Gathering for the free concert announcement on Public Square are, from left: Alan K. Stout, George C. Brown, Mike Slusser, Larry Newman, and Lindsay Landis.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Visit Luzerne County’s Alan Stout stands by during Thursday’s press conference.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Diamond City Partnership Executive Director Larry Newman speaks during Thursday’s concert announcement.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
The Luzerne Foundation Community Impact Director, Lindsay Landis, offers remarks at Thursday’s press conference on Public Square.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George C. Brown announces this summer’s concert performer.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE — Dire Straits Legacy will play a free concert on Public Square this summer on Friday, Aug. 14, Wilkes-Barre City officials announced Thursday.
“We try to get the best quality entertainment we can,” said Wilkes-Barre Mayor George C. Brown during the announcement on Public Square.
The band consists of several members who were directly involved with creating the music of the original band, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Alan Clark, Dire Straits’ first keyboardist and co-producer of the “On Every Street” album.
Other members of the band include Phil Palmer and Danny Cummings, both of whom recorded on the “On Every Street” album and performed on multiple global tours, and Mel Collins, featured on “Love Over Gold” and “Alchemy” albums, as well as the “Twisted By the Pool” EP.
The band’s frontman is Marco Caviglia, who, according to the Dire Straits Legacy website, is “one of the very few guitarists gifted enough to emulate the guitar style of Mark Knopfler,” who served as Dire Straits’ lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter before the band dissolved in 1995.
The concert will begin with an opener at 7 p.m., with Dire Straits Legacy taking the stage at 8 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets and chairs. Food vendors will be available on Public Square.
“This is not a cover band. They’re members of Dire Straits, playing the music of Dire Straits, right here on Public Square,” said Brown.
Others who attended the press conference and had a hand in organizing this year’s concert include: Diamond City Partnership’s Larry Newman, Visit Luzerne County’s Alan K. Stout, and the Luzerne Foundation’s Community Impact Director Lindsay Landis.
“Terrific choice of music this year, Mr. Mayor,” Stout said.
Newman expressed how much he appreciated being a part of bringing live music to Wilkes-Barre.
“This is the place where everybody comes to hear a wide variety of music performances throughout the year,” he said.
Additionally, Landis said the Luzerne Foundation loves “to be a part of bringing people together.”
Dire Straits Legacy brings together musicians who recorded and toured with Dire Straits, performing iconic hits like “Money for Nothing,” “Sultans of Swing,” “Brothers in Arms,” and more.
The Grammy award-winning British rock band was active from 1977 to 1988 and 1990 to 1995, and has sold 120 million records worldwide.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
Wilkes-Barre’s free summer concert series began four years ago with a show by The Guess Who, which drew over 5,000 people to Public Square.
The series continued with Starship in 2024 and John Oats in 2025.
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