Is it possible to objectively review a Ringo Starr concert?
Let’s remember that before The Beatles ever existed, there WERE no things such as “critics” for rock and roll bands. No one ever reviewed an album before in any type of publication; The Beatles were such a tsunami of cultural change that even journalism was affected in its wake.
And, putting Ringo and the Fab Four into perspective, what pop band is actually going to be remembered 200 years from now besides The Beatles? Who do you know from classical music besides Bach, Beethoven and Mozart? That’s why seeing Ringo, Starr, in any context, is like seeing a part of musical and cultural history.
And, if you know about the Beatles, each member brought his own distinct personality to the organic whole. RIngo’s contribution, as witnessed by the Greek Theatre 2 hour concert, has, was and always will be, the emphasis of “fun”, with that word being mentioned almost as much as the other parts of the trinity of “peace” and “love”.
And Starr’s own “All Starr” band was an amalgam of various elements, with leaders of various popular bands in the 1970s-80s bringing in temperaments of R&B, vocal harmony, melody, enthusiasm and lyricism. Respectively, Hamish Stuart/b (Average White Band), Colin Hay/g-(Men At Work), Steve Lukather (Toto), Edgar Winter/key-as (White Trash), and Warren Ham/perc-wwinds (Kansas) brought in their own songs, colors and pulses to the show, all anchored and held together by the enthusiastic drummer teaming up with Richard Starkey, namely Gregg Bissonette (can you imagine having a business card that says “Ringo’s Drummer”?!?) allowing the Happy Beatle to act like both an mc and ambassador.
Starr’s own material is world known (as he joked “I guarantee everyone of you hear will know at least two songs”) and hey joyfully took the microphone out front through the mix of cheery and whimsical pieces such as “Act Naturally”, “I Am The Greatest”, “Yellow Submarine”, “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Octopus Garden” with Bissonette minding the drum shop. All fun and, in a sense, nostalgic.
Yet the winning moments of the evening were not only when Ringo went behind his Ludwigs and sang while hammering out “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Boys”, but when he linked up with Bissonette to forma a formidable groove machine for songs not associated with the Liverpudlian. Ringer got into disco fever as he snapped to Stuart’s “Pick Up The Pieces”, sizzled with high hat heaven alongside Bissonette during Hay’s “Down Under” and hammered the ride cymbal like a Chuck Berry devotee as Edgar Winter ricocheted out “Johnny B. Goode”.
The 82 year old Starr also showed he can survive and thrive through the 70s twice, hammering the pulse for Lukather on the Toto treats “Hold The Line” and “Rosanna” and created a Serengeti migration with Bissonette on a dramatic “Africa”.
For the finally, All Starr alumni Jim Keltner sat in on Ringo’s drums, with Howard Jones, Dave Paich and Benmont Tench adding vocals for an enthusiastic refrain of “With A Little Help From My Friends” and a chant of “Give Peace A Chance”
And what is it like to play drums and see Ringo Starr side by side?
“It is a dream come true playing a Beatles song, or any song, looking five feet to my right and seeing Ringo, my dear friend and favorite drummer” beamed Bissonette after the show.. ”Ringo’s groove is so fantastic; it’s so great to look over at him and thing “this is the guy I saw with the Beatles in ’66 when I was seven years old. Playing all these songs with all of these great bandleaders is just fantastic. We do our own versions, and that makes it a real band for us”.
A dream come true for people on both sides of the stage is a rare treat, and everyone enjoyed participating in a musical event for the ages.
Upcoming shows at The Greek include Neil Young 07/09, 13 Gipsy Kings 08/12, Chicago 08/19 and Van Morrison 09/17, 19,