Beats & Bites Festival: Kansas and Starship

Beats & Bites Festival is back at Riverwind Casino! For its ninth year strong, Beats & Bites Festival is bringing you some of Oklahoma’s best fun, fare, and festivities. Join us on August 9th to enjoy live music by Kansas and Starship, as well as various food trucks and retail vendors. 

Gate Time: 6:00 PM
Show Time: 6:30 PM

Kansas:
With a legendary career spanning five decades, KANSAS has firmly established itself as one of America’s iconic classic rock bands. This “garage band” from Topeka released their debut album in 1974 after being discovered by Wally Gold, who worked for Don Kirshner, and have gone on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide.

Composing a catalogue that includes sixteen studio albums and five live albums, KANSAS has produced eight gold albums, three sextuple-Platinum albums (Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Best of KANSAS), one platinum live album (Two for the Show), one quadruple-Platinum single ‘Carry On Wayward Son,’ and another triple-Platinum single ‘Dust in the Wind.’ KANSAS appeared on the Billboard charts for over 200 weeks throughout the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and played to sold-out arenas and stadiums throughout North America, Europe and Japan. ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ continues to be one of the top five most played songs on classic rock radio, and ‘Dust In the Wind’ has been played on the radio more than three million times!

The summer of 2020 marked the release of “The Absence of Presence,” KANSAS’s sixteenth studio album, which debuted at #10 on Billboard’s Top Current Albums chart.  The wide-ranging progressive rock album, released by InsideOut Music, follows-up 2016’s “The Prelude Implicit,” which debuted at #14 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart.

Throughout 2016-2022, the band celebrated the anniversaries of multi-Platinum breakout albums “Leftoverture” and “Point of Know Return” with anniversary tours for both albums. Both tours were commemorated with live album releases “Leftoverture Live & Beyond” (2017) & “Point of Know Return Live & Beyond” (2021).

The band is currently comprised of original drummer Phil Ehart, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, keyboardist/vocalist Tom Brislin, guitarist Zak Rizvi, violinist/guitarist Joe Deninzon, bassist/vocalist Dan McGowan, and original guitarist Richard Williams. Drummer Eric Holmquist is currently performing on drums while Phil Ehart continues to recover from a major heart attack. With no signs of slowing down, KANSAS continues to perform in front of large and enthusiastic audiences.

Along with constant touring, KANSAS continues to remain a fixture of Classic Rock radio and popular culture. The band continues to reach a whole new audience through their unmistakable presence in various commercials, live sports broadcasts, popular video games Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Grand Theft Auto; the band’s documentary film “KANSAS: Miracles Out of Nowhere,” and a guest appearance on The CW’s television show ‘Walker.’ The band’s songs have also been included in various television shows such as ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Reacher,’ ‘All Elite Wrestling,’ ‘South Park,’ ‘The Office,’ and ‘The Simpsons;’ as well as blockbuster films including ‘Old School,’ ‘The Suicide Squad,’ ‘Anchorman,’ ‘Pitch Perfect,’ and ‘Happy Gilmore.’

Starship:

Mickey Thomas is the owner of the soaring voice that propelled STARSHIP through the decade of the 80’s. With his soulful and compelling vocals, Mickey has established himself as one of Rock Music’s most recognizable stars.

Mickey made his mark in 1976 as lead vocalist on the mega-hit “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” with The Elvin Bishop Band. In 1979, Mickey joined Jefferson Starship as the lead vocalist, after the departure of Grace Slick and Marty Balin, and recorded a string of hits including “Jane”, “No Way Out”, “Find Your Way Back”, “Stranger”, and “Layin’ It on the Line”.

The group was renamed STARSHIP in 1985 and went on to record three #1 hit songs including “We Built This City”, “Sara”, and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, from the film, Mannequin, which also was an Academy Award nominee. Their hit “It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over” became Major League Baseball’s theme in 1987. Mickey’s stellar voice and video charisma on STARSHIP’s video classics such as “We Built This City” and “Sara” became staples on MTV and VH1.

One can expect to hear hits from STARSHIP and Jefferson Starship at STARSHIP’s live performances, as well as a few selections from Jefferson Airplane as a nod to both band’s beginnings.

BAND:

MICKEY THOMAS – LEAD VOCALS
JEFF ADAMS – BASS
JOHN ROTH – GUITAR
PHIL BENNETT – KEYBOARDS
DARRELL VERDUSCO – DRUMS
CHELSEE FOSTER – VOCALS