Saw Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band last night here in Portland, Ore. Some friends graciously called me to sub in for their friend who came down with Covid the day of the concert. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. At 82 Ringo presents onstage as someone half his age. Really. He fronted a few tunes and played drums alongside Gregg Bissonette. They worked well together, seemed to be having a lot of fun. Nearly two hours no break, impressive stamina, fully committed.

Ringo acquitted himself well on different genres, caught all the drum breaks seamlessly. Well rehearsed with tight arrangements. Handled the funk on AWB’s Pick Up The Pieces (Hamish Stuart) and the sorta quirky Men At Work’s Down Under (Colin Hay). Solid performance, although Bissonette did a lot of the heavy lifting and an impressive solo on Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein.

Steve Lukather (Toto) was brilliant burning through solos and showing great depth covering everyone’s material. Edgar Winters was, well, Edgar Winters. Never thought I’d be hearing him jamming on alto with tenor Warren Ham (Kansas, Toto) on the funky AWB tunes. Nice section work.

Sound was poorly mixed at times, often too loud with poor differentiation. Drums always sounded great. They had their own security, polite and very professional, who attempted to stop people from taking cell phone videos, mostly unsuccessful. The crowd was about 90% Boomers and on their feet most of the time, often singing along. The front row was mysteriously populated by well lit young hotties dancing energetically. During the last number, Give Peace A Chance, one just happened to have a supposedly handmade sign saying PEACE which she held up in a timely manner. Nice touch, actually. Gave all us boomers an injection of youthful nostalgia.

Now "THAT'S" a great review!

I would like to see them, but not enough to put up with a crappy, too loud mix and what I'm assuming are outrageous ticket prices. What I'd really like is to see/hear a professionally shot and mixed video performance.

You're lucky. Had REALLY GOOD tickets on 10/1 at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI, the day he came down with COVID about 45 minutes before the show.

Glad you got to see him, unfortunately they canceled our show with no rescheduling. And of course have not gotten a refund from Ticketmaster. They say 30-45 days. So nice of them.

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

Quote
wurm
I would like to see them, but not enough to put up with a crappy, too loud mix and what I'm assuming are outrageous ticket prices. What I'd really like is to see/hear a professionally shot and mixed video performance.

Tickets were $150 per. They were good seats, on the floor in the middle about half way back. Excellent venue, where the symphony plays, so not sure why they didn't dial in the sound a little better. My friends insisted on not letting me pay which was very sweet. I almost made up for it by paying for the cab rides and drinks during and after.

Sitting next to me was a young fellow about 8, his first concert. Seems like he utterly enjoyed it. It got me thinking about my first concert and as it turns out I believe it was the Beatles at Dodger Stadium circa 1966. Thanks Ringo 54 years later.

And now Ringo just posted he has COVID again - and canceled the remainder of the tour.

You were DEFINITELY lucky.

[bestclassicbands.com]

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

great review. I agree it is amazing that an 82 year old can play drums for two hours straight! similarly, I had friends who recently saw Tom Jones and said similar things about his performance.

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Hurts like a bastid...