Recreating the fine, timeless music of the Grateful Dead has turned into a whole mini industry, with offshoots and recombinations from the surviving members and loads of tributes specializing in that mystic blend of exploratory improvisation, American folk and poetic songcraft.
Dark Star Orchestra has been recreating specific eras of the Dead’s career with a Civil War reenactor-level of detail and scholarship. (The band celebrates its 20th anniversary next year.) But it’s not just a wax-museum replica of Jerry and the gang; DSO has internalized the deep-space aesthetic of the Dead and its members know that staying true to their inspiration requires a willingness to fly free from their history as well.
Dark Star Orchestra plays College Street Music Hall, 238 College St., New Haven, July 28, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 to $27. collegestreetmusichall.com.
![Dust off your finest hats—it’s Derby day. This year marks the 150th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The horse race has occurred annually on a Saturday in May since it began on May 17, 1875, with the only exceptions being 1945 due to World War II and 2020 because of […]](https://www.courant.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/202405040611TMS_____FASTCOMP_19685_ctnfc_media.jpg?w=620 "Dust off your finest hats—it’s Derby day. This year marks the 150th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The horse race has occurred annually on a Saturday in May since it began on May 17, 1875, with the only exceptions being 1945 due to World War II and 2020 because of […]")