 |
|
|
 News from Around Banderas Bay | October 2005 
Jefferson Starship Makes Successful Landing at Marriott
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
| | Sunday night, a crowd of 400-500 gathered under a tent outside on the lush Marriott grounds to welcome rock legend Jefferson Starship. |
Los Angeles promoter Benny Cukier continued a long partnership with the CasaMagna Marriott this past weekend; bringing rock legend Jefferson Starship to Puerto Vallarta, hosting the city's largest American rock group to perform here. Before performing two special shows, the majority of the band spent the week in Puerto Vallarta and said they would love to come back. General manager Dennis Whitelaw, along with their wonderful Public Relations department which includes Lita, Claudia, Josefina and Anna helped make for a memorable weekend for the band and concert attendees, as well as the local media.
Saturday night, Starship played to a small, intimate crowd in one of Marriott's ballrooms in an acoustic concert. The filet mignon dinner was superb and the gathering was ready to see one of rock's Hall of Fame inductees in an intimate setting. Original member and co founder Paul Kantner played acoustic guitar, Chris Smith was on keyboards, and the spectacular voice of Diana Mangano completed the three performers for the show. Kantner showed that after 40 years he had an amazing passion for their music, changing guitars frequently and singing original Airplane and Starship songs. Combining with the spectacular voice of Mangano, who has been with the band for eleven years, they gave us songs with insightful lyrics and true Jefferson music.
With Chris Smith on keyboards, it sounded as if there were a full group performing. Other group members in the audience kept jumping onstage to join in different songs, giving us the feeling they wanted to go electric, but that was the following night's treat. The audience varied in age as well as culture and joined in singing some of their most popular tunes. The third song was the famous "White Rabbit" a signature song about the drug culture some 40 years ago in San Francisco. Diana's awesome voice made the appreciative audience forget there was once a Grace Slick.
The show lasted almost two hours and the audience, especially those of my era felt their skin tingle as many classics were played. Kantner's experiences throughout the years were prevalent in the music, signing of Nicaragua and time he spent there and was a true walk through 40 years of music. After their three song encore, the crowd was asking each other if they were going to see the electric version the following night, a version that Starship teased us with all evening.
Sunday night, with the cooler weather giving us all a welcome break, a crowd of 400-500 gathered under a tent outside on the lush Marriott grounds. The stage setup was entirely different, with four microphones, guitar stands, drums, keyboards sitting on the then empty stage. The crowd did its best to dress the part, digging out their old tie dye shirts (those that still owned some), and dressing casually for our musical walk back in time. For an electrical venue, all seats were close to the stage, and from experience there was a space in front of the stage for dancing.
Joining the three musicians from the night before was the co founder and vocalist Marty Balin, lead guitarist Slick Aguilar, drummer Prairie Prince and another old time Jefferson member, who started the legendary Quicksilver Messenger Service, David Freiberg. The group got on stage to the cheers of the fans, and immediately we all knew this was going to be truly an electric show. The band was tight, together, voices blended perfectly, and the quality of the instrumental performers was way beyond expectation.
The third song played, "Somebody to Love" got the crowd involved and dancing around the stage began. Diana's voice was awesome and the melodic background vocals of Marty, Paul and David had not been lost over the years. Starship encouraged the audience to participate and during one song people climbed on stage singing and dancing with the band. After so many years, as song after song was played, we all realized just how many hits the band performed. "Wooden Ships", "White Rabbit", "Get Together", "Jane", "Plastic Fantastic Lover", "Volunteers", and "With Your Love" were all popular and recognized by the appreciative crowd.
Again, there were newer and original scores played, mostly written by the philosophical and cerebral Paul Kantner. Not to rest on their past laurels, there were individual performances by Slick Aguilar, who wooed the crowd with his ability to make that lead guitar speak. Keyboardist Chris Smith showed how well he has mastered the newer technology in a long solo performance. Drummer Prairie Prince also played a drum solo that had the people on their feet. After close to two hours, the band closed the show, but came back five minutes later with a four song encore.
As the concert concluded, Cukier announced that he would be bringing more shows to Puerto Vallarta, and start a concert series. Everyone left pleased with the evening, most talking to each other about the memories the music invoked, and of the dreams ahead that are possible for all of us. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us