Dark Star Orchestra Brings Two Nights of Grateful Dead Music to the Casino Ballroom

The Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is coming off a roaring hot weekend with Dark Star Orchestra, who brought two nights of Grateful Dead music to the Ballroom stage.

On night one, DSO built a setlist of their own, choosing songs they enjoy playing, including “Shakedown Street” and “Franklin’s Tower.”

For night two, the band turned back the clock, recreating the Grateful Dead’s November 11, 1973, performance at Winterland Arena in San Francisco. The evening’s first set featured favorites including “Bertha,” “Sugaree,” and “China Cat Sunflower,” closing with the three-part “Weather Report Suite.”

The second set continued with “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo” and “Big River” before moving into “Dark Star,” “Mind Left Body Jam,” “Eyes of the World,” and “China Doll.” “Sugar Magnolia” and “Uncle John’s Band” rounded out the set, followed by an encore of “Johnny B. Goode” and “And We Bid You Goodnight.”

From a setlist of the band’s own choosing to a recreation of a classic Grateful Dead show, the weekend gave fans two distinct ways to experience the music at the Ballroom.

Night Two — Set One

• Promised Land

• Bertha

• Greatest Story Ever Told

• Sugaree

• Black Throated Wind

• To Lay Me Down

• El Paso

• Ramble On Rose

• Me and Bobby McGee

• China Cat Sunflower

• I Know You Rider

• Me and My Uncle

• Loose Lucy

• Weather Report Suite: Prelude

• Weather Report Suite: Part I

• Let It Grow

Night Two — Set Two

• Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

• Big River

• Dark Star

• Mind Left Body Jam

• Eyes of the World

• China Doll

• Sugar Magnolia

• Uncle John’s Band

Encore

• Johnny B. Goode

• And We Bid You Goodnight