-
-
Artists
Get your tour dates seen by one billion fans: Sign up as an artist
Concert in your area for Rock, Folk & Blues, Indie & Alt, Metal, Country, and Pop.
Jefferson Starship includes members of the incredibly successful psychedelic outfit Jefferson Airplane. The incarnation centres around guitarist Paul Kantner and a concept album entitled 'Blows Against The Empire'. After this things snowballed and Jefferson Starship became a full commitment for founding members Kantner and Jack Casady.
Their first album as a unit was released in 1974 and was titled 'Dragon Fly', it was met with chart success peaking at #11 on the US Billboard and #18 in Canada. The following album 'Red Octopus' is currently the band's most successful release to date, charting at #1 on the US charts and is now certified double platinum selling. It featured a hit single, 'Miracles' which was contributed by Marty Balin, who also wrote the ballad 'Caroline' which appeared on the band's first record.
The next album 'Spitfire' was another success, charting at #3 and breaking into the UK charts at #30 however the band were disheartened at the time that it did not mirror the success of its predecessor. The band continued to tour and release material despite the ever changing line ups, most notably the loss of Grace Slick who was forced to resign at the end of the 70's due to a heavy alcohol problem. Despite all this, the next four albums went on to hold gold selling certificates and Jefferson Starship are still considered a successful psychedelic pop/rock band.
Formed in the rural town of Doraville, Georgia, US, the band first surfaced in 1970, out of the remnants of the groups, the Candymen and the Classics Four. After a local recording studio opened, Bobby Bule, head of the facility, began arranging the session band, inviting Rodney Justo (vocals), Barry Bailey (guitars), Paul Goddard (bass), Dean Daughtry (keyboards) and Robert Nix (drums) to take the position. Having appeared on records for other artists, the session band decided to forge their own career, becoming the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
With Bule acting as manager and producer, they began to record their own original material, achieving a more radio-friendly sound to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers. Their first releases, "Back Up Against The Wall" (1973), "Third Annual Pipe Dream" (1974), "Dog's Days" (1975) failed to make much of an impact. However, with the new addition of Ronnie Hammond, replacing Justo, the band found a winning formula, gaining significant airplay on radio stations in the South. On their 1976 album, "A Rock and Roll Alternative," they managed to score a Top Ten hit with the single "So Into You," breaking into the national market.
Atlanta Rhythm Section continued to find commercial success with their next releases, finding a Top Ten album with "Champagne Jam" in 1978, featuring two hit singles, "I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight" and "Imaginary Lover." The band then embarked on several extensive tours, becoming one of the hardest working bands in the business. However, their commercial success was not set to continue, with their subsequent albums failing to make any hits, instead only decreasing album sales.
The band decided to split following 1981's "Quinella," reuniting intermittently for live performances and tours. In 1999, a new studio album appeared, "Eufaula," helping to continue the band's legacy to a new legion of fans. Since the releae, the band continued to tour and perform at festivals, finding their music often the topic of cover versions by country artists, such as Travis Tritt, Wynonna Judd and Charlie Daniels.
Comprised of former Flying Burrito Brothers members Rick Roberts (vocals, guitar) and Michael Clarke (drums), former Spirit member Mark Andes (bass), guitarist Jock Bartley, guitarist/vocalist Larry Burett, and keyboard player David Muse, Firefall’s members largely met on tour with other bands or in Boulder, Colorado, U.S. Following Firefall’s formation in 1974, the group began performing in local clubs and bars, and produced a promotional demo tape in 1975.
A subsequent performance at The Other End in New York led the group to sign with Atlantic Records who issued Firefall’s self-titled debut album in May 1976. Led by the single “Livin’ Ain’t Livin’”, the record earned positive reviews and ultimately earned gold certification. The album’s second single, “You Are the Woman”, became a smash hit single reaching the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, following which the band toured in support of Fleetwood Mac.
