Jefferson Starship was the remnants of the Jefferson Airplane transforming themselves as a more pop, radio friendly band while retaining much of the cosmic vibe of the original outfit. With Grace Slick and Marty Balin on lead vocals, and some catchy hit singles, the “Red Octopus” album with Balin’s mega-hit “Miracles”, and the follow up album “Spitfire” were successful projects propelling them forward and extending their careers for years to come. Starship became in the 1970”s what the Airplane started in the 1960’s and possibly became even bigger and more popular than the Jefferson Airplane had been.

The Bob Weir Band opened the show with the Grateful Dead founder and his side project proving to be the perfect compliment to their Northern California counterparts.

Fast Buck Freddie

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The Kinks are an all time great band and Ray Davies is an all time great song writer. The main memory from The Palladium show in June, 1978 was that a group of guys decided to jump my friend Little Joe from Kokomo outside the theatre ripping the earring out of his left ear. The three knuckleheads ran off down the street with us in hot pursuit when one of the wannabe thugs lost his footing and fell hard on the sidewalk on his right hip. He hopped right back up and hobbled down the street evidently hurting himself pretty good which pleased us immensely. We went to the concert but I have no particular recollection of The Kinks’ performance that night.

Sleepwalker

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The Good Rats were one of the more popular club acts on Long Island along with Twisted Sister and Zebra so it made sense that they would open the rescheduled Meat Loaf concert taking place in the basketball gymnasium at Saint John’s University.

The “Bat Out of Hell” album was all over the radio airwaves and Mr. Loaf’s acrobatic stage show were becoming legendary so it was a bit of a disappointment to see him confined to a wheelchair with a recently broken leg. Meat Loaf did manage to dramatically lift himself out of the chair near the end of the concert and walk Frankenstein-like for a bit but without the stage antics the show was a bit of a disappointment.

Years later, Meat Loaf’s reenacting “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” became a little creepy but the man put his heart and soul into every performance until poor health knocked him off the road and possibly into retirement.

All Revved Up With No Place to Go

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Hot Tuna was scheduled to play The Palladium after the release of their double live album and I believed that the band was about to break huge. The late 1970’s was the time of the great live LP propelling artists to arena acts and beyond but unexpectedly it was announced that Hot Tuna had broken up as a band. Hot Tuna no longer existed as an entity but Jorma Kaukonan would perform as a solo act in its stead. When Jorma hit the stage it was a bit of a shock because the long hair was gone and instead he sported a short slicked back orange hairstyle. Years later I read somewhere where Jorma said he had taken a swig of champagne before the Palladium gig and that unbeknownst to him it was laced with LSD resulting in him playing the same note for twenty minutes. To be honest, I do not think anyone in attendance took notice.

Watch the North Wind Rise

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One of my few rock and roll regrets is that I did not attend more David Bowie performances while he was still with us. My first Bowie concert was at Madison Square Garden for the tour which would turn out to be the double live “Stage” album. We had rear orchestra seats a little left center from the stage to witness one of the legendary performers of this or any era. The tour followed the Berlin trilogy albums and “Station to Station” was one of many highlights. I would get to see David Bowie in concert only one other time at Giants Stadium during the “Let’s Dance” mega-tour. While Bowie was, and is, one of my all time favorite performers, for some reason I always seemed to miss him when he was on tour. The most befuddling to me is when he played a show in each of the five New York City boroughs, which I believe was never attempted before or since. How I did not catch one of those gigs is beyond me.

Dollar Days

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In the late 1970’s New York City’s Palladium was the preeminent tock and roll theatre venue, after the Academy of Music was no more. The Palladium was sort of a grungy low rent version of the Beacon Theatre located in downtown Manhattan and they booked all of the best up and coming rock and roll acts, many of whom went on to headline arenas and stadiums. Amazingly, Hot Tuna is still touring and they are doing quarantine gigs online until they can get back on the road hopefully next summer when the postponed Paramount gig in Huntington is already on the schedule.

Keep on Truckin’

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After seeing the Showtime documentary “12 Bars”, it occurred to me that my first of many Eric Clapton concerts took place during a dark time in the rock legend’s career. The documentary is definitely worth a watch but be prepared to feel a sadness for the many tough times EC has gone through during an amazing but troubled life. The blues man has definitely had his share of trials and tribulations but he has come out the other side and appears to be a content married with children man. I have well worn Eric Clapton t-shirt from his 70th birthday shows at Madison Square Garden from a few years ago and it reminds me that our rock heroes are getting up there in age. Hopefully some have a tour or two left in them whenever the COVID-19 crisis is finally in the rear view mirror. In the meantime I have discovered YouTube and it’s extraordinary catalog of music videos to satiate my live music fix until concerts return hopefully next year.

Lay Down Sally

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Dave Mason and the Quarantines, which is an all star cast including Mick Fleetwood, Michael McDonald, have released a remake of the classic song “Feelin’ Alright” during these crazy times without live music. It is a great version well worth checking out.

Certified Live

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The first album given to me was by my Aunt Pat- “Meet the Beatles”- but the first album that I purchased was “Warchild” by Jethro Tull. Tull was my favorite band freshmen year while at Holy Cross High Schiool in Queens; this was also my only year at Holy Cross before transferring to Saint Francis Prep overlooking the Long Island Expressway at Francis Lewis Boulevard.

The obvious most memorable moment of the two Jethro Tull concerts at MSG was during Livingston Taylor’s opening set. Word had it that Ian Anderson was under the weather for the NYC gigs and James Taylor’s brother had the unfortunate circumstance to perform his solo acoustic act to rabid Jethro Tull fans who most had never heard of Livingston, never mind having had heard any of his music. To say Mr. Taylor’s set did not go over very well would be an understatement. Livingston found himself bobbing and weaving while seated trying to survive as he was pelted from items thrown at the stage. Years later I told an acquaintance about the concert and he said he was working at the Garden selling pretzels and people were buying them and throwing them at LivingstonTaylor. At some point Taylor waived the white flag and fled the stage creating a void requiring a lengthier than anticipated intermission.

I last saw the band at Forest Hills Stadium during their 50th Anniversary tour. Jethro Tul concerts in recent years have been a mixed bag, and Ian Anderson’s voice is not what it used to be, but the Forest Hills show was a pleasant surprise and really good on every conceivable level.

There are some great full length Jethro Tul concert videos on YouTube where I am trying to get my live music fix during the continuing pandemic quarantine situation.

Nothing Is Easy

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On November 23, 1977, the Queens crew made another foray into Nassau County to see Hot Tuna in concert at the Hofstra University Playhouse. Amazingly, Jorma and Jack were supposed to play The Paramount in Huntington this month. Check them out on YouTube for some really tasty quarantine video to whet your appetite until the band returns in 2021 for the rescheduled Spring and Summer 2020 gigs.

Been So Long

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GQ