Since I skipped the iTunes single review, I thought I would review the concert I just went to.
Every year, Albany has a weekly concert on Thursday on the Hudson Riverfront called “Alive at Five.” Today’s concert was Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Starship. I arrived a little late so I missed most of QMS, but got down right in front of the stage for all of Jefferson Starship.
What a concert! Jefferson Starship was a phenomenal concert. The “older” members include David Freiberg (who is also a long-time QMS member), Airplane founder Marty Balin (who was actually not an original member of Jefferson Starship, but joined during the recording of the first album and is responsible for many hits), and Paul Kantner (another founding member of Airplane).
Newer members are Diana Mangano (replacing Grace Slick and doing a very good job of it!) and Slick Aguilar (Marty Balin’s main guitarist dating back to the mid-90s). This version of Jefferson Starship played mainly Airplane material, meaning no “We Built This City” and most of the later stuff. If you had told me this before, I would have been *slightly* disappointed. As it turns out, this was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been too. For being an older band, they rocked harder than anyone I’ve seen (real rock, not just screaming).
Highlights of the night included watching Mangano impress every member of the audience with her tremendous vocals. One of the best performances was an instrumental featuring the drummer, keyboardist, and Slick, probably the best solo guitarist I know I have ever had the joy of listening to live. By the end of it, the audience was on its feet, applauding, and a lot of people were crying. It wasn’t really emotional, it was just that good.
Fantastic concert A+
[cpg_album:50]
June 29th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Thanks for reviewing that - i wanted to check it out, but was out of town for the day. i was very curious about it, and it seems the Times union hasn’t reviewed it either. Thanks for the report!
Mike H
June 29th, 2007 at 11:48 am
Thanks Mike! I really enjoyed the show. I’m upset that I missed most of Quicksilver, but I’m glad that I was able to see Jefferson Starship. If you get the chance, you should definitely check our their tour elsewhere.