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Hot Tuna Rocks Beacon, Explorers Club - Celebrates Jorma Kaukonen's 75th

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Last week, the 1996 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) and Jack Casady (bass) thrilled an Explorers Club audience with adventure tales of their music careers, then went on to rock the Beacon Theatre for two sold-out nights. At all venues, audiences celebrated Kaukonen’s 75th by spontaneously breaking into renditions of “Happy Birthday.”

In a relaxed chat with this reporter at the 110-year-old Explorers Club Thursday evening, Kaukonen and Casady discussed the three big 1960s music festivals, Monterey, Woodstock and Altamont – all of which they had headlined as Jefferson Airplane - and how the venues differed. Monterey in 1967 was simple and folksy, they said, while Woodstock in August 1969 was majestic and loveably messy. And Altamont in December 1969, where Hells Angels as security guards infamously stabbed a fan to death, was just plain chaotic. Kaukonen recalled how the Airplane’s lead singer, Marty Balin, was knocked unconscious by a member of the overzealous motorcycle gang.

On a lighter note, when asked why the two long-time players are known as the “odd couple” of rock music, Kaukonen replied, “Isn’t it obvious who is Felix?” pointing to a fashionable red scarf Casady was sporting. Casady playfully arched an eyebrow, as he often does while playing on stage, and the crowd roared.

Casady waxed nostalgic when the topic of their old band-mate, singer Grace Slick, came up. He told of just seeing Slick, now a painter, in Los Angeles. During the meet-up, she looked at him wistfully at one point and asked, “Why did we break up anyway?” referring to Jefferson Airplane's demise. When that happened in 1972, Casady and Kaukonen went to Hot Tuna, Slick to Jefferson Starship - and the rest is history.

During audience questions afterward, Soyuz astronaut Greg Olsen remarked that in 2005 at the International Space Station he had listened to CDs from Jefferson Airplane. At the end of the evening, two tickets with backstage passes to Hot Tuna's Beacon concerts were auctioned off for $300 to benefit The Explorers Club.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, Hot Tuna rocked the Beacon. Friday was more traditional but on Saturday, during set two of a three-hour performance, the group launched into Jefferson Airplane tunes with guest stars Teresa Williams, Larry Campbell, GE Smith, Rachael Price, Jeff Pehrson and Justin Guip. The music was both gritty and precise. One fan kept screaming, “When the truth is found to be lies,” and the band obliged by breaking into “Somebody To Love.” Williams sang it like she meant it, holding nothing back – and if you closed your eyes, you might just think you were 40 years younger.

Near the end of the evening, a cake in the shape of - what else - an airplane was wheeled onto the stage, and a crowd of 3,000 sang “Happy Birthday” to Kaukonen. Last year, they had done the same for Casady on his 70th, except the cake was in the shape of a bass guitar.

The band finished off with an encore of "Volunteers," then called it a night. But fans would have none of it, standing, cheering and demanding a second encore. After an awkward wait, the rock stars came out and played a lovely rendition of the Grateful Dead classic "Sugaree." It was definitely not planned, as Price had already taken out her contacts and had to be dragged back on stage with her frame glasses on.

What a weekend. One can only hope these classic rockers will be in New York when Kaukonen celebrates his 80th. Maybe they can cajole Slick into putting her paintbrush aside for a weekend to join them.