Starship

[Steve Haynie]

Last night Starship played The Newberry Opera House, a 400+ seat venue almost in the middle of nowhere. The original event listing, season brochure, and tickets read "Jefferson Starship" along with photos of the band touring as Jefferson Starship. There was a switch, however, and that change in bands is significant. There are two groups using the name Starship.

Paul Kantner leads the official Jefferson Starship which has band members that go back to the 70's and 80's band. They reach into the Jefferson Airplane catalog along with early and less radio hit oriented Jefferson Starship music. Mickey Thomas has been doing shows in Las Vegas as Starship with a show that is full of radio hits, and that group is currently touring. The Mickey Thomas version of the band played last night.

The Newberry Opera House gets many, or maybe all, of its performers with corporate sponsorships and possibly ticket subscriptions. There are package deals on tickets within a series. Seeing the audience arrive for the evening there were some old hippies, but then there were some people who appeared to be in their 70's that may have been there just because they had tickets from a package or some other reason. Thinking about how original members of Jefferson Airplane are now in their 70's it is normal for people in that age range to have an interest in a Jefferson Airplane show, and the Jefferson Starship never abandoned its Airplane roots. The show for the evening was not really the old hippie band. Instead, it was going to be tilted more toward the 80's and pop hits of the first generation of MTV videos. While someone around 30 in 1982 would be around 70 today the crowd should have been closer to mid-40's because it was more focused on what Jefferson Starship was doing toward the end of its original run. There were many people in their late 40's and early 50's while the majority of the audience seeemed to be in their late 50's and 60's. Maybe four people were in their 20's. Oh, gosh. It was another one of those old folks shows.

My ticket was for front row center, as perfect a location as one could hope to score. Researching youtube and setlist.fm gave me an idea of what to expect. At 62, Mickey Thomas can sing all the songs for which he is known as well as he ever did. Unlike other singers who sang in a high range that now have lowered the octaves or keys in which they sing, Mickey Thomas hit his high notes. The Grace Slick stand-in, Stephanie Calvert, can really sing without having to try to be Grace Slick. She was there to sing the duets and satisfy the people expecting to hear White Rabbit. It was really a Mickey Thomas show that respected the old Airplane fans. The audience looked old. The band did not look young except for the girl. They played like a young band, though. There was no lack of enthusiasm for the music. Still, they were the hired backing band for Mickey Thomas. The total time for the show was just under 90 minutes.

This version of Starship is worthwhile, so if you get the chance to see them go ahead. You will be impressed if you like the music at all.

The set list was consistent with what had been posted for shows from last year, so this should be accurate.

Layin' It On The Line

No Way Out

Jane

Sara

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Stranger

Set The Night To Music

White Rabbit / Miracles / Count On Me / Somebody To Love

Fooled Around And Fell In Love

It's Not Enough

Find Your Way Back

Encore:

We Built This City

And for the sake of Mr. Matthes aversion to the song We Built This City, I saw people leaving before the encore. They must have been worried about getting out of the parking lot quickly. After all, with 400 seats there must have been thousands of cars to create an after-concert traffic jam.

[zenmindbeginner]

No Way Out, Jane and Find Your Way Back are my favorite Jefferson Starship songs.

I guess Miracles was a big make out song around the time I was born. It was always a very musical song to me with cool chords and interesting vocal turnarounds.

I actually really dig Balin's "Hearts" that he did in the 80's

I think I am the only person I know that air guitars whenever Jane comes on the radio

Jane is the perfect rock pop song IMHO. Craig rocking' that Rich Bitch through Carvin stacks is still in my memory banks.

That's some rock and roll there. Great review and it's great to know that Mickey can still sing even though Donnie fucked his face up severely one night after a show in the 90s. Just a couple of Irish blokes having fun after a gig right?

Singers... don't ever pick a fight with your drummer.

[silentman]

YES! WE BUILT THIS CITY AS A CLOSER!!!!!!

[rj2858]

"Someone around 30 in 1982 would be around 70 now ?????????"

How 'bout someone around 40 in '82? You almost made me wonder why I'll only be 54 this year with that math.

[cmatthes]

"WBTC" is quite possibly the worst song ever written/recorded.

Nails on a chalkboard. That band should have done hard time for unleashing that horrible beast upon this earth.

That being said, as Geoff mentioned above, the "Freedom At Point Zero" stuff is the best stuff that band put out and is very well done. Shame it began and ended there!

They just played a brand new live music bar/club called The Hamilton here in DC a week or so ago, I think.

[Bobby Marshall]

I think I am the only person I know that air guitars whenever Jane comes on the radio

+1 pretty straightforward but still gets me.

[Turdus]

You're a brave man Haynie. This is a band I would not go see live, even if Matthes said he'd buy the beers, and the tickets were free. Never owned anything by them, and always changed the station if I recognized them. Just being brutally honest here.

[DaveL]

Mickey Thomas? John Oates? or Bababooey. you decide..

