounded quite well for such a long journey--I was 14 hours on the plane and two more to reach the hotel in Tokyo. We head up to Fuji Rock Fest tomorrow and I am very psyched. Going to try and catch the 10 minutes of Wilco that don't overlap our show. ;)

Japan is a wonderful country with loads of really nice people and a rather large number of Deadheads. They absolutely love the music and are really appreciative of the bands who perform there. When I was there in 2001 with the Zen Tricksters, we toured for a week and just had a terrific time. This time it's awesome to be playing such a large festival with DSO and sharing the bill with all those cool bands. I have to remember to take a lot of photos--it's really a beautiful place.

More when I return. Sionara for now.
Jeff

Summer Tour part 1

A lot has happened since our last blog. Rob K had a healthy baby boy, we did a string of December 73' shows while he spent time with his newborn, and several really fun out door shows including Nelson Ledges . Here is an interview of Rob Barraco and I conducted by Greyhead and Pugs at Nelson Ledges.

Dino Interview

Barraco Interview

Into the Sun Tour Has Been Fantastic Fun!

Whew--near the end of another great tour. The Into the Sun Tour gave me the opportunity to play in a whole bunch of places where I have a lot of friends, and it made the experience extra special for me. From Irving Plaza in the Big Apple where the place was so packed that I don't think they could have squeezed a shadow in and where I got to see many friends, to a memorable show at the beautiful McCarter Theater in Princeton, to a show right on Long Island where friends and family came out to see the band--I really had a good time. Friends in Philly, friends in Boston and my old band mate and friend, Jen Markard, from the Jeff Mattson Band/Volunteers/ Zen Tricksters got to sit in on a number, friends in Stroudsburg. You know I feel like I have friends everywhere now. It is a pretty great feeling.

And now we are down to the last two shows--the Mighty High, organized by yet another friend! This fest is going to be terrific and I think the weather will turn out just fine. Tomorrow I get to play an afternoon set with my good friend, Donna Jean, and my buds in the Donna Jean Godchaux Band. I am really looking forward to that! And then two incredible shows with DSO tomorrow and Saturday. A great way to end an amazing tour. I look forward to playing, seeing some bands that I love, and seeing friends at the Mighty High, and I look forward to coming home for some well-earned rest after that. See you in Tuxedo!
Jeff

Listening to Dark Star Orchestra recordings

I sometimes hear people ask "Why listen to recordings of Dark Star Orchestra when you can listen to the real show".

That's an easy one with many answers:

A. Many DSO shows are not derived from actual Grateful Dead shows set lists.

B. Even the ones that are from GD set lists are played uniquely by DSO.

C. Most of the time DSO recordings are done using modern recording technology making the sound enjoyably listenable.

D. Apparently, people just like to... given this info from Archive.org http://www.archive.org/details/DarkStarOrchestra

Most Downloaded Items:

Dark Star Orchestra Live at Gathering of the Vibes on 2005-08-13
74,585 downloads
Dark Star Orchestra Live at Starr Hill Music Hall on 2006-02-07
71,486 downloads
Dark Star Orchestra Live at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park on 2004-07-04
46,130 downloads
Dark Star Orchestra Live at Crystal Ballroom on 2005-02-25
38,136 downloads
Dark Star Orchestra Live at Keswick Theater on 2007-12-31
37,774 downloads

That's 268,111 downloads of the top five downloaded shows. Of course it takes some time to get on that list so I believe the newer recordings will break into that list soon enough. And this is just one web site as I know there are many others.

What that number tells me is something I've stated before .... TAPERS OF DARK STAR ORCHESTRA ARE APPRECIATED BY MANY (that goes for you video tapers too!).

At the time of this writing there are 420 recordings up on Archive of almost 2000 shows. So I would take a guess that just about 1/5 of the shows are actually getting taped given that some shows are taped by several tapers. About 4 out of 5 shows are getting away. It's never to late to do your fellow DSO listener a favor and pick up the craft of recording shows.

