This concert was onstage at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo on January 31, 2023.
Recreating the Grateful Dead live concert experience, Dark Star Orchestra will be live at the Fremont Theater on January 31.
Performing to critical acclaim for more than 20 years and for more than 3,000 shows, the group has built off the Dead’s extensive catalog and the talent of those seven musicians.
Relying on 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, members of the group seek out the unique style and sound of each era while simultaneously offering their own informed improvisations.
Dark Star Orchestra has performed throughout the entire United States, growing its fan base by playing at larger venues for two- or 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 more.
The band has featured guest performances from six original Grateful Dead members: Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, Vince Welnick, and Tom Constanten. Other notable guests have included Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman of Phish, Keller Williams, Warren Haynes, Steve Kimock, Peter Rowan, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot.
“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 says. “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.”