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Members of the Dead Letter Office R.E.M. tribute band are: (from left to right) David Shahin, Chuck Eaton, Chris Sanchirico, Matt King and Scott Ryan.

At 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8, Dead Letter Office, the five-member international touring R.E.M. tribute band based in Western New York, will perform all of R.E.M.’s greatest hits and more in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro.

This R.E.M. tribute concert is presented by WOGA Radio 92.3fm and the Deane Center.

The doors will open at 7 p.m., the night of the show. There will be two 60-minute sets of live music with an intermission.

WOGA Radio will have a tent on the sidewalk at the Deane Center’s front door with prizes and giveaways for concert attendees.

Band members are: Chris Sanchirico, lead vocalist; Matt King on lead guitar; David Shahin on keyboards and guitar; Chuck Eaton on bass guitar; and Scott Ryan on drums.

Founded in 2014, Dead Letter Office was joined on stage by two original R.E.M. band members at different concerts, by Mike Mills in Buffalo, New York and by Peter Buck in San Francisco, California before a crowd of 8000.

The Dead Letter Office has received critical acclaim from Rolling Stone Magazine and MTV News.

An American rock band from Athens, Georgia, R.E.M. was formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, when they were students at the University of Georgia.

R.E.M. released its first single, “Radio Free Europe” in 1981 followed by the “Chronic Town” EP in 1982. In 1983, the group released “Murmur”, its critically acclaimed debut album and built its reputation over the next few years with similarly acclaimed releases every year from 1984 to 1988. They were: “Reckoning”, “Fables of the Reconstruction”, “Life’s Rich Pageant”, “Document” and “Green” that included “Dead Letter Office”, a b-side compilation. In 1987, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit with the single “The One I Love.”

The next 10 years were the band’s most successful. R.E.M. was one of the first alternative rock bands. Their most commercially successful albums were R.E.M.’s “Out of Time” (1991) and “Automatic for the People” (1992), which put them in the vanguard of alternative rock just as it was becoming mainstream. “Out of Time” received seven nominations at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards, and lead single “Losing My Religion” was R.E.M.’s highest-charting and best-selling hit.

In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. “Monster” (1994) continued the band’s run of success. “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” (1996), is hailed as the band’s last great album and the members’ favorite, growing in cult status over the years.

After Berry left in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. “Reveal” (2001), referred to as “a conscious return to their classic sound,” received general acclaim.

Looking for a change of sound after the lukewarm reception for “Around the Sun” (2004), the band released the well-received “Accelerate” (2008) and “Collapse into Now” (2011).

In 2011, the band broke up amicably with members devoting time to solo projects after having sold more than 85 million albums worldwide and becoming one of world’s best-selling music acts.

This is a BYOB event with table seating and a dance floor so bring beverages and snacks and reserve a table to enjoy the music with family and friends.

Admission is $25. For tickets and a table, call the Deane Center (570) 724-6220 or visit deanecenter.com.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800