Jefferson Starship books a psychedelic rock trip to the OC Fair

To clear up any confusion caused by a similarity in names, it is Jefferson Starship that is currently touring. It evolved from Jefferson Airplane and part of the former’s catalog includes the latter’s hits.

“Yeah, we’ll be doing some of those songs as well,” said David Freiberg, vocalist, acoustic guitarist and senior member of Jefferson Starship, which plays Saturday at the Pacific Amphitheatre. America (“Ventura Highway,” “A Horse with No Name”) is co-headlining the bill.

With the death in 2016 of Paul Kantner, who co-founded both Jefferson Starship and Jefferson Airplane, Freiberg is the only active charter member of the former who was also part of the latter. He joined at 35 in 1974 when the band formed in San Francisco. Jefferson Airplane became a 1996 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a 2016 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

As a co-founder of Quicksilver Messenger Service, another San Francisco-area group that formed in the mid 60s, he has long participated in the psychedelic rock scene.

Despite such tags as “psychedelic rock” and “acid rock” still being applied to Jefferson Starship’s music, “I can guarantee you, we’re not drug-induced these days.”

Freiberg turns 80 next month.

“I’m having as much fun now as I ever had,” he said. “We’re doing songs together as a group, like we used to. I’m even looking forward to getting on that plane for our next tour.”

Such Jefferson Airplane favorites as “White Rabbit, “Somebody to Love” and “Volunteers” likely will “pop up” on the program, said Freiberg, who left Jefferson Starship shortly after Kantner left in 1985 and the name had changed to simply Starship, which had two No. 1 hits with the far-from-psychedelic “We Built this City” and “Sara.”

“It was a mutual parting,” he said. “They said, ‘You don’t seem to be doing much,’ and I said, ‘Should I leave?’ I’m a folk writer and not the type the band was becoming, which was more of a corporate thing, doing hits that weren’t by us. So I left.”

Twenty years later, Freiberg was invited back.

“Paul had the band [re-started and] going for [more than] 10 years by that time,” he said, “and he asked me to sit in. Immediately, I felt the fun and joy of being in the band that I used to feel. I’m having a great time now, and I love working with these people.”

A classically trained violinist-violist at the age of 4, Freiberg eventually turned to folk music, then rock ’n’ roll. Now coming full circle, Freiberg is excited over an upcoming collaboration with the Dayton Symphony in November.

“We’re still working on the orchestrations,” he said. “It’s fun to do, should do some more.”

Freiberg also looks forward to doing humanitarian causes, such as Helping Hospitalized Veterans, a series of concerts the group gave in 2014-15, for which it was commended with a Department of Defense Certificate of Appreciation.

“Our music has always tried to raise social-consciousness, saying about how good the world could be,” he said. “The world is very hard to change, but we’re never going to give up. We’re still going to try and change the world.”

If You Go

What: Jefferson Starship and America

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Pacific Amphitheatre, OC Fair & Event Center, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: Tickets start at $23.

Information: (866) 820-4553 and ocfair.com