[m chops]

Starship, of whatever iteration? Bah! Give me the Airplane!

[ScottM]

Bastards! Read this right before going on a morning run. Guess what was stuck in my brain the whole time....

[MCChris]

Mickey Thomas is to that band what Michael McDonald was to the Doobies.

In college I was the entertainment editor of the school newspaper. Starship was booked to play a 2,000-seat venue on campus on the "Knee Deep in the Hoopla" tour. A week prior, the promoter called the newsroom to inform me that the show had been cancelled. When I asked why, he told me off the record that they had sold a grand total of eight tickets. Why he or anyone else thought that crap would go over in a college market is beyond me.

[ScottM]

Mickey Thomas is to that band what Michael McDonald was to the Doobies.

+1000 And I would add Steve Perry to that illustrious list....

[Kurt L]

On the brighter side, aren't Jorma and Jack touring right now?

Could go for a little Hot Tuna...

[serial]

This EXACT thing happened at Wake. I was on a committee who was pressing to get REM and it was between the two. We lost and they sold a dozen tickets maybe. How out of touch the powers that be were. REM sold out the Dean Dome on that tour and they were willing to play Wait Chapel. Stupid.

Cmatthes is wrong-"WBTC" is not possibly the worst song in history-it IS the worst.

"Jane" is still a great song.

Mickey Thomas is to that band what Michael McDonald was to the Doobies.

In college I was the entertainment editor of the school newspaper. Starship was booked to play a 2,000-seat venue on campus on the "Knee Deep in the Hoopla" tour. A week prior, the promoter called the newsroom to inform me that the show had been cancelled. When I asked why, he told me off the record that they had sold a grand total of eight tickets. Why he or anyone else thought that crap would go over in a college market is beyond me.

[Turdus]

Mickey Thomas is to that band what Michael McDonald was to the Doobies.

+1000 And I would add Steve Perry to that illustrious list....

I saw Journey, pre Steve Perry. They certainly did not need him, but what a phenomenal marketing move. to this day... 35 years later, they are still one of the best live bands I've ever seen. I saw Zeppelin live, and Journey (once again pre Perry) was in the same league. Their recorded stuff was not, but the live performance sure was.

[Jakeboy]

I still air guitar to Jane....I dig Craig's tone, licks, and fire on that one.....

[veatch]

Mickey Thomas is to that band what Michael McDonald was to the Doobies.

+1000 And I would add Steve Perry to that illustrious list....

Nice connection... The J A/S stuff i liked the most was from when Ansley Dunbar was in the band. I thought Journey dropped a notch after he left, and then became about unbarable after Rolie left. I thought Jefferson Starship got a lot more power with him at the kit.

Likely my favorite starship song is here:

[Steve Haynie]

Stranger was my favorite song of the evening. When some people were yelling requests I calmly said, "Just play Stranger again." Mickey Thomas heard me and laughed about it.

[MCChris]

Airplane and the Doobies each had their share of hits before they were taken down the toilet by an emasculated singer. Journey wasn't going anywhere with their fusion direction.

[LostArt]

mickey thomas did his best work with elvin bishop IMHO

grace and marty when they were on, were magical. their voices were great hard to find that today

[lincsman]

"WBTC" is quite possibly the worst song ever written/recorded.

Nails on a chalkboard. That band should have done hard time for unleashing that horrible beast upon this earth.

That being said, as Geoff mentioned above, the "Freedom At Point Zero" stuff is the best stuff that band put out and is very well done. Shame it began and ended there!

They just played a brand new live music bar/club called The Hamilton here in DC a week or so ago, I think.

+1

[a.bandini]

Paul Kantner, I just read, doesn't like WBTC, either.

Different Strokes for Different Folks.

35 years ago I was a huge JA plan, with posters on the wall, belt buckles displaying my undying loyalty, the whole shebang. I even have a copy of Bark, (a horrible album) still in its paper bag. In high school I though Miracles was a fantastic song, and JS show in 1978 was the first concert I ever attended. I still have a Fender Medium Tortoiseshell guitar pick Kantner used to play Volunteers with in 1980 or so. But I never cared for them much after Mickey Thomas started with them, and haven't replaced my vinyl with digital. I don't know if they changed more, or if my tastes did.

Edited to add: Thanks for the review, Steve.

[Crimsontider]

YES! WE BUILT THIS CITY AS A CLOSER!!!!!!

If they had just left out the DJ weatherman bit I would have like that song better. I did like Jane and Find your way out........they should get more airtime on the classic rock channels imo.

[Aceldama]

How bizarre. I was just singing "We Built this City" climbing up the stairs to check my email (on call today)...

[Crimsontider]

How bizarre. I was just singing "We Built this City" climbing up the stairs to check my email (on call today)...

Some tunes that are too catchy can get a bad rep. Built this city is one of those songs that doesn't want to exit the scene, kind of like the American Hat Dance.