Jefferson Starship w/ Pure Prairie League at Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO (2026-09-12)

Find Your Way Back
Stranger
Runaway
Count on Me
Miracles
White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane cover)
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Albert Hammond cover)
We Built This City (Starship cover)
Jane
(band intros, Fooled Around and Fell in Love snippet, Fresh Air snippet) > Jet Pack
Somebody to Love (Jefferson Airplane cover)

Two Lane Highway
The Beginning
Skipping Stones
Let Me Love You Tonight
Back on Track (followed by band intros)
Falling In and Out of Love / Amie

Livin’ Ain’t Livin’
Just Remember I Love You
Cinderella
You Are the Woman (followed by band intros)
Strange Way
Mexico

SEP 18 The Church Studio Tulsa, OK
SEP 19 Kansas Crossing Casino, Pittsburg, KS
SEP 23 Dakota Minneapolis, MN
SEP 24 The Astro La Vista, NE
SEP 25 McGrath Amphitheatre Cedar Rapids, IA
SEP 28 Jergel’s Rhythm Grille Warrendale, PA
SEP 29 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI
OCT 1 Blue Gate Performing Arts Center Shipshewana, IN
OCT 2 Arcada Theatre St Charles, IL
OCT 16 The Hall Gainesville, GA
OCT 18 Harvester Performance Center Rocky Mount, VA
OCT 30 Cannon Center Memphis, TN
NOV 20 Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena Atlantic City, NJ
DEC 6 Bilheimer Capitol Theatre Clearwater, FL
DEC 10 The Kate Old Saybrook, CT
DEC 13 City Winery Boston, MA
DEC 19 City Winery Nashville, TN
JAN 24 The Center For the Arts Grass Valley, CA
JAN 29 Agua Caliente Fuel Rancho Mirage, CA
JAN 30 Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Cerritos, CA

The rocket ship has launched again, with an octogenarian helping steer, and featured an unexpected, animated cameo–

Longtime legendary and influential bands Jefferson Starship and Pure Prairie League are on the road together for their Runaway Again Tour (named for the 1978 Jefferson Starship tune) and made a midtown Kansas City stop at The Uptown Theater.

Each of the two bands had five decades+ of song catalogs to draw from, and it was as much having both acts reacquainting multi-generational audiences with their everlasting respective legacies, as well as the nostalgia of re-kindling memories of so many songs that were radio favorites of the day.

Following a short intro film, Jefferson Starship appropriately began their headlining set with 1981 hit, “Find Your Way Back” and covered all eras of the band, from their hippie beginnings as Jefferson Airplane, to evolving into Jefferson Starship in 1974, and as simply Starship a decade later.

Singer Casey Richardson stepped into the former vocalist shoes of the retired Grace Slick back in 2008 and has made what had to be an initially intimidating role, it her own. Between songs, she also as serves as band’s comedian, regularly ribbing the older band members on stage, all in good spirits, but at their expense.

Her vocal range remained strong, from the trippy verses on the Airplane’s “White Rabbit” to the polished precision pop of the ‘80s, to the soaring choruses on the ending “Somebody to Love.” With Mickey Thomas joining in 1979 and the band embracing a highly commercial sound in the 80s, success did ensue, but they likely lost some original psychedelic rock fans in the process.

Thomas left the fold over a decade ago and continues under his own name, leaving Starship’s male vocals to 88-years-young David Freiberg, who left Quicksilver Messenger Service, to join the Airplane in it last days, and was there at the beginning of Jefferson Starship in 1974.

To see him even upright at that age is impressive in itself, and while he sang in a more limited range than Thomas would have, his good-natured persona and wide smile as he sang, more than won over the forgiving audience.

The ‘80s colors and 8-bit graphics made their often-ridiculed chart topper, “We Built This City” more of a fun sing-along and they leaned into the era of the decade-defining song, which remains a memorable earworm, no matter what you critically think of the tune itself.

Speaking of graphics, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo on-screen, came from none other than Invincible, the Image Comics hero that zipped by a planet on one of the animated clips shown. Whether this was a borrowing of a portion of the Amazon Prime series or an intergalactic tip of the hat, we caught it and beamed with the guest spot pop culture reference.

A new high energy song just released last month, “Jetpack” was also played, complete with star-traveling graphics, showing that the band still has more to say and some octane left in the tank.

Ohio band Pure Prairie League, who originally formed way back in 1970, played the middle set of the evening. In some ways, it was the most memorable, reintroducing the crowd to their unique blend of easy-going country-rock, bluegrass, funk and jazz; that in hindsight, was well ahead of its time.

The band has gone through numerous line up changes, with longtime vocalist Craig Fuller leaving in 2012, steel guitarist and patriarch of the band, John David Call stepping back after their 2024 tour, and the band’s guitarist and co-vocalist during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Vince Gill, going on to a successful solo career and currently splits his time playing in an up-and-coming band called The Eagles.

The band, like the headliner, is still making new music- their latest full-length, Back on Track, was released in 2024 and they did play the title track, midway through the set. Beginning their set with “Two Lane Highway”, it was an otherwise greatest hits affair, as it should be, on a summer tour and with limited stage time.

1980 Top Ten hit, “Let Me Love You Tonight” could easily be played on radio today, reinforcing their country rock influence that maybe came a couple decades too early, for further stardom. 1972’s “Falling In and Out of Love” flowed directly into their biggest hit, “Amie” without additional fanfare or build up, showing both how well it fit in with their other songs and that the band had more to say, beyond their 1975 defining song, and still does after more than fifty-five years.​

Boulder, CO band Firefall began the evening with a brief thirty-minute set, that contained several of their signature hits, and immediately set a carefree, clear air, mountain high vibe to the night.

Their ‘take it easy’ style of country-tinged, melodic soft rock brought them six Billboard Top 40 hits in less than six years during the late 70’s/early 80s, but line up changes, internal issues and finances brought upheaval to the band, though they have persevered, with original guitarist/vocalist Jock Bartley still leading the charge.

The band began their six songs with 1976’s “Livin’ Ain’t Livin’” and it was greatest hits from there, though they do keep releasing new album, the most recent being last May’s Friends & Family 2 album, which features their covers of other bands’ songs from their same era.​​