Kirby Center hosts two nights of Dark Star Orchestra

Following the success of their sold-out show at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in 2023, Grateful Dead tribute Dark Star Orchestra returns to the venue for two nights of music on Friday, March 15^th and Saturday, March 16^th, 2024. The shows will begin at 8pm, with doors opening at 7pm.

Prices and Seating Information

Tickets for each night are $34.50, $39.50, $44.50, and $59.50, plus fees. A limited amount of two-day general admission passes are available for $79.00.

All floor tickets are general admission. Tickets for the mezzanine and balcony are reserved seating. Sales begin Friday, January 19^th at 10am, with a Kirby Member pre-sale beginning Wednesday, January 17^th at 10am.

Purchase tickets online at kirbycenter.org, ticketmaster.com, slpconcerts.net, and at the F.M. Kirby Center Box Office during our regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 10:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., or by calling 570-826-1100. Dark Star Orchestra is part of the PNC Celebrity Series at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.

Learn More About the DSO

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 performs a show based on a set list from the 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. By recreating set lists from the past, and by developing their own sets of Dead songs, DSO offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. Honoring both the band and the fans, DSO’s members seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations. 

The band offers much more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, they truly 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 that the fan receives when attending a Dark Star Orchestra show.

DSO performs across 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. The band 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.   

Fans and critics aen’t 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.” 

More information on Dark Star Orchestra can be found at darkstarorchestra.net.