Meet the Beatles for Real: All Starr Band

Thursday, October 19, 2023

The party's over (for now)

Now that Ringo's All Starr Tour 2023 is over and Paul's Got Back tour has begun, I hope everyone that has seen or is seeing a Beatle in concert in 2023 has enjoyed every song and every moment. Enjoy the fact that it is 2023 and both Ringo and Paul are performing.

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Ringo Starr and the All Star Band's Fall 2023 Tour : A Review

Photos taken by Sara Schmidt

I had the wonderful privilege of seeing Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band this past Saturday night at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis, Missouri. Ringo puts on a really fun show and it is well worth going to see him and the All Starr Band perform.

Ringo has a lot of energy and his bandmates are right there with him. The entire band plays their hit songs with a few little Beatle song snippets thrown in here and there. Playing with Ringo this time around is Edgar Winter, who does a great version of his hit song, "Free Ride." Also on the tour are Men at Work's Colin Hay, Steve Lukathur from Toto and Hamish Stewart (who you might remember from Paul's 1993 tour and the Off the Ground album). And I can't forget Gregg Bissonette, who is such a fun drummer to watch.

But the real "starr" of the show is of course our man, Ringo! As with all All Starr concerts, he alternates between singing out front, singing at the drums, and playing drums with the band. There is about two (very long) songs where he leaves to "drink juice." And just like the other times I have seen Ringo, I was mesmerized by watching him play the drums. I always want to enjoy the music the others are playing, but I just can't keep my eyes off Ringo. The absolute highlight for me was "Octopus' Garden." I know he has been playing it for about a year or so now, but it was my first time ever hearing him perform this classic song from Abbey Road and it was great! I also especially loved hearing Ringo perform "I'm the Greatest" and mention that John wrote it for him.

You hear a lot of talk about Paul's voice and sadly Ringo's voice is also not able to hit all of the notes the way he used to. He sort of "talk sings" through some of the more difficult parts (especially in that song I enjoyed, I'm the Greatest), but he is undoubtedly Ringo and he is still promoting peace and love.

If you aren't someone who goes to Ringo concerts because you have already seen him. Why not change that decision for this tour? His show is a really fun night out and I am sure you won't regret seeing one of The Beatles live and in person. Have fun out there!

Monday, September 4, 2023

Farewell to the Dream Weaver

It is so sad to have to post about another death of someone close to the Beatles. I just heard about the death of Gary Wright. Gary was good friends with George and was part of Ringo's All Starr Band for several years. Gary always was asked by John Lennon to play on the Imagine album but had to turn him down (!!) because of his touring commitments. Gary appeared at a few Beatle conventions over the years and talked about his time with the lads, especially with George.

Of course, his big hit song was "Dream Weaver" (which I first heard in the Wayne's World movie and automatically adored). Prior to performing it with the All Starr's he would tell this story:

George invited me to go to India with him, and as a means of introducing me to the philosophy of India, he gave me some literature, one of which was a book of poems. I was browsing through it one night, and I came across this line that said ‘when at night, my mind weaves dreams’, and I opened up my songwriting journal and I wrote down the words ‘dream weaver’ “.