Released in July 1977, the band’s sophomore album “Luna Sea” featured collaborations with Cuban percussionist Joe Lala and future Eagles member Timothy B. Schmit. Rising to No. 27 on the Billboard 200 and aided by the No. 11 single “Just Remember I Love You”, the record was once again followed by non-stop touring. Thanks to their touring with Fleetwood Mac who were at the peak of their success, Firefall also became extremely popular, however tensions had risen between the substance users in the group (Rick, Larry and Michael Clarke) and the non-substance users (Bartley, Andes and Muse).
The band’s third album “Elan” proved their most successful to date earning platinum certification, however following its release Firefall’s popularity began to dwindle. Despite attempts at changing the band’s sound, Firefall burned out, with Bartley forming Firefall Acoustic in 1994 for the album “Messenger”. Under the same moniker the group released the tribute album “Colorado to Liverpool: A Tribute to the Beatles” in 2007, following which Bartley continued to tour as Firefall alongside musicians Steven Weinmeister, Sandy Ficca, Bil Hopkins, and Chris Ball.
There’s something quite pleasing, especially if you’re a stickler to neatness, about the way that some of the remaining members of sixties psychedelic icons Jefferson Airplane kept a kind of uniformity to the naming process by calling their new group, formed in 1974, Jefferson Starship, but in actual fact, the name’s kind of misleading. It suggests that they were aiming for a sound and a style of music that was in thrall to the cosmos more than ever before, but they actually, if anything, toned down the eccentricities that had come to define them in the sixties; there were still elements of psych and progressive, sure, but they were often lost to the straightforward rock sound that they largely sought to pursue. They enjoyed commercial success throughout the seventies with a couple of platinum-selling records, but things quickly began to unravel for the group when singer Grace Slick’s alcoholism spiralled out of control. The poppier group Starship was formed out of the band’s ashes in the early eighties, but a new group, Jefferson Starship - The Next Generation formed in 1992 with a revolving lineup of former members, and they continue to tour those seventies classics to this day, playing an intimate show at London’s 100 Club back in 2010.
Joeg_67
Southern rock outfit Atlanta Rhythm Section may be down to their final constant member yet they continue to tour the legacy of this great band. Lead by keyboardist Dean Daughtry and long serving vocalist Rodney Justo and lead guitarist Steve Stone, the musicians play a selection of the group's most popular music as well as some well considered covers by rock royalty.
The audience remains enthusiastic to the band's arrival as they file onto stage and begin with 'Champagne Jam' the title track from their most successful US album release to date. The group was known for having fiercely loyal fans and it looks as though some of the attendees tonight have been following the group from the very beginning. It does not seem to matter when you discovered the band, everybody is in high spirits to celebrate the music as they proudly sing along to the hits including 'So Into You' and 'Imaginary Lover'. It is a well planned show that showcases the very best of Atlanta Rhythm Section.
sean-ward
The first time we saw Firefall was probably over 20 years ago at an Arts and Crafts show in Irving, TX, and really liked them. Then the next time we saw them was at One World Theatre (OWT) here in Austin about three years ago. Although we enjoyed the concert, it seemed to me, that they had just "thrown together" the group w/o a lot of rehearsal. They were good, but not "great." On Friday night, they were "tight," and awesome. A thoroughly satisfying concert. OWT, please bring them back...
don-simpson-1
Orleans are the kind of band that one should respect whether you’re into their brand of Seventies pop-rock or not. The last two years or so of their career have been some of the most inspirational (By the way, how many bands who formed in the early two-thousands can say that with a straight face, let alone those who formed in the early seventies, as Orleans did?) in the face of great tragedy, as founding member, singer and guitarist Larry Hoppen took his own life after a long struggle with depression. After deciding that it was what he would have wanted the band to do, the remaining members of Orleans continued touring and have since been playing the best shows of their four decades in the music business. With far more vim and vinegar than is expected from a group of men in their sixties, each of their big hits, from Dance With Me to Still The One all the way through to Love Takes Time sound immaculate. Special mention must go to the bands harmonies, which can still send chills down any given spine at a hundred paces. Every show of theirs has had an extra significance since 2012 for obvious and understandable reasons, and as a band they’re better than ever. In all this is truly a show to see at the next chance you get and discover a band with far more to offer than history seems to remember. Highly recommended.
william-howard-2
Log in to your account
