Following their successful regional performances in 2024, Dark Star Orchestra announced they will return to NEPA in March 2025.
Photo Credit — Submitted by F.M. Kirby Center
Dark Star Orchestra to play two nights at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Photo Credit — Submitted by F.M. Kirby Center
WILKES-BARRE – Following the resounding success of their 2024 performances, Dark Star Orchestra, the acclaimed Grateful Dead tribute band, will return to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts for two spectacular shows.
Mark your calendars for Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, 2025, with both performances beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets will be available to the general public starting Friday, December 13, at 10:00 a.m. Exclusive pre-sale for Kirby Members begins Thursday, December 12, at 10:00 a.m. These shows do tend to sell out, so book sooner rather than later!
Purchase tickets online at kirbycenter.org, ticketmaster.com, and slpconcerts.net or visit the F.M. Kirby Center Box Office during regular business hours
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 set list 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.
Dark Star Orchestra offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they encapsulate their energy and the experience. It’s about a sense of familiarity. It’s about a feeling that grabs listeners and takes over.
Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the United States 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, 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, “Dark Star Jubilee” currently in its eighth year, where DSO headline all three nights and are joined by established and up and coming national touring acts.Additionally, 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. Other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many more.
“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.”
