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CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, Mon, Nov, 18, 1974
Chicago Auditorium
Concert review by Al Rudis

The Starship's still flying high
What happened to Jefferson Starship?

A bunch of aging rockers is supposed to give a comfortable and satisfying concert, providing old fans with the music they love and expect – and please, no surprises.

So who was this band onstage in the Auditorium Sunday night acting like they were kids, playing with total abandon and making music as fresh as the dew? Yes, it was none other than that band of over-the-hill freaks from Frisco. (They re- turn Monday night.)

Well, let's not drown in our metaphors. The Jefferson Star- ship's stalwarts, Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, David Freiburg and Johnny Barbata, have been around for a long time in rock - and roll terms. And creaky John Creach is the Methuselah of pop music. But it turns out that 10 years counts for nothing if the spirit stays young.

Of course, the veterans do have a couple of rejuvenators up their Oriental sleeves - guitarist Craig Chaquico and bassist Peter Sears. Chaquico was with them last tour, and his guitar work already had dazzled then, but he also had appeared a bit withdrawn and reticent, playing the hired-hand role. This time he's positively cocky.

The bassist last time around was very flamboyant, but he was also a lead guitarist by inclination and gave the Impres- sion he was putting up with four strings under great duress. He's departed in favor of Sears who's not only comfortable with the bass but is simply amazing on the instrument. Early in the concert, his presence was felt in rhythms so solid and penetrating that both old and new numbers almost wrenched loose your guts with their backbeats.

But when he stepped forward during the instrumental part of "Hijack the Starship," breathing stopped in the Auditorium as his fingers pulled out throbbing patterns, then flicked over the neck like little hammers to develop strange and haunting drones. Besides all this, he plays some great piano, too.

Grace Slick was in good voice and goods spirits. Her blues number with Sears on piano seethed with such blatant horni- ness that she could easily assume the late Sophie Tucker's mantle as the last of the red-hot-mamas. But mostly the mood was more playful, except for the idealistic visions of the future, where Grace's musical howls were more shivery and stirring than ever.

Freiberg played some tasty keyboards, held down the bass when Sears went to the piano and sang like a thrush in duets and trios with Grace and Paul. Drummer Johnny Barbata showed that Flo and Eddie aren't the only madcap former Turtles around. His parody of a rock drum solo was hilarious, almost obscuring his dynamic contribution to the band's drive, Creach fiddled with zest.

And Kantner, the serious one, held it all together, as usual, with his metallic rhythm guitar (sounding tinnier than normal because of the excessive treble in the sound system that caused feedback problems all night) and his vigorous vocals.

Although Sears' electrifying solo in "Hijack the Starship" broke up it's flow, this number, which came at the end this time instead of the beginning, was the evening's musical peak, with Grace singing her lungs out and the others playing magnificently.

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