By the way .... I hear tapers are now called "recordist" as very few actually record on tape anymore.

Here are some from this tour:

http://www.archive.org/details/dso2011-05-12.ccm4v.zman.ots.flac16

http://www.archive.org/details/dso2011-05-05.ccm4v.zman.fob.flac16

http://www.archive.org/details/dso2011-04-30.mstc.flac16

It's been a fun tour! Thank you all! ...Glad to be able to play for you!

Home for a Minute

Hi Everybody!
The Into the Sun tour has been going great--we're having a lot of fun and making fantastic music together. Tonight is particularly special for Rob B. and I as we'll be on our home turf of Long Island at the Westbury Music Fair (it will always go by that name for me!). I've seen many great shows here myself, including Chicago in 1971, Rodney Dangerfield, the Chieftians, Little Feat, Steve Winwood, and Ratdog, to name a few. One that really stands out in my mind was a tribute to Miles Davis that included all the members of one of his greatest quintets--Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams, with Wallace Roney filling in on trumpet for the late, great Miles!!
I had a great time playing here last year and it's so much fun to see all the familiar faces of family, friends, and fans from Long Island. This Long Island boy is really looking forward to tonight and I think it's gonna be a great show!!
Jeff

Interview question and answer

I was sent these questions to answer from Timeoff Magazine as part of the Princeton Packet in New Jersey. I have not seen the article but I thought I'd pass on my answers as I gave them to the paper.


1) What is planned for the Into the Sun Tour -what can your fans expect to hear?

answer 1: The tour kicks of in New York City where we will be playing the famed GD set list from 4/29/71 Fillmore East on its 40th anniversary. Princeton is next so my guess is that it will be a two drummer show. ... only a guess. Fans can expect to see what we always do which is play Grateful Dead music the best we can.

2) Tell me about how people can vote for the encore of the show? Why did you guys decide to come up with this?

answer 2: You can vote for the encore here https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFJsN0QyTjEwOTdVNThabGVJM2dnWnc6MA#gid=0 or by going to the tour date page of our website and following the link from the particular date.
We do this just as another way to let the audience be part of the show. We do not perform to the the audience, we perform with the audience.

3) Looking at the year ahead, what do you have planned that you (and your fans) will be excited about?

answer 3: Festival season is coming up which is always exciting. It gives us a chance to play in front of large audiences and invariably, play for people who have not seen us before. It's always fun to turn on new people.
Also, we are going to go play the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in late July.
We are 70 shows away from our 2000th show, a milestone to say the least and done in 14 years!
Within a years time we will be doing Jam At The Dam in Amsterdam which will coincidently be around the the 40th anniversary of the the famous Grateful Dead Europe '72 tour. Who knows... maybe we will stick some more dates in other cities as long as we are already over there.

4) Any message for the fans coming out to NJ to see you on April 30?

Answer 4: My message is simply one of thanks for participating in our little world. We have been at this for a long time and we are in a really good space right now. We are having fun and we feel the music we are making these days is worthy of your attention.
Furthermore, If you like what you hear, try spreading the word to those naysayers again. From the reactions we are getting, we seem to be picking up steam and many naysayers of the past are finding a good time can be had at our shows.

Cheers,
Dino

Here we go

Hello everyone. Well, here we go with another big tour. We are really looking forward to this one. Lots of fun venues, interesting shows, and some new twists.
Right now we are tearing it up at to a packed house at Irving Plaza. Lisa and I both have the night off (4/29/71), so I thought i would post for the first time in a while.

When we do the early 70's, either Dino or I has to take the night off. Tonight it is me. People often ask, "is it strange to watch your own band"? Well, the answer is yes. While, of course, I would rather be playing than watching, it does give me a unique perspective on things. I think the main thing is really getting to see the audience. I like to take a walk around the venue and check out the crowd. See the dancers, check out how people react to the music, and mostly, see the smiles on peoples faces. It really lets me know what kind of affect we, and mainly this music has on folks. Keep dancin'. Keep smilin'. It is what keeps us going. Thanks- ROB K

High in the clouds!

