Ringo's still Ringo, and that's fab
By TOM ZUCCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 17, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - He always seemed to know that he more or less lucked into the gig of a lifetime. And long after the Beatles broke up, he still seemed to sense that, like the Rolling Stones' Charlie Watts and Aerosmith's Joey Kramer, he was more the frame than the picture.
But when you're Ringo Starr, you don't apologize or disappear. You do what you do every summer: get a band together, hit the road and have a good time.
The eighth edition of Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band rolled into the Mahaffey Theater on Saturday night, and if there was ever an argument in favor of prolonging that thing called fossil/geezer rock, this was it.
Ringo was, well, Ringo. He pranced out from the wings in jeans, sneakers and a purplish silk shirt and spent most of the next two hours striding across the stage or swaying behind his drums.
Just like on Ed Sullivan. And this man turned 63 last month.
His voice still has that Bill Murray/airport bar quality, but he never pretended to be a great vocalist. And he and the band are putting in long hours. They played Gulfport, Miss., on Friday night, and they're scheduled in Boca Raton tonight.
Still, the energy and the enthusiasm were there. Starr opened with It Don't Come Easy, Honey Don't, and Memphis In Your Mind from his latest CD, and then let his bandmates do their all-star thing. And it was considerable.
Paul Carrack led off with How Long, from his days with Ace, and followed that up later with an inspiring version of the Mike and the Mechanics hit Living Years that brought tears to the eyes of many of the 1,684 people at the nearly sold-out show.
Former Men At Work frontman Colin Hay did Down Under and Who Can It Be Now, and John Waite of the Babys and Bad English added Missing You and other hits.
But Sheila E., Prince's drummer/percussionist, kicked the show into a gear not found in an oldies show with an extended version of Glamorous Life. Her breathtaking drum solos were worth the price of admission.
The band also included Mark Rivera, who shined on guitar, drums, flute, harmonica and especially the saxophone. And Hay showed his skill on guitar during an acoustic version of Here Comes The Sun that George Harrison would have approved of.
Through it all, leading this merry band, was little Ritchie Starkey. The kid who took over from Pete Best and still has that I-won-the-lottery grin.
"I was given a key to the city today," Ringo said midway through the show. "So I can enter any of your homes at will."
If they knew he was coming, the doors would have been wide open.
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