Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Mark "Slick" Aguilar, and Chris Smith
Photo 1 - Chris Smith, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin
Photo 2 - Paul Kantner, Marty Balin
Photo 3 - Chris Smith, Paul Kantner
Photo 4 - Paul Kantner
Photo 5 - Paul Kantner, Marty Balin II
Photo 6 - "Volunteers"
Marlizinha and I headed out to Annapolis, Maryland, straight east from Casa do Quahog along US 50. We arrived a bit early, so we took a stroll along Main Street, which is lined with Yuppie clip joint boutiques. Being a Friday night, the sidewalks were swarming with Midshipmen released from the Naval Academy on weekend pass. Main Street heads uphill from Chesapeake Bay. At the top of the hill, to the left, is the massive State Capitol. Out about a block from the end of Main lies the Ram's Head Tavern, a combination restaurant, bar, brewpub and concert hall.
The front, on West Street, is directly across from a municipal parking garage ($2.00 for Friday nights.) The concert room supposedly seats about 200-300, although it really didn't appear to be all that large. A side room, stage left, was kept dark for Jefferson Starship; it's probably filled for more popular artists. We didn't go to the Hot Tuna show at the Ram's Head on 23 November (or to the one at the Birchmere on the 24th) because after successive weekend shows (Marisa Monte the previous Friday), each at about $30 a seat, the MasterCard was approaching meltdown.
The room was set up cabaret style, but with reserved seating. We sat stageside, at a four-person table, just right of center. It was nice to be so close, but it did have its disadvantages. For one, we were directly in front of Slick's amp, which tended to overpower whatever keyboardist Chris Smith was outputting on the opposite side of the stage. So don't ask me if Chris Smith can play, I don't know. We were close enough to get some nice, although repetitive, photos. I had asked at the door if photos were allowed, and the ticket taker told me he would ask the manager and get back to me. He never did, so I played it cool, and kept my camera out on the table all night, so nobody could accuse me of sneaking snaps. On my first photo, Marty gave me the Evil Eye, no doubt due to his constant paranoia about uncompensated commercial exploitation. Spooked me a little, but we took more photos, and no one bothered us. Funny thing, we had picked up our tickets at the door, and I didn't look at them until the next morning. Said "NO CAMERAS/RECORDING" right on there. Oh well. And by the way, before you ask, I haven't heard of anyone with a tape of this show!
We sat with some nice folks at our table, and discovered the usual cosmic synchronicities you run into on random meetings. I had one of the house brews, I vaguely remember an apple/cinnamon flavor, quite nice, but not exceptional.
Showtime! While chatting with our tablemates, the lights dimmed, and out of the corner of my eye I saw an old man with a guitar and thought, "Who's that up on stage?" Well, of course it was Paul Kantner, upclose and unairbrushed. Marty, though, was his usual matinee-idol self. He's no longer platinum blond (or plutonium blonde, as my spellchecker suggested), and if I was feeling catty, I might allude to facelifts, but I'm not, so I won't.
In regard to the banter reported below, anything in quotes represents what was said up on stage as I remember it; I make no claims to absolute accuracy, but I did take notes.
As the fellows came out on stage to a warm ovation, Paul saluted the audience with "Hail Satan!" To which Marty asked, "What's first there, Father?" The usual acoustic opener "Other Side of this Life" was pleasant, and led into a kick out the jams version of "Crown of Creation." "Crown" really rocked, and was one of the highlights of the evening for me. Paul enthusiastically bashed out the rhythm, and his vocal was right from the gut.
Marty: "What's all this noise? I thought we were doing a folkie kind of thing?"
Paul: "Well, Marty, you should have shown up for the soundcheck this afternoon"
Marty appeared to be putting together an audition tape for the VH1 Storytellers program, as he introduced several songs with little stories on their inspirations. He introduced "My Best Friend" with a tale about a secret knock that was used to screen friends into backstage areas. That knock became the opening rhythm of "My Best Friend." Tonight, the song was a little tentative, with lots of glances between the players as they tried to work it through. Next up was, for me, a real surprise, another Skip Spence song, "J.P.P. McStep B. Blues". It was GREAT! After the rocky version of "My Best Friend" hearing this dynamite rendition was a real pleasure. The band also looked pleased, trading smiles all around after this one was done.