I'm writing from 35 thousand feet! What a trip from Bellingham, WA to Ft. Collins, CO!!! Unbelievable jams, love and good energy!
You westerners sure poured it on us and I hope we gave it back in turn! See you all soon! Love, Rob Barraco

Spread The Love!

Hello again,

I must say the band and crew are all having a blast this tour and we appreciate all your positive vibes you have been passing back to us.

It's also great that many of you are recognizing the extra spark Kevin has been giving lately. We have always loved Kevin but Since Jeff has joined the band, he's been spending extra time working to be the best he can be. He also has plans to expand his tonal pallet by augmenting his bass selection. He debuted his new Jack Casady Epiphone bass the last night of the Great American run. ...Talk about giving off good vibrations! ...And some more custom work is coming which will improve it even more. Go Kevin!

We are hearing from many different directions that the band is sounding the best it ever has and this is the best line up yet. I don't know how to respond to this subjective comment other than to say thanks and that the band is feeling "it" in a serious way.

Perhaps it is time to let others, who are outside our circle, know how you feel. In the past, many have experienced resistance from those who discount us for being a cover band. They couldn't get past that little box they put us in to give us a chance. What you know and what we know is that the only thing that matters about this particular confluence we all have going is the music.... GD music played with the highest musicality we can muster. And that this is a LIVE music experience that is meant to be shared with a room full of people who are all helping to make the room take off and fly.

I've been noticing the word is getting around to people who were once critical of our approach and that now, they have opened up to the fun that can be had. We seem to be less controversial today as more people seem to be coming into some semblance of agreement that we do have a measure of worth. Again, some of you are expressing that worth in very strong ways. We hear you and it does matter to us because without you there is no music. The controversy seems to end (or turn into something a little more fun) by the reluctant person of the past getting in the same room with all of us and letting the music do it's thing.

Perhaps it is time to try your friends again... the ones who wouldn't listen before. ... or the online social networks and message boards that wouldn't listen before. Perhaps it is time for you, my dear DSO blog reader :), to go out unto the world and spread the love.

I know this may start to be sounding like a sermon and perhaps it is. All I know is that there is something in the air.... something new is waiting to be born and the time is now! Let's all of us help make this magic happen.... together!

AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PARTICIPATION AND GOOD VIBES!

Dino

San Francisco!!!!!!!!

Where do I begin? Ah, I know. Let's face it, it all started here in San Francisco. Our whole crazy counter-culture gone global! Playing 3 days in this town is like making a haj to Mecca. I did my obligatory stroll down to 710 and walked along the Haight into Golden Gate Park.

The Great American Music Hall is a must for anyone who ventures into San Fran. We just finished 3 sold out shows! The GD luminaries were out in full force. Trixie Garcia, Dan Healy, Kidd Candalerio, Betty Cantor-Jackson, Rock Skully, Cameron Sears, Dennis McNally and his lovely wife Susanna, ..... the list goes on. Unbelievable energy in the crowd! The Santa Cruz dancers are serious business folks! Unbelievable energy from my band mates!!! Kevin's new base rocked the house last night. We are all sore and nursing our wounds today in Reno.

Roll away the dew!!!!! Rob Barraco

Mechanical aspects!

If you believe in astrology, then we must be under some crazy mechanical failure aspects!

First our generator went down, so, no electricity on the bus. Our wonder driver Ron worked endlessly and fixed the problem. Then, Jeffs guitar stops working just before the Eugene show.

Our Rob Eaton came to the rescue and took it apart and fixed it. 2 minutes later the organ takes a dive and once again our Mr. Eaton comes to the rescue and fixes it!

Now, the worst disaster, the refrigerator is shot. No quick fix on this one, though. Sometimes.....

That aside, ridiculously great jams!!! Every show on this tour and it's all happening in my favorite places in the west. Enjoy, Rob Barraco

The West!

