STS9 Dusts Off “Dark Star” To Close Triumphant Return To Grateful Dead Country [B.Getz on L4LM]
photo: Must Have Media
originally published on Live For Live Music
Psychedelic livetronica pioneers STS9 returned to Oakland’s venerable Fox Theater on Friday and Saturday for the first time since 2016, a weekend engagement that saw the veteran quintet digging deep into their quarter-century catalog across four free-wheeling sets.
This return to the area was shrouded in layers of emotional context: The two-night run marked the band’s first performances since the passing of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh—who helped carve the musical and cultural lane from which STS9 launched its own sonic explorations—and these shows happened to be taking place in the Bay Area, where the Dead’s long, strange story began. After two nights of cosmic connection between keyboardist David Phipps, guitarist Hunter Brown, drummer Zach Velmer, percussionist Jeffree Lerner, and bassist Alana Rocklin, the group provided the iridescent icing on the weekend’s lysergic layer cake via a bust-out cover of famed Grateful Dead improv vehicle “Dark Star”—in decidedly Sound Tribe style.
This iconic slab of primordial Dead was arranged as an instrumental to suit Sector 9’s modus operandi, and was transmitted by way of a subtle segue out of the band’s own vintage original “Gobnugget”—a pairing quickly dubbed the “GobStar” by fans. The encore saw STS9 moving through the space-time continuum as one organism, pouring light into ashes that eventually unveiled a patient, pastoral “Dark Star” in all of her mystical, storytelling glory, capping the encore, show, and run. This “Dark Star” marked STS9’s second-ever rendition of the cover following its debut back in nearby San Francisco eight years ago this month.
Velmer is prone to speaking of “love” on the mic, and Saturday’s final transmission was the definition of it. After a joyous romp through an ultimately-unfinished “Gobnugget”, “Dark Star” delivered an illuminating, intentional meditation—pure musical medicine of a powerful potency. Tattered reason, shattered mirrors, glass hands, ice petal flowers, even ladies draped in luxurious velvet; the sonic topography and textural terrain were traversed in a style indigenous to Sector 9, yet communicated with grace and humble gratitude to Lesh and the Dead.
Bassist Alana Rocklin held down The Phil Zone with reverence as Sector 9 unveiled a heroic homage to a certified godfather of this culture—a wonderful gift while we collectively continue to navigate the tailwind of his transition. Better yet, the squad did it in the same fertile area where the psychedelic revolution was born over a half-century ago.
Below, watch a video of STS9 performing “Gobnugget”/”Dark Star” during the encore of the band’s Bay Area finale.
STS9 – “Gobnugget” > “Dark Star” (Grateful Dead) – 11/16/24
Of course, there was plenty of celestial excitement in Oakland ahead of the weekend’s Grateful finale. Saturday’s encore closed out a couple of career-spanning shows at the Fox, a stoic, spacious, classically-styled theater with magnificent acoustics and sight-lines that has housed decades worth of diverse musical performances spanning genre and generation. STS9 was again ably assisted with kaleidoscopic opticals courtesy of lighting designer Tiberius Benson, who utilized a less-is-more approach in decorating the already-ornate Fox Theater with his own colorful visions.
Still brimming with copious chemistry and kinetic energy in their 27th year as a band, the quintet kicked off the weekend on Friday with a laser-focused foray through 2007 deep cut “Tooth”, setting a certain tone for the next two shows. Friday’s first frame found the five musicians off and running with the engine particularly primed, offering supreme versions of “Vibyl”, “Really Wut?”, “Surreality”,”Eb”, and a modular-ized “Kamuy”. The opening night came to a close with a standalone “Baraka” encore, another treasured song that traces its debut back to San Francisco (The Fillmore, 2001). After twenty-three revolutions around the sun, it remains a pristine example of Sector 9’s ethereal early style—a delightful, heart-filling journey that drizzled bliss across the theater with love.
Saturday night’s show began with a choice couplet in “Native End > ReEmergence”, two gems mined from 2005’s beloved Artifact LP. Aside from the “GobStar”, a mid-first-set “ABCees” ranked among the weekend’s biggest highlights, detonating with equal parts nuance and authority as it moved through a long, textural intro into bombastic bass beneath a classic Anthony B sample. An intoxicating reading of “Blu Mood” followed. Debuted at the same 2001 San Francisco show as “Baraka”, it offers some embryonic “jamtronica” that stands the test of time and dancefloors decades later.
A quarter-century ago, STS9 created a sound and helped rear a new subgenre. To this day, the group this day continues to evolve. From trademark organic drum n’ bass rollers to blissed-out, psychedelic jazz-rock excursions and dancefloor thumpers, STS9 still spreads its sonic wings far and wide.
Below, view the band’s official Oakland recap video as well as a full video of the Saturday night show and clips from Friday’s performance via Must Have Media. Scroll down to check out the full setlists from both nights.
STS9 will round out 2024 with a three-night New Year’s run at New Orleans, LA’s Joy Theater. A portion of ticket sales from the run, which was originally scheduled to take place in Asheville, NC but was later relocated in the wake of Hurricane Helene, will benefit ongoing hurricane relief efforts in Asheville and its surrounding areas. Find tickets to STS9’s New Orleans New Year’s run here.
View this post on Instagram
STS9 – 11/16/24 – Full-Show Video
STS9 – “Tooth” (Modular), “Vibyl” – 11/15/24
STS9 – “Really Wut?” – 11/15/24
Setlist: STS9 | Fox Theater | Oakland, CA | 11/15/24
Set One: Tooth > Modular Improv, Vibyl, Really Wut?, Darkest Before Dawn > Metameme, Real & Imagined > Modular Improv, Surreality > EB, Kamuy > Modular Improv
Set Two: Scheme Reprise, It’s Alright > EHM > Just Thanks > Modular Improv, Walk to the Light, World Go Round, From Now On
Encore: Baraka
Setlist: STS9 | Fox Theater | Oakland, CA | 11/16/24
Set One: Native End > ReEmergence, Arrowhead > Modular Improv, Golden Gate, ABCees, Blu Mood, Balancing > Potamus
Set Two: 20-12, Searchlight, Peaceblaster ’68 > Peaceblaster ’08 > Never Never > Click Lang Echo > Light Reveals, Shakey Ground > Modular Improv >
Encore: Gobnugget, Dark Star [1] > DnB
[1] Grateful Dead cover, second-ever STS9 rendition and first since 2016.
words: B.Getz