Grand Funk Railroad – Ledge Amphitheater – Waite Park MN – August 12th 2023

Grand Funk Railroad (with Jefferson Starship) – August 12, 2023 at The Ledge Amphitheater, Waite Park

Review and photos by Jim Zons

Summer nights in Minnesota are all about hot weather, good friends and great music, and that was the case when Grand Funk Railroad took the express tracks into the Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park on Saturday, August 12. It has been a few years since I’ve seen GFR in concert and I was looking forward to hearing them at one of my favorite venues.

If you haven’t been to the Ledge Amphitheater, it’s a great place to see a show with super seating, plenty of food and beverage, and best of all a killer stage with great sound!  And when you have two classic rock bands in the house with over a century of hits between the two of them, you know you’re in a special night!

First up was the current touring version of Jefferson Starship. Jefferson Starship was formed in 1974 by former members of Jefferson Airplane, and has had a rotating lineup over the years. Currently featuring original member David Freiberg on vocals and guitar (who recently celebrated his 85th birthday!), Donny Baldwin on drums, Chris Smith on keys and bass, Jude Gold on lead guitar, and Cathy Richardson belting out the vocals and playing rhythm guitar.  Most of the current lineup has been touring together for over a decade, and you could tell with their tight arrangements of classic Jefferson Starship and Jefferson Airplane songs.  The set started with a couple of tracks from 1981’s “Modern Times” album:  Find Your Way Back and Stranger. From that point on, the songs covered the entire era from Jefferson Airplane to Jefferson Starship to Starship and back again; I especially loved their take on White Rabbit … a dark, heavy, expressive version that brought chills to your arms!  By the end of their set, they had the crowd singing along with Somebody to Love, probably one of the most iconic 1960s era songs from Jefferson Airplane.

Next up:  Grand Funk Railroad.  What a treat!  The band currently consists of original members Don Brewer on drums and Mel Schacher on bass who were there from the beginning in 1969, as well as former 38 Special guitarist and singer Max Carl, lead guitarist Bruce Kulick (who played with KISS among other bands), and Tim Cashion on keys, all of whom have been touring with GFR since 2000.

One thing I always forget about Grand Funk Railroad is the variety of music they play, from classic rock tunes you can sing along with, to more bluesy, funky jam numbers that make you go .. WOW!  The variety is amazing!   The set started off with a couple of early 1970s tracks: Rock & Roll Soul, Footstompin’ Music and Shinin’ On, before moving onto Heartbreaker which was on their first album in 1969.  Unless you’re a big Grand Funk fan, maybe a little more in the deep tracks department with the opening songs.  But all it took was the first couple beats of the next song for the crowd to jump to their feet for Grand Funk’s cover of the Little Eva tune Locomotion.

Other highlights of the evening were Second Chance which was originally written and performed by Max Carl when he was with 38 Special, an extended percussion circle which featured the entire band on percussion instruments, and of course more sing-along hits like Some Kind of Wonderful and I’m Your Captain.  Since this is the 50th anniversary of We’re An American Band it was only appropriate that the evening ended with an extended version of the band’s hit single from 1973.  It was a great evening of 1960s and 70s classic rock; if you get a chance to catch Grand Funk Railroad on this tour, make sure you do … you won’t regret it!