Ah, back in the west. Whilst sitting on the plane contemplating how much I have anticipated this trip, I wonder why I never pulled the trigger and moved out here. A confluence of events has interceded and prevented it. But, by the nature of what I do, I have become a gypsy vagabond musician who travels near and far. So, here I am again.

Last night was sublime! Beautiful Mt. Baker Theater in Bellingham, WA. Now, home of the great American coffee, Seattle!!!!

Speaking of travel, we are going way international in the next year. Japan in July(Mt. Fuji Rocks), and Amsterdam next March(and who knows what else we may throw in to celebrate the Dead's 40th anniversary of the europe 72 tour)

I digress. So many great towns on this tour-Portland, Eugene, Arcata, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Boulder!!!! See ya Rob Barraco

Truckin' Up To Buffalo

Here we are at the end of another tour! Buffalo is going to be wild tonight. I have to say my band mates have me in awe on this last day of tour. Everyone has been playing at a level I've never witnessed! It was short but it was sweet!! Looking forward to rocking the west coast.

See ya Rob Barraco

A good afternoon to you (or whenever this may find you),

I feel very lucky to be playing with my compatriots in DSO. One of the many things I admire about this band is their vocal ability, specifically their ability to sing in super sweet harmony. I like to describe this bands vocals as "top shelf".

Often, in the afternoon before soundcheck (which normally happens around five), the singers will get together with an acoustic guitar or two and practice singing together while sitting around in the front lounge of the bus. One of my favorite things to do is to sit around and listen to them. I'm in constant awe as singing is not one of my nature gifts and I admire and envy their abilities. It's so beautiful that It can be quite moving at times.

It's also great to see the singers quite easily and naturally having a good time together while doing this. After so many years traveling together in tight quarters and persevering through many bumpy and hard times, to be able to watch them laugh hard with each other can be quite a moving experience as well.

Off to listen to more great singing with what is always a fun acoustic evening of music.

Till next time,

Dino

Food On The Road

One of the joys of touring is being able to eat in my favorite restaurants throughout the country.

If you are ever in San Francisco be sure to check out Dotties True Blue Cafe on Great Jones St.

This is the best breakfast you will ever eat!! Deep dish pizza in Chicago-Lou Malnoti's is beyond description.

Tonight, we played a smoking show(IMHO) in Reading, PA(May '77). Two very nice gentlemen took me to this hole in the wall pizzeria called Maria's. Holy mackerel!!! As good as any NY(and for an irascible NYer like myself, that's saying a lot!) pizza I've ever eaten(except my own)

A day off tomorrow and then one of our most enjoyable pastimes these days, acoustic show!! See you in Jersy!! Rob Barraco

Hello everybody

Rob K here-
Hope everyone is well. Nice to be back on the road and playing music. Thanks to everyone who helped us start off this leg with two sellouts! Hoping for many more.
It's a rainy Sunday here in Reading PA. Hoping it will stop by this evening and the folks will show up. Gotta a pretty hot show on tap for tonight. This is the shortest tour we have ever done, so keeping the energy up shouldn't be a problem. 8 shows in 9 days and then back home.

Needing a good subject to write about, any questions out there??

Sold Out Shows

Well, tour started with a bang! Sold out last night in Richmond, Va and tonight has been sold out for a little while. We much appreciate the support!! The band had instant rapport and telepathic connections all night. Like a school of fish or a flock of geese( I believe that would be gaggle)

Back stage at the National is like your house- kitchen, living room, den, hot tub, steam room, and dry heat sauna! They know how to treat people well!!

Looking forward to another cool place to play tonight, The Tarrytown Music Hall. We've been told by inside sources that security is going to tone it down this time!!! Hope you all have fun. Rob Barraco

What's a Blog?

