Loyal Grateful Dead fans who were born a few decades too late to appreciate the band's performances can have a Dead-like experience when the Dark Star Orchestra (DSO) comes to town next week.

DSO, an acclaimed tribute band to the Grateful Dead, will appear at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave. The band picks a show from one of the 2,500 performed during the Dead's 30-year career and recreates the exact set list.

Everything from the specific phrasing to the position of microphones is detailed after the specific era of the performance, and the date and venue is left unannounced until the end of the show to keep the fans guessing.

"They are recreating the music that the Grateful Dead performed, but they have a unique spin to it," said DSO spokesman Dave Weissman.

Weissman added that, like an orchestra, DSO adds a contemporary twist to a classic.

"They present it in the same way an orchestra plays Bach or Mozart," he said. "Just like the players in an orchestra are esteemed musicians, they aren't creating their own music, but are instead playing it with their own approach and virtuosity."

But, as the Grateful Dead itself was largely improvisational in performances, DSO has plenty of room for its own creative expression.

"Nothing is contrived," said DSO rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rob Eaton, who fills the shoes of the Dead's Bob Weir.

"We play with the same kind of passion it was created in," Eaton said. "We don't copy, because that would be contrary to the entire structure of how the music was originally created."

A group of "Deadheads" formed DSO in 1997. The members attended about 800 Grateful Dead performances combined.

"I was as big a Deadhead as anyone coming to see us," said Eaton, who personally attended more than 400 Grateful Dead shows. "I approach it as a historian and a lover of the music, so what I'm translating musically is as pure and honest as I can be to the fans."

When the band first began playing gigs in Chicago, members didn't expect the near-instant success of sold-out performances and the acclaim received from publications such as USA Today and Rolling Stone.

"None of us thought that it would get to the level that it's at," Eaton said. "It was something fun to do on a Tuesday in Chicago and we never thought that it would be long-term."

The band is so popular, in fact, that Dave Wells, Crowbar operations director, even toyed with the idea of booking them for two nights in a row.

"Musically, they are beyond compare," Wells said. "My advice is to hurry up and buy the tickets because they will sell out."

Part of the band's popularity can be chalked up to the large audience demographic, as they have pull with both old and new fans.

"The fan base is full of teenagers and young 20-somethings who never saw the Grateful Dead, but it's also made up of hippies who saw the Dead in their heyday," Weissman said.

DSO recently released Live at the Fillmore, a DVD/CD set that features a special guest performance from former Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux.

Godchaux is not the only member of the Dead to meet up with the band, as four other originals have also joined DSO on stage.

"When we hear it from the original members that they love what we're doing and appreciate us keeping the music alive, it's the best compliment," Eaton said. "The Grateful Dead family has been very supportive of us, and we're very humbled by the privilege to be doing what we're doing."