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Kirby Center draws admiration in entertainment industry

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And the best non-rock concert at the Kirby Center is …

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Since 1986, the F.M. Kirby Center has put legendary rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll acts on its stage.</p><p>On Sept. 1, we presented Times Leader readers with a list of 12 rock concerts that could be considered among the best to come to the theater. Candidates were chosen based on reputation of the group, concert attendance and quality of performance, but careful consideration also was given to diversifying the pool of acts to cover multiple genres of rock and artists who influenced that style of music.</p><p>Santana earned the honor of best rock concert, garnering 25 percent of the votes. B.B. King and Alice Cooper were the runners-up with 16.7 percent.</p><p>Performances on the ballot consisted of Santana, Sept. 13, 1988; Joe Cocker, Oct. 7, 1989; Joan Jett, Feb. 2, 1989; Bob Dylan, Nov. 15, 1991; Allman Brothers Band, March 8, 1992; Bruce Hornsby, Sept. 3, 1995; Jethro Tull, Aug. 30, 2001; David Crosby and Graham Nash, Oct. 9, 2007; B.B. King, Nov. 18, 2007; Alice Cooper, Oct. 18, 2013; Chris Cornell, Oct. 17, 2015; and Joe Walsh, Aug. 4, 2016.</p><p>A Times Leader article covering the 1988 Santana performance said, in part: &#8220;Surrounded by most of the lineup of his original band, Santana pulled magic from the past and continued his long-lived career and reputation as one of the most prolific guitarists in pop music history.&#8221;</p><p>Doug Wolfe of Wilkes-Barre Township was in attendance that evening, and said he considers the performance one of the greatest he&#8217;s seen at the Kirby Center.</p><p>&#8220;It was unbelievable,&#8221; Wolfe said. &#8220;Santana was incredible that night. It was the original band, something like their 20th anniversary. It was Michael Shrieve, and they had Gregg Rolie and Chester Thompson on keyboards. I was front-row center, and for most of that show, I made total eye contact with Carlos.</p><p>&#8220;It was great.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Carlos Santana performs at a concert in Israel in July. His band, Santana, won the Times Leader&#8217;s readership poll for best rock concert in the history of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s F.M. Kirby Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/web1_CarlosSantana.jpg</photo0><caption0>Carlos Santana performs at a concert in Israel in July. His band, Santana, won the Times Leader&#8217;s readership poll for best rock concert in the history of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s F.M. Kirby Center. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP Photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or Twitter @TLArts</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Santana wins Times Leader readers’ poll for best Kirby rock concert