As I sit here at the airport in Dallas (of all places) I find myself trying to write my first Blog. But what exactly is a Blog? Sounds like something you pick out of your nose and flick across the room! Well maybe the symbolism does the name justice, I don't know. The road and living on the road is one big Blog (or boogger if you prefer). Alright getting back to why I started this post to begin with (why was that exactly?). This space was set up to give perspective on the daily reality's of living on the road. So here I am heading to tour at the lovely Dallas/Ft Worth Airport with a 2+ hour layover before my next flight that get's to Richmond just before midnight (really fun so far!). Then I'll have to make a call to some late night shift person at the hotel where the bus is parked for a pick up at the airport. All I need to say here is your lucky if you only have to call once! Then it's off to the lovely confines of the tour bus (that's right, no hotels for us...Times are tight and we need to save money). Tour Bus is the glam term for what it really is. I like to call it "living in a tin can with 11 other people. Having no privacy or means to escape but rather at test of patience and compassion in an effort to survive"). Now your probably asking why? Well it's because we love the music. Love it so much we put ourselves, our friends and family's through the riggers and pitfalls of life on the road, away from home. Is it a test of will? You bet. Is it at times unbearable? You bet. Would I choose to do anything else? Not a chance! We do this because we LOVE this music. Love it so much we put ourselves in this tin can every month. We do it because we don't know what else to do with our passion for the music. Well I guess It's time to find my next gate, call the hotel and find my way to the tin can. Can't wait to play music tomorrow in Richmond........

Peace

Rob Eaton

Our Band

What can one say?(I've been known to say a lot, too much, in fact!)

WE hit the stage every night and seem to pull out of thin air powerful magic!

I love the fact that when I'm not feeling it, they have my back , and , visa versa.

It's an honor to share the stage with them.

There's a lot more magic to come folks!!!

See you in a few

Much love Rob Barraco

Our Crew

I sing the body of our crew(to use a little Walt Whitman)!

Our tour is over and I'd like to point out that our crew makes what we do possible. We NEVER could do this otherwise!! Nick, Matt, Brian, Sara, Will and Cotter make it all happen every night without fail. Most of the time I just get in the building and start playing because it is all done for me. they get very little sleep and not nearly enough recognition. Well, time for bed and flying home! Hope to see you all soon!!!!! Rob Barraco

Here we go again

Rob K here.

Well, it feels like July today, and it is not because we are in Florida, (which is unusually cool). No, it is because I was onstage setting up my drums at friggin" 10AM today!! You see, we are playing at a festival today. The Del Ray Beach 12th annual Garlic Fest to be precise. Guess what's for dinner.

Festivals are a different animal than your normal "an evening with DSO" days. First off, they start much earlier. We pulled out of Orlando last night around 2:30. After the crew winds down for a while, they hit the bunks somewhere between 3:30-4:00 am. Today the doors on the truck opened for load in at 10:am. Not a lot of sleep for those hard working guys and gal. Dino and I hit the stage around 10:30-11:00 to set up our drums. NO, we don't have a dedicated drum tech (please don't apply, we have no empty bunks), to do that for us, but the crew does help quite a bit.

Due to multiple bands and scheduling, we usually have to set up quite early in the day, and then hurry up and wait for a night time show. When we did the JamGrass tour in 2002, our load ins were at 7am, then we played at noon and again at 8pm. By the time the doors closed on the trucks it was usually 1am. Then another 7am load in. What an unforgettable tour, though.

Today sound check will be at 2pm and we wont start the show until 7:30. That adds an additional two hours of waiting around to our normal schedule. Every one kills the time differently. Sleep, exercise, movies on the bus (although today we are parked in a garage, so no satellite signal), video games, and of course, crosswords and Scrabble. On some occasions there is the chance to see some other bands perform. That is the great part of the festival thing for us. Getting to hang out and see some of our friends play and check out some new bands is one of the few perks of being on the festival grounds for up to 18 hours at a time.

The biggest perk is the exposure. A lot of people who never knew of the Dead or have been hesitant to check us out get to see us. Hopefully that translates into new fans who will help keep this train rolling.

We have had a pretty good week. Good crowds and fun shows. We are in the homestretch now. Two more shows and then straight to the airport for early flights Sunday morning. Looking forward to getting home for a little R&R. Many thanks to all that have joined us on this tour. You have made it a successful one for us. See you up north in a couple of weeks.

