Tour NewsDark Star OrchestraBinghamton
Dark Star Orchestra Book Eight New York Shows, Including Utica and Binghamton
The Grateful Dead tribute band plays eight New York shows at five venues between September and January, opening at Saranac Brewery in Utica on September 15.
Aug 31, 2026
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Dark Star Orchestra will play eight New York shows at five venues between September and January, including the Broome County Forum Theatre in Binghamton on Tuesday, November 24.
The nearest of the dates comes first. The band plays Saranac Brewery in Utica on Tuesday, September 15, its only Upstate stop before the November run.
The New York shows sit inside a longer itinerary that opens in Virginia in September, works through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in November, and closes with four Florida nights in early December before a three-night New Year’s stand in Port Chester.
The New York dates
| Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Tue, Sep 15 | Utica | Saranac Brewery |
| Fri, Nov 13 | Albany | Palace Theatre |
| Tue, Nov 24 | Binghamton | Broome County Forum Theatre |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Huntington | The Paramount |
| Sat, Nov 28 | Huntington | The Paramount |
| Thu, Dec 31 | Port Chester | The Capitol Theatre |
| Fri, Jan 1 | Port Chester | The Capitol Theatre |
| Sat, Jan 2 | Port Chester | The Capitol Theatre |
Neither the Palace Theatre’s own events page nor the Broome County Forum’s listed the November dates as of August 31. The Forum’s calendar carried events only through early November. Show times and ticket prices for the two Upstate theatre dates were not published at either venue at the time of writing.
The 2,000th show came to Ithaca
Dark Star Orchestra reached its 2,000th performance at the State Theatre in Ithaca on November 19, 2011.
The band has since passed 3,200 shows, and the Ithaca date remains one of two round-number milestones it has marked in public. The 1,000th came at the Carolina Theatre in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 29, 2004.
The State Theatre, at 107 West State Street, is the last remaining historic performing arts theatre in Tompkins County. Its own fall calendar runs from September through December.
What the band does on stage
Formed in Chicago in 1997, Dark Star Orchestra performs shows drawn from the roughly 2,500 concerts the Grateful Dead played across 30 years.
On most nights the band performs a complete original set list, song by song and in order, adapting its phrasing, vocal arrangements and equipment to the era of the show being recreated. The band does not announce which show it is playing in advance.
The current lineup is Jeff Mattson on lead guitar, Rob Eaton on rhythm guitar, Rob Barraco on keyboards, Skip Vangelas on bass, Lisa Mackey on vocals and harmonica, and Rob Koritz and Dino English on drums.
Grateful Dead members including Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Donna Jean Godchaux, Vince Welnick and Tom Constanten have all performed on stage with the group.
A Reckoning tribute in Washington
The November 21 date at The Anthem in Washington is a Rex Foundation benefit marking the 45th anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s Reckoning.
The band will recreate a full three-set show from the Reckoning era, one acoustic set followed by two electric. As with the rest of the tour, the specific set list will not be announced beforehand.
Reckoning was released on April 1, 1981. It is a live acoustic double album, drawn from recordings made between September 25 and October 31, 1980 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The Binghamton theatre
The Broome County Forum Theatre opened in 1919 and has also operated as the Capri Theatre and the Broome Center for the Performing Arts. It seats 1,522 with a pit orchestra and 1,553 without one.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. It is the home performing space for the Binghamton Philharmonic and Tri-Cities Opera.
The full tour routing is on JamBase.
Dark Star Orchestra play Saranac Brewery, Utica, on September 15; the Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Avenue, Albany, on November 13; and the Broome County Forum Theatre, 236 Washington Street, Binghamton, on November 24. Two nights follow at The Paramount in Huntington on November 27 and 28, and three at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester on December 31, January 1 and January 2.
Sources: Jambands, July 28, JamBase tour dates, Jambands, October 25, 2011, Wikipedia, Dark Star Orchestra, Wikipedia, Broome County Forum Theatre, Wikipedia, Reckoning, Palace Theatre events, Photograph on Wikimedia Commons.
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