Article Contributed by Philip Andrews
Published on 2026-09-28
Dark Star Orchestra | Williamsburg, VA | September 26th, 2026 - photos by Philip Andrews
Fifty years and two days after the Grateful Dead played William & Mary Hall, Dark Star Orchestra rolled onto the same campus and played that night’s show from top to bottom. Same songs, same order, same segues. The only thing that changed was the room. In 1976, it was a college gym. On September 26, 2026, it was the Martha Wren Briggs Amphitheatre at Lake Matoaka, a gorgeous open-air bowl tucked into the woods on the William & Mary campus, looking out over the water.
It also happened to be my birthday. I can’t think of a better way to spend one.
The show was sold out, and the sky spent most of the evening threatening to ruin it. It never did. I’m not saying the band and the crowd kept the rain away by sheer force of good vibes, but I’m not saying they didn’t, either.
DSO has built a career on recreating Dead shows, and this pick gave them a lot to work with. The first set was a classic mid-’70s run through “Promised Land,” “Deal,” “Cassidy,” “Sugaree,” “Row Jimmy” and “Tennessee Jed” before closing with “Playing in the Band” wrapped around “Supplication.” The second set opened with “Might As Well” and “Samson & Delilah,” then went deep: “Help on the Way” into “Slipknot!,” through “Drums,” back into “Slipknot!,” and out into “Franklin’s Tower.” From there, it was “The Music Never Stopped,” a gorgeous “Stella Blue” and “Around & Around” to close, with “U.S. Blues” for the encore.
The sound in the Martha Wren Briggs Amphitheatre was incredible, clear and full from every spot I stood in. The folks who run this place have promised to bring more big names to what is still a bit of a hidden gem, and I can’t wait to see who turns up further down the road.
If you closed your eyes, you might have believed you were hearing the Dead from fifty years ago. That’s the whole trick with DSO, and it still works. It isn’t an impression. It’s a band that knows this music well enough to play it the way it was played on one specific night, and then let it breathe.
The crowd matched the band. From the pit to the last row, people were moving. It was a real cross-section of the Dead family, and at least a few folks in the amphitheatre had been in William & Mary Hall for the original in 1976. I can’t imagine what it felt like to hear that same setlist come back around, on the same campus, half a century later.
The best story I heard all night came from a couple on the rail. They told me their first date was at a DSO show in Hampton thirteen years ago. They were still dancing together at this one. That’s what this scene does. It keeps bringing people back, and sometimes it keeps them together.
Local band Wolph was in the house too and got to hang with the DSO crew during set break. It was a nice reminder that this music keeps getting passed down, from the Dead to the bands that recreate them to the young players coming up behind them.
Dark Star Orchestra didn’t just play a Grateful Dead show in Williamsburg. They brought one home.
Setlist: Dark Star Orchestra recreating the Grateful Dead’s September 24, 1976 show at William & Mary Hall
Set 1: “Promised Land,” “Deal,” “Cassidy,” “Sugaree,” “Looks Like Rain,” “Row Jimmy,” “Big River,” “Tennessee Jed,” “Playing in the Band” > “Supplication” > “Playing in the Band”
Set 2: “Might As Well,” “Samson & Delilah,” “Loser,” “New Minglewood Blues,” “Help on the Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Drums” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklin’s Tower” > “The Music Never Stopped” > “Stella Blue” > “Around & Around”
Encore: “U.S. Blues”
