He comes running. Ringo! The real real Ringo Starr of the Beatles. With his Ringo nose. His Ringo look. His good Ringo voice. Her Ringo slenderness! What a Ringo, this Ringo! The spectacular form, the easy laugh and obviously, the very lively taste of being there. More than ever ? We can affirm it. His opening hat-trick is unstoppable: Carl Perkins (Matchboxlike in 1964 on the other side of the 45 rpm Slow Down), his first solo success (the perfect It Don’t Come Easyas in the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971), and the one and only song signed Lennon-McCartney-Starkey (What Goes On, almost never performed live). It’s already very satisfying, we have our eyes in the water, just to share his renewed fervor.
Yes, renewed. Casually, it’s been seven years since the last time. Almost to the day: it was at Saint-Denis, October 21, 2015. Let’s measure: seven years is the interval between the first photo of Ringo Starr as official drummer of the Beatles, in rehearsal at the Cavern on August 22, 1962, and the very last of the quartet, at Tittenhurst Park, on August 22, 1969. Let’s measure again: Ringo Starr has been touring with the various incarnations of his All-Starr Band since… 1989. This is the fifteenth band great star musician buddies, but it’s safe to say that Ringo has been performing this show for more than four times seven years. Almost five times. Continuously. Except for the pandemic.
The Galvanizing Pandemic
For this Ringo who loves nothing more in life than to play, play, play, the pandemic was a punishment that bordered on intolerable. Especially since he has passed the milestone of 80 years in full confinement. And that’s what makes this evening so different. So exceptional. In 2015, at Saint-Denis, it was worse than in 2001 at the Molson Center. In 2015, Ringo had, how can I put it? Routine joy. Pleasure certainly recurrent, but a little eroded. In 2001, it was great, especially because Roger Hodgson, ex-Supertramp, had received at least as much ovation as the ex-Beatle. To his great surprise. For those who went to cheer on Ringo and his fabulous All-Starr Band in 1992 at Canada’s Wonderland amusement park, the memory of Burton Cummings almost stealing the show from our beloved Ringo is indelible.
Do better ? On paper, All-Starr Band for All-Starr Band, the first drafts are unbeatable. But when you see Ringo in this Place Bell in Laval that didn’t even exist the last time, and he settles down behind his drums to accompany his group, flexibly and nodding his head as a clear sign of musician’s pleasure active, it’s frankly great. And the group is undoubtedly the most cohesive of the fifteen… Less sparkling, but very coherent. An esprit de corps, à la Ringo as in the blessed days of the four boys in the wind.
A shared directory
It makes everything good, everything becomes the repertoire of this group. Edgar Winter and his FreeRideSteve Lukather and his RosannaHamish Stuart and his funky Pick Up The PiecesColin Hay and his very popular Down Under, they play each title very very together because it now belongs to them in the present, within the group, with Ringo in the role of pilot of the vehicle, in this case a yellow submarine. The best version of Yellow Submarine from Revolver in 1966, it is not nothing.
” Now I’m way past 32 / And all I wanna do / Is boogaloo / Hey! », Ringo sings happily without replacing « now I’m only 32 ” by ” only 82 “. Even if we know it. Richard Starkey could well have died as a child. Peritonitis at six, tuberculosis at 13. Almost three years in the hospital. His list of allergies is longer than his chopsticks put together. The excesses of the 1970s (with the late Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson as drinking brothers), nothing got the better of this heart that never missed a single beat.
When Ringo plays to his liking
There’s nothing beats a Ringo on the drums that sings Boys like in his “Starr Time” at Liverpool. Observation: the sequence without him, a showcase for everyone (especially Edgar Winter and his Frankenstein), is both superfluous and useful. Ringo is resting a bit, the crowd is having a good time, and all the musicians are playing to play, that’s what matters. Waiting for Ringo. Not too long. Which offers a magnificent version ofOctopus’s Gardenand comes back behind its skins to Back Off Boogaloowith a little bit of Helter Skelter as a bonus. And stay on drums for the future. His big cymbal playing in Africa touches more than the 1980s anthem: Ringo continues to be at the service of the play. Effective Ringo! We thus go to the final bouquet, passing by the Isley Brothers: Ringo has not had such a nimble gesture for decades. Add bearings to Ringo. Better because the groove is good. As in the time of the Beatles, Ringo Starr is inspired and inspires the whole group.
You have to see him typing in I Wanna Be Your Manthen… Johnny Be Good ! We could be at the Empire Ballroom in Liverpool with Rory Storm and his Hurricanes! The Ringo before the Beatles! wow. The Photograph and With A Little Help From My Friends are almost over-expected gifts after that. Act Naturallycountry song “Bakersfield sound” par excellence, ideally sums up the beautiful, beautiful evening: when Ringo is happy with his group and with himself in this group, everything is naturally perfect.