Thank You Tapers

Rob Eaton puts a great deal of work into the crispy sound board recordings on his off time so thanks go to all of you who buy the bands official releases. Rob only spends time working on the best sounding shows because he cares about releasing the best we have to offer with the limited time he has to master recordings. You can find what we have available here: http://www.livedownloads.com/live-music/3,291/Dark-Star-Orchestra-mp3-flac-downloads.html

But this blog isn't just a commercial for our official releases. This blog is about giving a big thank you to all you tapers who took time to bring your rig out and tape the shows. I know there are many who enjoy listening to your recording. Much thanks go to you!

A quick lesson on how to easily find shows of audience DSO recordings through our setlists page for those who don't already know:

If you go to our setlists page from our website, ( http://www.darkstarorchestra.net/NEWSITE/HTML/dso.php?sec=setlists ) show that have available audience recordings have a little CD icon or a speaker icon to the right of the show listing. Just click on the icon and it will take you to a recording of the show. Most of the time it is a link to http://www.archive.org/ where tapers post their recording. Usually, a player is available where you can instantly listen. The camera icon will bring you to pictures and even some links to youtube videos. I know there are other places to find audience recording but I can't keep track of all of them and I may miss some on archive as well so if any tapers (or audience members) who would like me to link recordings (or recordings you may find) to our setlist page, just send me an email with a link to rdenglish@sbcglobal.net

Happy listening and thanks again,

Dino

Ode to Canada

We often get requests to go to Canada but we have been unable to pull off a show. Let it be known ... We do love our Canadian Deadhead brothers and sisters. However, the logistics of pulling off a show there are enormous. When crossing the border we would have to have a detailed list of everything we are bringing down to the wire, nut, and bolt, not to mention a tremendous amount of other hurdles we would have to jump over. Recently, we have actually been in talks with Canadian promoters in several cities and have been unable to reach a deal due to all the hoops we would have to jump through. But a small Canadian tour is still not out of the question. Negotiations have just been tabled for the moment, not halted. I still believe that we will make it eventually in which case we would most likely scale the stuff we bring down to a bare minimum for early '70s and late '60s style shows.

Until then, we have several close to the border shows. Buffalo NY, where we frequent often, is not far from Toronto. Then we have Bellingham Wa for your Vancouver folks and Burlington isn't too far from Montreal.

So Canadians, know that we love you and we haven't forgotten you. Please visit us for these relatively close border shows. We will continue to try to take off to the great white north. We know it will be a beauty way to go.

Best,

Dino

Charleston

Forgot to write about what an enchanting city Charleston is!! We had a day off there and enjoyed the great food and wonderful scenery. Lots of history stretching back to pre-revolutionary times. Some of the most stupendous antebellum homes I've ever seen. I highly recommend anyone to visit some time. Go for a run in the battery! Show was a hot '73 with ridiculous long set list.

Rob B

Our Tin Can, Pearl

As we are hurling through the countryside on our way to Atlanta in this tin can I have come to call home, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be a part of such a magical entourage. Last nights show was nothing short of spectacular. Major musical connections abounded through the night! The Carolina Theater is a gorgeous old theater with great sound. Kevin dropped some major bombs pre drums out of Terrapin.

One of the joys of traveling across the land is being able to hook up with lots of loved ones that we ordinarily would never see in person. Last night our bus was graced with the presence of the renowned Grateful Dead sociologist Rebecca Adams and her posse. We reminisced about past GD conferences we were a part of(aka .... tests) and had a few laughs. Jeff Mattson and I have known her for many years.

Now its off to play at another favorite spot, The Variety Play House in Atlanta. Hot 'lanta!!!!!

Join The Scrabble Revolution

So in this line of "work" (everything but the playing is work ... hard work at that), we run across ephemeral situations that can be described as "hurry up and wait" for the the next thing we need to do. Each band and crew deals with this in different ways. If you really want to know what goes on with all this "Rock & Roll lifestyle" we are immersed in, it's a lot of crossword puzzles and Scrabble. The older school folks deal with the crossword puzzles from the the New York times while the new school people play Scrabble on the their i-phones. We even play each other. Anyone up for a game of Scrabble? You may be able to play one of us on line.

