Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra is back at Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on May 19
From a press release:
Chicago Grateful Dead tribute band and Peach Music Festival alum Dark Star Orchestra will return to Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe on Saturday, May 19 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $27 in advance or $32 the day of the show, go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. and will be available at ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets, the Penn’s Peak box office (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe), and Roadies Restaurant and Bar (325 Maury Rd., Jim Thorpe). Penn’s Peak box office and Roadies Restaurant ticket sales are walk-up only; no phone orders.
Performing to critical acclaim worldwide for over 20 years and over 2,600 shows, Dark Star Orchestra continues the Grateful Dead 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. By recreating setlists from the past, and by developing their own sets of Dead songs, Dark Star Orchestra offers a continually evolving artistic outlet within this musical canon. 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 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.
Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the United States and Europe. They continue to grow their fan base by playing at larger venues for two and even three night stands, as well as performing at major music festivals including Bonnaroo, All Good Festival, Gathering of the Vibes, Mountain Jam, Summer Camp, Wakarusa, 10,000 Lakes, and the Peach Music Festival in Scranton. In addition, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual gathering, Dark Star Jubilee, where they headline three nights and are joined by a mix of established and up-and-coming national touring acts.
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 five original Grateful Dead members – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, and 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,” rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rob Eaton 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.”
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Dark Star Orchestra performing at the 2017 Peach Music Festival at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton here.