"In honor of Friday the 13th, an atomic nuclear holocaust song," said Paul, "And actually, Jefferson Airplane was born on Friday the 13th." So I knew "Wooden Ships" would be next. It was, preceded by a short poem with nuclear wasteland imagery. A nice version of this old chestnut, with Slick's usually excellent extended solo. It was then either Marty or Paul who introduced "Caroline" as something that Frank Lloyd Wright might have created, had he been a songwriter. Tonight it was more Levittown, somewhat uninspiring.
At this point, Paul took a cigarette break, after refraining for the entire set, perhaps due to local ordinances. Marty introduced "Hearts" with "And now for some Godfather music." I'm beginning to enjoy this song in my dotage, and tonight it was very good, with lots of tasty embellishments from Slick. Marty was mugging a lot throughout, but it might not have appeared so theatrical from the back of the room.
"Reporters kept calling me up, asking me, 'Could we have a soundbite on what the Summer of Love was like?' " said Marty, "So I decided to write a song to give my answer." After "Summer of Love", a defiant Marty said, "I haven't changed my approach to writing songs from those days of the Summer of Love, ever ... like this new one." "No Limits", followed by "Atlanta Lady." I'm not a real fan of Marty's later ballads, but I don't remember the above three as having been particularly putrescent. They certainly received a warm response from the audience.
Marty, Slick and Chris left the stage, and Paul returned for an outstanding solo performance of "The Baby Tree." Paul's hair was incredibly wild looking (think Larry Fine), and he mentioned it at one point - "I woke up with this hair, so I kept it." Coming out after his break, he had a ciggie or two, but he wasn't chain-smoking by any means. He was drinking tea instead of the usual Stoli, making it appear as if he was taking pains to preserve his voice. In any case, his voice was strong tonight, as was his guitar. Missing the foundation usually provided by Jack Casady, he stepped up to fill the void. His sharp, driving rhythm work rocked the house, particularly on "Crown of Creation" and "America."
Striking a match, Paul continued the evening's Satan theme - "You know they used to call these things Lucifers." Slick and Chris returned, and the poem "Three Oddest Words" led into the nicely atmospheric "White Boy (Transcaucasian Airmachine Blues)." Paul then made some comments on the Missouri high school marching band that was banned from playing "White Rabbit" because somebody thought it a "Satanic" song. He spent some time searching through his stack of papers for another poem, but gave up when he couldn't find it! Next up, a decent version of "Shadowlands", with Marty returning halfway for some backing vocals. Marty tended to lean back from his microphone when singing backup all night long; as a consequence he was often too far back in the mix for my tastes.
Paul Kantner says, "Here's a pornographic satanic song", and the band steps into "Miracles". I guess the pop allure of Jefferson Starship (as opposed to the burnout allure of Jefferson Airplane) had drawn quite a few people, since this song raised the biggest ovation of the night.
A very interesting and very different version of "Today" was next. I'd refer to it as the power chord version, and I liked it. This show occurred the week after the November elections, so Paul introduced the next song with "This is for Jesse Ventura", and the band launched into a rousing "America." One of the night's highlights, and the best performance of this song that I've ever heard. Paul then read the now traditional "Get Ready", and the band continued the emotional high with the what's been the closer, lately, "Volunteers."
Marty and Chris came out for the encore, and Marty told this story:
"I never had time to be a hippie, I was working every night...One night, heading back to the motel when we were recording Surrealistic Pillow in LA, Paul Butterfield gave me a joint and said 'Here, smoke some of this before you go to bed.' I followed his advice, but then I was so lit, I had to go back to the studio. Jack, Grace, and Jerry Garcia were there, and we recorded this song."
That song was "Coming Back to Me", which saw its first live performance just a year or two ago, thirty years after that night. As excited as I was to hear this song, in all truth it was a little rough. Marty's guitar playing fell apart at the end, and Chris never really nailed down the flute line, but hell - this was his first night. I don't know why Paul wasn't out to play the second guitar - that would probably have knocked this song onto another plane.
Paul and Slick then came back for another of the night's highlights, a spectacular "St. Charles", and that was the evening. Paul's guitar tech made throat-slashing gestures at the soundboard, so there was apparently no chance for a second encore. The show lasted about two hours.
In summary? I enjoyed the show, but on the whole I much prefer the Paul-Jack-Diana lineup. A significant factor in that opinion is my strong preference for early '70s Kantner/Slick material, vs. post Dragon Fly Marty Balin.