Concerts

Space out with The Airplane Family & Live Dead ’69 in Somerville

Get a blast from the past when the two throwback groups hit the new Crystal Ballroom Oct. 21.

The Airplane Family band. YouTube

1 minute to read

Neil Young once sang that “it’s better to burn out than to fade away,” but when it comes to former members of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead (not to mention Hot Tuna, RatDog, David Crosby Band, and who knows, maybe a few others), they’ve apparently decided to do neither.

Instead, members of the aforementioned groups are headed out on the road as The Airplane Family & Live Dead ’69, kicking off their tour at the brand-new Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre on Oct. 21. If you were alive in 1969-70 and ever found yourself in a dark room surrounded by black light posters and lava lamps, you probably grooved out to any number of the songs these groups will bring to the intimate Crystal Ballroom stage.

But this is far more than a “greatest hits” show — the centerpiece of the groups’ current tour will be the first-ever complete-album performance of “Blows Against The Empire,” the 1970 “masterpiece” credited to Paul Kantner (who died in 2016) and Jefferson Starship. A concept album, it was about — and please don’t quote us on this — counterculture hippies who plan to steal a spaceship and travel into the great beyond, presumably to get away from “The Man.” Yes, we know, but trust us: In the ’60s and early ’70s that type of thing made sense.

In addition to the full-album section, the shows are expected to include an encore of Jefferson Airplane classics and a set of Grateful Dead material. The Airplane Family lineup, according to JamBase, features Slick Aguilar (Jefferson Starship), Mike Falzarano (Hot Tuna, New Riders), and opera-singer-turned-classic-rock-interpreter Clare Maloney singing Grace Slick’s parts, with Live Dead ’69 including Aguilar, Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten, RatDog’s Mark Karan, and Michael Robbins and Pete Lavezzoli.

And if you can’t make it to Somerville, never fear: You can also ride your starship down to Fall River to catch the show at the Narrows Center for the Arts on Oct. 30.