A 'Dark Star' rises over Dewey on Aug. 7

Deadheads, get out your favorite tie-dye and strap on your best dancing sandals, because the Dead are taking over Dewey once again this weekend, with an Aug. 7 performance at the Bottle & Cork.

Well, okay, not exactly the Grateful Dead, but the next best thing: the Dark Star Orchestra (DSO), a tribute band that recreates Dead shows, right down to the equipment and setlist from a specific night in the band’s 30-plus years of touring.

Where other tribute bands merely settle for a “greatest-hits” type of show, DSO prides itself on emulating its favorite band right down to the lineup changes and setlist adjustments over the years.

The beauty of the DSO’s concert structure is, not only do Grateful Dead fans get to listen to many of their favorite tunes from back in the day, they also get the chance to try and guess what year (maybe even what date!) the show they are hearing was originally played.

But where a real Grateful Dead could be an iffy proposition – Jerry Garcia’s long, slow slide into heavy drug use hampered a lot of shows beginning in the mid-’80s – DSO’s expert musicians make sure each and every recreation they do is pitch-perfect and spot-on.

In the Dead’s heyday, however – widely debated among fans, but general consensus is that their best years were from 1973-1977 – they were a true psychedelic hurricane, and DSO’s latest offering is a tribute to one of the absolute best.

The words “Cornell” and “1977” can cause shivers in even the most “Dead-icated” of fans (sorry, couldn’t resist): the band’s spring ’77 run at colleges in upstate New York was widely considered one of its absolute finest, with a May 8 show at Cornell University serving as the high-water mark. The show contains a definitive version of the band’s “Scarlet Begonias” that truly showcases the Dead at its finest: fat, liquid thumps from Phil Lesh’s bass balancing perfectly with Jerry Garcia’s ice-slice lead guitar, driven by the band’s dual drummers.

DSO has released a two-disc DVD performance of its recreation of the show, which was performed on its 30th anniversary, at the very same location, Barton Hall at Cornell. The DVD is available at www.darkstarorchestra.net.

The live experience, however, is only available at the Bottle & Cork, on Route 1 south in Dewey Beach. For more information, call 227-7272.