Wilkes-Barre Offers Variety of Music Venues
The dream of the arena happened. And today, the Wachovia arena has become home to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, a minor league hockey team. But also, the area around the arena grew extremely rapidly, bringing in nearly every box store and national chain there is. With three huge shopping centers spawning from the arena’s presence, it brought propserity to the area, as well as top rate entertainment from music, family shows and more. However, the arena is not the only venue in the area. Here is a look at some venues in the WIlkes-Barre/Scranton area of Northeast Pennsylvania.
F.M. Kirby Center
Public Square, Downtown Wilkes-Barre
The Kirby family has left a legacy in the Wilkes-Barre area with many centers, school buildings and more named for them. The Kirby Center, remodeled in the 90s, is a historic theater with beautiful interior. It was opened as a movie house in 1938 and closed in 1977- due to developments around the “strip” which offered a movie-mulitplex and shopping venues. In 1972, the area was hit with the biggest natural disaster yet, the Agnes Flood. Not many downtown business survived; yet, the movie house was able to live on for a few more years. The owner of the theater gutted the lobby, removing and selling much of the history. In 1985, department store owner Al Boscov, with the help of the community, restored the theater and reopened it as the F.M Kirby Center in 1986. More of the history can be found at www.kirbycenter.org.
Today, the 2000 (give or take) seat theater brings in national music acts (Faith Hill played there in 1998 just before she hit it big- now, she can fill an arena!), off-broadway shows, local music, comedians, family shows and more. In addition, they also still, true to their history, have film nights. There are no food and drinks allowed in the theater; however, there are concessions in the lobby. This is truly a gem in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza
Wilkes-Barre Township
As mentioned above, the arena is the newest addition to the Wilkes-Barre entertainment scene. (However, it was the First Union Arena when it opened- bank mergers!) The arena officially opened in 1999, with its first event being a sold-out hockey game. The arena seats over 10,000 and therefore is able to bring in large tours all year-round. Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Kenny Rogers, Def Leppard, Lynrd Skynrd, Janet Jackson, Brooks and Dunn, Kid Rock, Bette Midler, Cher, James Taylor, American Idols and more have jammed at the arena. In addition to the Penguins, many other sporting events were held there like ArenaCross, Monster Jam and also events such as Disney on Ice and the WWE. There is always something happening at the Wachovia Arena. There is ample parking and plenty of places to eat at surrounding the arena, and pricey choices inside along the ‘midway’ around the arena. Check them out at www.wachoviaarena.com.
Ford Pavilion at Montage Mountain
Moosic, Pa.
This outdoor venue was once located right at the bottom of the ski slopes at Montage Mountain. They transformed the ski area in a concert venue each summer. In the late 90s, however, they moved the venue to a permanent location just down the mountain. There is a huge cover making the reserved seating area a great place to be for rain-or-shine shows. The general admission area is behind the pavilion, going up a hill. There are plenty of restrooms and vending areas to get food. National acts have included Bon Jovi, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, James Taylor, Meatloaf, Brintey Spears and many, many more.
The only downside is that since this is truly on a mountain, there is only one way in and one way out, which means traffic can be horrendous. Some ticket packages offer ‘gold’ parking; however, if one does not have that option they are advised to get there early. Once parking at the new site runs out, folks can park at the ski area and make the walk or take a shuttle. This reporter once arrived late to a Toby Keith show and since the ski lot was also full, had to park down below the slops by a maintenance building. We got out after 2:00a.m. Kudos to the parking staff for being able to take charge and have things run smooth. The shows are worth the parking frustrations- and parking is only a real problem when shows are sold out. For summer schedule, visit www.fordpavilion.com.
Other venues of interest:
In neighboring Scranton, there is the absolutley gorgeous Scranton Cultural Center located on Washington Avenue in downtown. This building is amazing in architecture, and has many neat passageways and ‘secret’ rooms which are used for small, acoustic shows. The main stage is in the theater, which seats about 1500 and attracts midrange acts like Nickel Creek, Rusted Root and other bands who are popular- but not yer ‘arena caliber.’ Behind the theater stage is an audtiorium. For general admission shows, this side is used- the same stage, but the band faces the other way. This is pretty neat. This room as a floor and balcony. Aside from music, the plcae offers comedians, orchestra concerts, family shows and theater productions. The bathrooms are huge and ample. (www.scrantonculturalcenter.org)
In the nearby Poconos, there is Penn’s Peak in Jim Thorpe. Its tagline is “Entertainment Above the Rest” beacuse, well, they are. The view is spectacular! There is a restaurant upstairs with the concert venus downstairs. There is a gutiar and piano shaped-bar and everything is the place is solid wood and total craftmanship. The former venue owners (then Rambler’s Ranch) were carpenters and had a country band; and they built the place for themselves to put on shows and play. This palce plays hosts to, like the theaters, big name acts who cannot fill a larger venue. Over the years Rascal Flatts, Jo Dee Messina, Neal McCoy, Journey, Air Supply and others have played. (www.pennspeak.com)
