"A beautiful town on the banks of the... " a Sankt Goarshausen Travel Page by jessicadf

There is a legend of Loreley, a woman that would entice sailors on to the rocks... and then there is the legend of when Jefferson Starship were scheduled to play a concert at the Loreley Amphetheater in 1978... On that date, Grace Slick was too sick to perform, and Paul Kantner said he would not perform if Grace did not. Thus, the show had to be canceled. The concert-goers had waited in the rain all day, listening to folk music. So when my father, a member of the band, got on stage to apologize and tell the audience that they could not play, but their money would be refunded and the band would come back and play before the band returned to the U.S.A., the crowd rioted. They destroyed the stage, burned the stage canopy to the ground, destroyed as many instruments as could be found...

Now, jump forward to June 19, 2005. Jefferson Starship was on the bill for the 3 Days of Peace and Love concert at Loreley. This time they took the stage, played the best gig of their tour, and wowed the fans. Dad sang gorgeously, and my husband and I happened to be there to witness their triumphant return. Not only that, but it was Father's Day (in the U.S.) Hurrah!!

...they immediately started throwing wine and beer bottles and whatever else they could find. The promoter tried to usher my father in to a bunker, with the idea of locking him in for his safety. My father said something along the lines of, "There's no way that I, a Jew, am going to be locked away in a bunker amidst a bunch of rioting Germans!" Instead, he donned a leather jacket and walked around, nobody recognizing that he was the one who'd just announced the cancelation. He casually walked out to the rental car and zoomed away with some of the crew (and a trunk full of guitars and equipment).

...Mark, me and my father pose back stage, with the beautiful Rhine below us.