Have a great day!

Dino

Hey there all. Rob K here. I hope everyone had a great weekend. We sure did. Had two, nice full houses on Friday and Saturday. Thanks to all those who attended. I thought we played pretty well this weekend. I really enjoyed doing the Europe '90 show at the Newport. I was at those shows, and it is always fun to recreate a show that I attended.

We had the day off yesterday, which was nice. I usually try to play golf on the day off, but we haven't had the weather for it yet. Hopefully tomorrow, in Charleston, (one of my favorite towns).

We rarely have a day off in one of our hometowns, so yesterday was a treat. Dino lives here in Lexington KY and he got to spend the night at home last night. Good for him. Saturday was his daughter's first b-day, so they had a little party last night. It was really nice getting out of the hotel life and being in someone's home for a nice gathering and good meal. Many thanks to Dino and Shannon.

A quick one night stand tonight, day off tomorrow and then a tough four night run coming up. Hoping to see you all out there this week.

Thanks, ROB

Hello, CLEVELAND

Hey there folks, Rob K here. Long time listener, first time blogger. I've never blogged before, so it may take a few entries to get in rhythm.

As Rob B. said, the tour had been going well, but damn, it's been cold! A balmy 30 degrees today in Cleveland. It's nice to be warm again.

Not sure what my topics will be as we go forward, but today I thought I would talk about some of the cooler aspects of being on the road.
One of the best things about being on the road is the opportunity to see some of the great historic places around the country. Yesterday was a banner day on that front. As you see in the picture, I made the pilgrimage to the historic Motown studios. What a treat!! Jeff Mattson and I went over before soundcheck, (we raved about it so much, Dino ended up going over later in the day), and it was truly mind blowing. To stand in the "snakepit", studio A, home of the Funk Brothers. 14,000 songs were recorded in that studio. Every Motown hit up to 1972, I believe was created right in that little room. You could feel the vibe oozing from the place. All of the original recording equipment is still in there. The 1870's Steinway piano that played on every Motown hit is still in the corner, as well as the vibraphone, B-3 organ and a few of the drums.

I am a huge fan of Motown, not just because of the music, but also because of the way Barry Gordy started with a vision, and an 800 dollar loan, and turned it into an empire. At one point Motown owned every building on the block, using them all for different aspects of the business. Motown also came along at the perfect time to aid in the changing times of society. It became a bridge to help integrate black and white society and culture, and that importance should never be lost. Really the only negative I see from Motown, is the lack of fame and financial gain for the musicians themselves. Most of them were paid very, very little for making some of the greatest music of all time. They finally got some recognition with a movie about 10 years ago. Unfortunately it was too late for some of them to enjoy it. Today only 3 of the original Funk Brothers are alive.
If any one reading this has not seen the film "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", that is your homework assignment. Thank you for indulging my ramblings. I am open to suggestions on how to do this better and even on fielding questions you may have for us. PEACE

Baby, IT'S COLD OUT HERE!!!

Hello bloggers! This is DSO’s first amongst many.

Had we known, we should have named this tour Til Hell Freezes Over! We flew into Des Moines and it just got colder and colder. BRRRRRR Woke up on the bus in Milwaukee and it was minus four outside and 45 inside! But, the music has been hot! Our boy Jeff has been tearing it up every night.

The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee is one of the most beautiful settings for a show. Just when the show ended, the fire alarms went off. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anything as loud as that! We just pulled in Detroit for our day off and was promptly handed a notice from our hotel that they will be testing the fire alarms all day. Sheesh, we can’t get away from the cold or the alarms. Is the music that hot?

I hope as we head down into the south the warm weather finds us! Koritz is hell bent on playing golf even if he has to play with black balls in the snow.

Safe travels and see you at the shows. Rob Barraco