Jersey Boyz

What does a New Jersey City Councilman and Grateful Dead tribute band The Dark Star Orchestra have in common? Shockingly enough, this past Saturday night it was the government official who acted inappropriately, and not the revelers that came to see one of the best tribute bands in the jam scene today. Saturday night, drunken New Jersey Councilman, Steve Lipski, was arrested for urinating on a crowd of concert goers from the balcony of a Washington City nightclub, police and sources told JamBase reporter Rich Schapiro. "He was very drunk," the source stated, noting that this is not the first occasion Mr. Lipski has caused a problem at this notable Washington night club. "We've dealt with this man before," the source added. "He's never peed on anybody, but he gets really belligerent and drunk." The councilman, who is currently serving his second term in office, was let off easily and charged only with assault. One of the funniest things about this incident is that this is not the first time a New Jersey official has been caught with his pants down. Photos showing Jerramiah Healy, still a councilman at the time, naked and passed out on his front stoop were widely circulated in 2004 days before he was elected mayor. These facts raise some interesting questions. Firstly, how were these men able to climb the social hierarchy high enough to be elected into a position of importance to the community? Secondly and more importantly, what exactly were the voters thinking when voting to put these men into office? Unfortunately, Mr. Lipski urinated on an audience that was attending one of my favorite groups, The Dark Star Orchestra (or simply DSO). DSO gained popularity by recreating sets that include songs from nearly 2,500 that the Grateful Dead wrote over their thirty year ride. They recreate historical sets almost exactly as the Dead played them; going song for song in the same order as the original set. This may suggest they are just copying the Dead note for note, but this is not the case. Although they copy the set lists exactly, they use each song as their own vehicle for musical exploration just as the Dead used to do. To add even more authenticity, DSO rearranges their musical equipment, phrasing, and voice arrangements to the era in which they are playing. For example, if DSO is playing a show from the 1970's, they will use equipment that actually sounds like it is from the 70's. At the end of every show, the band announces the date and venue where the show they just played originally took place. This allows for a true to life performance, which allows fans to actually "see" shows that happened long before their time. Although this recent catatrophe in Washington is an unheard of situation, lets just hope the fans didn't let it put a "damper" on their DSO experience.