Forgotten Hits Reader Tim Kubat sent us this review of the Jefferson
Starship Concert he saw in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Saturday, June
14th.
Here it is for all of our other readers to enjoy!
I had the opportunity to attend Jefferson Starship's concert in Grand Junction, CO, on Saturday (6/14) at the Two Rivers Convention Center. It was billed a Flag Day concert for past and present veterans and free tickets were given to veterans and what was left was offered to the public.
Though I have never served in the military, there was a lot of patriotism in the air, with a pre-concert video by Gary Lewis promoting the non-profit group HHV - Help Hospitalized Veterans, and a big thank you segment to all the vets that were in attendance.
As most are aware, so many people have been a part of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship over the years -- some have retired from performing (Grace Slick), some have gone to Rock And Roll Heaven (Marty Balin) and others have gone their own ways (Mickey Thomas). Nonetheless, the current lineup is still worth seeing, with founding Airplane member Paul Kantner (guitar and vocals), original Jefferson Starship member David Freiberg (guitar and vocals), later JS member Donny Baldwin (percussion), and newer additions Chris Smith (keyboard), Jude Gold (guitar) and Cathy Richardson (vocals) in the line up.
The group started out with their first official hit as Jefferson Starship, "Ride The Tiger", then went back and forth between the Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship years with songs like "Count On Me", "Miracles" "White Rabbit" and others.
73-year-old Kantner spent half of the concert seated on an amp case while playing the guitar, while 75-year-old Freiberg was standing the whole time with Richardson and Gold. Needless to say, when the septuagenarians sang, they sang loud and strong as if they were still in their 40s or 50s.
Cathy Richardson covered all of the Grace Slick and Marty Balin vocals but good! Born in *1969* (yes, 1969!!!), Cathy stole the show with her renditions of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love". During the song "Jane", she even hinted at her ability to sing like Janis Joplin, as she was the star in the off-Broadway play "Love, Janis". She was also playing "dueling drummers" alongside Donny Baldwin during one of their songs. And when it comes to playing the cowbell, she makes Will Farrell look like a novice (that last observation was my wife's, but yeah, she CAN make leather out of a cowbell).
They did a quick encore dedicated to the veterans in attendance, bringing up to the stage an Iraq War vet and his family for their last song called "Volunteers For America".
All in all, the 90-minute concert was great, although the acoustics weren't the best -- it was held in the main exhibit hall of the Convention Center and all tickets were "floor seats" -- but it was great to see a member of the Rock Hall making a stop in Western Colorado and playing music that modern-day radio is ignoring more and more as time goes on. They already have tour dates set up through the end of 2015 -- the 50th Anniversary of the Airplane, so catch a "flight" if you can!
-- Tim Kubat
Here's a list of upcoming show dates in case you'd like to catch Jefferson Starship in concert:
Click here: Jefferson Starship2014Teaching the Computers to Dream
Here it is for all of our other readers to enjoy!
I had the opportunity to attend Jefferson Starship's concert in Grand Junction, CO, on Saturday (6/14) at the Two Rivers Convention Center. It was billed a Flag Day concert for past and present veterans and free tickets were given to veterans and what was left was offered to the public.
Though I have never served in the military, there was a lot of patriotism in the air, with a pre-concert video by Gary Lewis promoting the non-profit group HHV - Help Hospitalized Veterans, and a big thank you segment to all the vets that were in attendance.
As most are aware, so many people have been a part of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship over the years -- some have retired from performing (Grace Slick), some have gone to Rock And Roll Heaven (Marty Balin) and others have gone their own ways (Mickey Thomas). Nonetheless, the current lineup is still worth seeing, with founding Airplane member Paul Kantner (guitar and vocals), original Jefferson Starship member David Freiberg (guitar and vocals), later JS member Donny Baldwin (percussion), and newer additions Chris Smith (keyboard), Jude Gold (guitar) and Cathy Richardson (vocals) in the line up.
The group started out with their first official hit as Jefferson Starship, "Ride The Tiger", then went back and forth between the Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship years with songs like "Count On Me", "Miracles" "White Rabbit" and others.
73-year-old Kantner spent half of the concert seated on an amp case while playing the guitar, while 75-year-old Freiberg was standing the whole time with Richardson and Gold. Needless to say, when the septuagenarians sang, they sang loud and strong as if they were still in their 40s or 50s.
Cathy Richardson covered all of the Grace Slick and Marty Balin vocals but good! Born in *1969* (yes, 1969!!!), Cathy stole the show with her renditions of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love". During the song "Jane", she even hinted at her ability to sing like Janis Joplin, as she was the star in the off-Broadway play "Love, Janis". She was also playing "dueling drummers" alongside Donny Baldwin during one of their songs. And when it comes to playing the cowbell, she makes Will Farrell look like a novice (that last observation was my wife's, but yeah, she CAN make leather out of a cowbell).
They did a quick encore dedicated to the veterans in attendance, bringing up to the stage an Iraq War vet and his family for their last song called "Volunteers For America".
All in all, the 90-minute concert was great, although the acoustics weren't the best -- it was held in the main exhibit hall of the Convention Center and all tickets were "floor seats" -- but it was great to see a member of the Rock Hall making a stop in Western Colorado and playing music that modern-day radio is ignoring more and more as time goes on. They already have tour dates set up through the end of 2015 -- the 50th Anniversary of the Airplane, so catch a "flight" if you can!
-- Tim Kubat
Here's a list of upcoming show dates in case you'd like to catch Jefferson Starship in concert:
Click here: Jefferson Starship2014Teaching the Computers to Dream
