WARREN — Wish You Were Here will play Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety in honor of the album’s 50th anniversary when it performs Saturday at the Robins Theatre.

Then again, that doesn’t make it substantially different from most shows the Pink Floyd tribute band plays.

“Because it’s so classic and iconic, we play the majority of it at most of our shows,” co-founder Eroc Sosinski said. “At least half of it we play at every show.”

Released March 1, 1973, “Dark Side of the Moon” has sold more than 15 million copies in the U.S. and more than 45 million albums worldwide.

While never a “singles” band, Pink Floyd had its first top 40 hit in North America from the album with “Money,” which peaked at No. 13. The chart-topping “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” from “The Wall” was its only other top 40 hit in the states.

“Dark Side of the Moon” only topped the Billboard Top 200 album chart for a single week, but it spent an unprecedented 741 consecutive weeks on the chart, and it continues to be the gateway drug to classic rock for new generations of listeners.

Sosinski said “Animals,” released four years later, is the first Pink Floyd album he remembers hearing, but his older sister also had “Dark Side of the Moon,” and he was a enough of a fan that he had a poster of the album cover — a single beam of light refracted by a prism into a rainbow against a black background — hanging in his dorm room at John Carroll University in the ’80s.

“It’s timeless,” Sosinski said. “The themes of birth and school and work and death are just universal, and the music really struck a nerve. It was the perfect combination of rock as well as atmosphere.

“I’ve just come to accept it as the pinnacle of their creative output. I never get tired of playing it and still find things to discover, whether it’s something technical or something emotional. That’s the beauty of it.”

Wish You Were Here was started in 1995, but the group’s roots date back to 1987, when Sosinski, bass and vocals, and Jim Tye, guitar and vocals, started doing a set of Pink Floyd material in their classic rock and originals band Harvest. That band became Tie-Dye Harvest in 1991 before evolving into the 10-member ensemble that is Wish You Were Here.

Saturday’s show will be the first date in Wish’s 50th and Beyond tour. Since the visual component of a Pink Floyd live show was nearly as important as the music, WYWH has added some new elements for this year’s performances.

“We’ve added some cool effects that are related to the themes of the album and the iconic imagery of the album that people are used to seeing,” Sosinski said.

“Dark Side of the Moon” will be played in order to kick off the second set on Saturday. The first set will include Pink Floyd favorites and rarities, and some tracks from the band’s other releases will follow “Dark Side.”

“It was a challenge to make the setlist,” Sosinski said. “Those songs are so iconic, it was strange to have them all grouped together in one set in terms of how shows are normally set up.”

“One thing that’s cool for the set is we’re mixing it up every show. There are songs we have to play, but there will be changes, different songs throughout the tour, to keep it interesting for fans who come to multiple shows.”

WYWH has built up a loyal fan base in the Mahoning Valley. It’s been a staple of the River Rock at the Amp concert series at the Warren Community Amphitheatre since the venue opened, and the tribute band’s shows at the Robins have out-sold most of the hitmakers who have performed at the theater since it reopened in 2020.

“It’s a beautiful intimate theater, a classic vibe but with modern conveniences,” Sosinski said of the Robins. “We have always enjoyed playing in Warren. The audiences there are very receptive to what we’ve done the last 15 years.

And what’s cool about the theater, it’s a different experience than seeing us at the amp. The lighting effects and the visuals are much more intense, and the sound is much more controlled.”

If you go …

WHO: Wish You Were Here

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Robins Theatre, 160 E. Market St., Warren

HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $15 to $35 and are available at the Robins box office and online at

robinstheatre.com.