Dark Star Orchestra returns to F.M. Kirby Center for two nights

From Press Release The Weekender, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·3 min read

Jan. 16—WILKES-BARRE — Following success of their sold-out 2023 show at the F.M. Kirby Center, Grateful Dead tribute Dark Star Orchestra will play two nights at the Wilkes-Barre theater in 2024 on March 15 and March 16.

Dark Star Orchestra is part of the PNC Celebrity Series at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. The shows begin at 8:00 p.m. with doors opening at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets start at $34.50 and go on sale to the public on Friday, January 19 at 10:00 a.m. with Kirby Member presale beginning Wednesday, January 17 at 10:00 a.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at kirbycenter.org, ticketmaster.com, slpconcerts.net, and at the F.M. Kirby Center Box Office during regular business hours. All floor tickets for this show are general admission, tickets for the mezzanine and balcony are reserved seating.

Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3000 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead live concert experience. Their shows are built off the Dead's extensive catalog and the talent of these seven fine musicians.

On any given night, the band will perform a show based on a setlist from the Grateful Dead's 30 years of extensive touring or use their catalog to program a unique set list for the show. This allows fans both young and old to share in the experience. Honoring both the band and the fans, Dark Star Orchestra's members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.

Dark Star Orchestra offers more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they encapsulate the energy and the experience. It's about a sense of familiarity. It's about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over. It's about that contagious energy — in short, it's about the complete experience and consistent quality show the fan receives at a Dark Star Orchestra show.

Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the entire United States, including a sold-out debut at Colorado's Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater, plus shows in Europe and the Caribbean with the band touching down in seven different countries.

DSO continues to grow its fan base by playing at larger venues for two and even three-night stands (like they'll do for Wilkes-Barre in 2024), as well as performing at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, Milwaukee's SummerFest, The Peach Music Festival, Jam Cruise, Wanee Festival, SweetWater 420 Festival, Mountain Jam, and many more.

In addition to appearing at some of the nation's top festival, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual music festival and campaign gathering, titled the "Dark Star Jubilee", currently in its eighth year where DSO headline all three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up and coming national touring acts.

Beyond the shores of the United States, DSO has taken its internationally acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute to the beaches of Jamaica in the dead of winter for the past six years, with their event appropriately titled 'Jam in the Sand'.

Fans and critics haven't been the only people caught up in the spirit of a Dark Star show. The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, Tom Constanten and even toured with longtime Dead soundman, Dan Healy.

"For us it's a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years," keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco explains. "We offer a sort of a historical perspective at what it might have been like to go to a show in 1985, 1978 or whenever. Even for Deadheads who can say they've been to a hundred shows in the 90s, we offer something they never got to see live."

More information on Dark Star Orchestra can be found at: https://www.darkstarorchestra.net/.