After the contemporary country and
western detour of Barbara Mandrell, I was more than ready to rock and roll again----and
the sooner the better. Fortunately,
eighteen days later, I found myself standing in the crowd in front of the stage
at the El Paso County Coliseum, cheering on Jefferson Starship and .38 Special.
As usual, my parents bought my
ticket. They were off the hook for driving
me to the show, however. My friend Rene'
went to the show with me and drove us in his green Toyota
Something-or-other----I think it was a Celica, but I can't remember for sure.
When we got inside the Coliseum, my luck
at finding good seats in the front row and near the stage ran out. All of the good seats were taken, and wanting
to be as close to the action as possible, Rene' and I decided to stand in the
crowd a few rows from the stage. This
was an easier choice for Rene'---he was much taller than me. Still, standing in the crowd wasn't as bad as
I expected. For the most part, my view
of the stage was unobstructed, and of course, standing on the floor in front of
the stage provided the best sound.
.38 Special was, like Molly Hatchet, a band
from Jacksonville, Florida. And while both bands sold raucous southern rock,
.38 Special's particular style was a little more polished and radio-friendly. Which is not to say that they didn't rock,
which indeed they did, starting with their opening number, "Turn it
On."
Vocalist Donnie Van Zant, the younger
brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie, was a bundle of good old boy energy, leading
the band on their opening number "Turn it On," through stompers like "First
Time Around," "Stone Cold Believer," and the title track of
their newest album "Wild Eyed Southern Boys."
After the rousing instrumental,
"Robin Hood," guitarist Don Barnes took over the lead vocals for
"Hold On Loosely," which was the song from "Wild Eyed Southern
Boys" that was currently getting the most airplay on the radio. The crowd reacted as enthusiastically to the
song as they did to another song sung by Don Barnes later that set,
"Rockin' Into the Night."
Aside from "Hold on Loosely"
and "Rockin' Into the Night," I knew almost nothing about .38 Special
before seeing them at the Coliseum.
After their set, however, I was impressed enough to head over to the
vendors booth to buy a softball jersey T-shirt.
The T-shirt had black sleeves that came to the elbow, and the front and
back were white, with the cover art of "Wild Eyed Southern Boys" on
the chest. In the weeks after this
purchase, I determined I wasn't a fan of softball jersey T-shirts, and it was
the last of the style I ever bought.
After a short intermission, Jefferson
Starship roared onstage with a version of "Somebody to Love." Grace Slick, who had been away from the band
for a few years, was back and in fine form.
She and lead vocalist Mickey Thomas sounded great together and did
justice to the Jefferson Airplane classic.
Needless to say, it was a good way to get the attention of the audience.
Having been around as a band since 1974,
Jefferson Starship went through many personnel changes before hitting El Paso
in support of their "Modern Times" album. The lineup for the album and tour was
particularly strong, featuring Thomas, Slick, founding guitarist and vocalist
Paul Kantner, guitarist Craig Chaquico, bassist Pete Sears (who'd previously
played with Rod Stewart), drummer Aynsley Dunbar (who'd played with Frank
Zappa, David Bowie, and Journey), and bassist-keyboardist David Freiberg. Altogether, they produced a harder, heavier
sound than the band had achieved in the past.
"Find Your Way Back" was the
song from "Modern Times" that was getting airplay. The band played it
early in the set, followed closely by another new song, "Save Your
Love," which featured a tremendous guitar solo by Chaquico. Other songs played from the new album were
"Mary," "Stranger," and the hilarious slap at music critics,
"Stairway to Cleveland."
Mickey Thomas had previously sung for
Elvin Bishop's band and in fact, was the vocalist on the hit single
"Fooled Around and Fell in Love."
I didn't know this until Grace Slick mentioned it while introducing
Thomas right before the band played a faithful cover of the song. It was a nice surprise in the set list and
judging by the response, I'm certain I'm not the only one in the audience who enjoyed
it.
Jefferson Starship played a great
set. If I wasn't exactly a fan before
the show, I was by the time they left the stage. And incidentally, just before they left the
stage, Paul Kantner raised his hand to the audience and said "Thank you,
New Mexico!" There was a short,
stunned pause, and then Grace Slick grabbed a microphone and said "And
Texas! And Mexico!" It was a humorous moment, and a nice save by
Slick.
Jefferson Starship and .38 Special both played
commendable sets. If part of the purpose
for live shows is to promote the sale of albums, then both bands succeeded,
because I bought both "Modern Times" and "Wild Eyed Southern
Boys."
It was a cool show.
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