Legendary Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra will play in Utica at The Stanley Theatre on March 17, 2022. This follows the group’s pair of shows to ring in 2022 at The Palace Theatre in Albany on December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2021.
Performing to critical acclaim for over 20 years and over 3,000 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.
View this show and more Grateful Dead shows from across the years in New York State with our interactive map below!
By recreating set lists from the past and 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.
In addition to appearing at some of the nation’s top festivals, Dark Star Orchestra hosts its own annual music festival and campaign gathering, titled the “Dark Star Jubilee,” currently in its eighth year where they 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, the band 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.’ Featuring an ocean-side stage, Dark Star Orchestra sets up camp to perform shows for four nights along the tropical sands of an all-inclusive resort, selling out the event each year for hundreds of lucky attendees.
For us it’s a chance to recreate some of the magic that was created for us over the years. 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.
keyboardist and vocalist Rob Barraco
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.
The Stanley Theatre has always adhered to all recommendations and guidelines from Oneida County in regards to COVID-19. With this said, the theatre will require any applicable mandates at the time of the performance.
Tickets for Dark Star Orchestra in Utica will go on sale on Monday, December 20 at 10:00 a.m. and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, or by calling The Stanley Theatre Box Office at 315-724-4000.
