From: dsle@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (david.s.lerner)
Subject: Starship in the Park - Be In
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 01:46:26 GMT


Last night was the 1st annual Be-In at NYC's Central Park on 5th and 72nd.
Lineup included Susan Radigan (who wasn't very good), Al Kooper and his band 
(good but this crowd did not appreciate him), the NRPS (who were good),
Marty Balin (different), Roger MuGuinn (dependable) and Jefferson Starship who
were great.

I got on line early (9 AM) for this free show and quickly layed by blanket
about 3 feet from the center stage. It was a nice day, a little cool. October
is always cool. David Peel (Have a MJ fame) was hanging near me. Peel is a
nice person but also a real space cadet. His "crew" of batton twirlers and
tamborine players kept us entertained while we waited for the music to begin.

The show started with Radigan who, being new to R&R, was not that enjoyable
to hear but quite enjoyable to see (her breasts almost fell out of her dress
a few times). She played for 30 mins.

Al Kooper did a good blues set but this was a R&R crowd who didn't pay that
much attention to him.

NRPS was good for me in that I hadn't seen them since 1978. Dawson has gotten
very old looking, but strums and sings like it was 1971. Standard tunes like
I Don't Know You, Panama Red, etc. They have a new record out on Relix label.

Marty Balin (blond as ever) came out and did some good tunes such as Today,
Miracles, and as a special treat for Paul, St. Charles! Its been so long since
I heard that tune, maybe 10 years. His set ended after 30 minutes with a long
Volunteers which I felt was odd since I knew Paul always does that song and
I just assumed Marty would come in Paul's set to share this song.

McGuinn then came out and did his usual solo acoustic songs from the past and
new material. There was a 6 PM curfew for this show, so the roadies kept
working on the set while Roger was playing. This was very annoying to me and
I think to him as people were looking at props being assembled rather than to
him playing and singing.

Finally, Starship came on at 5:15 PM. Which meant either the curfew would be
extended or a short set from Paul & crew. Setlist was very typical:

We Should Be Together
Crown of Creation
Wooden Ships
I'm On Fire
Lawman
Shadowlands
John's Other
Over The Rainbow
Rider The Tiger
Women Who Fly (new Darby tune)
No More Country Girls
Down Home Blues
Dark Ages
Poem->
America-> (with Marty Balin)
Volunteers

no encore

This was Starship's first show in NYC proper. Paul commented that this was
the first time in the city. IMO, this show was very important to the band 
because up until today not many people even knew who were in this version of
Starship. Perhaps, some in the crowd expected too see Grace? I brought
along some pictures so that people would know who the chick singer was.
This had to be a great show because the band's lack of ticket sales at the
box office prevents them from being booked in any club that wants to make
money. Think about it, for the past 7 months Starship has been playing for
free or $5-10 at fairs and in city parks from Atlanta to SF and now NYC.
They needed to play a really hot show so that the crowd would pay money to 
see them again and also buy their new material on CD. Perhaps, the radio
stations would play their songs?

The first half (pre-PJ) was very hot, Jack was moving across the stage and
really getting the crowd into it. Then, PJ came on and the crown really
responded. It looked like the band had hit the big time. Then, fate struck.

It got dark outside and it looked like the radio station who sponsored the 
show forgot to install any lights. It was October and it was getting dark by
6:30 PM. Shit! Paul asked us what time it was and I knew we were in for their
Dark Ages. Boy, this was really the Dark Ages because it was so fucken dark
onstage, I could barely make out the band and I was only 3 feet away. The
people in the back must've seen very little then. Only when people's cameras
flashed, did you even see the band. It was obvious to Paul that it was time
to go soon, so he announced that the show had one more tune to go.

Somehow, he managed to read his Castillo poem, probably by memory. Finally,
the stage crew turned on 2 spot lights on each side the stage, so the crowd
could at least tell who was who. And this happened for the America-Volunteers.
Marty Balin came out and sang on both songs. At one point, he took over the
lead in Volunteers and reminded me of the way the Airplane did it in 89.
America with Jack, Paul, Slick and Marty was very KBCish.

Show ended at 7:00. Obviously, the radio station shouldn't have put on some
many acts since they didn't install real stage lights. 6 bands was too much.
Except for Starship, most played for 30 minutes. Real teases. It was rush
in, play 5 tunes, rush out. Then, it got dark before the main act was halfway
done.

I still loved it, naturally. But, I came out wondering if the large crowd
who came and who were unfamiliar with this band's new material liked it or
not. Maybe the darkness ruined any chance that this band will succeed in the
commercial market. Only time will tell, when their next non-free show is
scheduled in some club in the NYC/NJ/PA area. It looks to me that this free
gig run across the country was a move by the band to promote their new
material in order to gain acceptance. I hope it worked.


Dave

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