Post by John S. Damm on Jul 26, 2010 22:29:28 GMT -5
I saw Ringo Starr and The 11th version of the All-Starr Band at "The Venue" within the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana on Saturday, July 24, 2010.
I felt like I was in a legalized whorehouse when walking through the casino to get to the theater(how clever casinos are to force concert attendees to walk through the gambling floor to get to the concert). It kind of disappoints me that Ringo, who fought addiction to alcohol, would agree to play in a venue where my wife and I observed so many people addicted to gambling and spending money that should have gone to the support of their families.
When I bought the tickets, I had no idea "The Venue" was in a casino. Ticketmaster just said, "The Venue, Hammond, Indiana." Hammond is next to Chicago(but in Indiana) so I thought that it was another music venue competing for the Chicago market. Oh well, other than my ticket purchases, I did not spend a penny in that place.
The set-list was standard:
1. It Don't Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
2. Honey Don't (Starr)
3. Choose Love (Starr)
4. Hang On Sloopy (Rick Derringer)
5. Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
6. Talking In Her Sleep (Wally Palmer)
7. I Wanna Be Your Man (Starr)
8. Dream Weaver (Gary Wright)
9. Kyrie (Richard Page)
10. The Other Side of Liverpool (Starr)
11. Yellow Submarine (Starr)
12. Frankenstein (Winter)
13. Peace Dream (Starr)
14. Back Off Boogaloo (Starr)
15. What I Like About You (Palmer)
16. Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Derringer)
17. Eruption (Derringer) (Performed at the end of Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
18. Boys (Starr)
19. Love is Alive (Wright)
20. Broken Wings (Richard Page)
21. Photograph (Starr)
22. Act Naturally (Starr)
23. With a Little Help From My Friends (Starr)
24. Give Peace a Chance (Starr) (Performed at the end of With a Little Help From My Friends)
The Venue was cozy and we had seats center stage in the orchestra, row 8 so we were very close to the action. Ringo looked great, sounded strong and truly seemed in a good mood.
Richard Page of Mr. Mister was really good on his two songs and was a wonderful bass player. I had heard those songs but had never really known much of the band. Gary Wright was really good and sang well. I had read many reviews from 2008 that said Wright's voice was shot. Sure, he didn't sound exactly like the 1976 records but he was good. In fact, after "Dream Weaver," Ringo seemed to be sincere when he said that was the best he's ever heard Gary sing that song. Of course, I am skeptical of anything artists say in concert because they may say that every show!
Edgar Winter was cool and his songs were good. He was pretty intense musically but friendly and funny. Wally Palmer was probably the least impressive of the band even though I am more familiar with his music than the others(except for Ringo). He kind of looked like a drunken Hobbit or an older, beer-gut version of Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day! ;D He was okay I guess.
Rick Derringer was a good guitar player and "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo/Eruption" was very well received.
I was pleasantly surprised that Ringo seemed to play more drums though-out the night than I ever remember him doing. He sat out on "Frankenstein" but I recall him playing on all other All-Starr songs. That is good as I always hated when Ringo would leave the stage on the others' songs which use to happen quite often in a show it seemed. Ringo did some really cool drum patterns on one of the Richard Page songs. While the other drummer was playing a regular beat, Ringo was playing a pattern that reminded me of his drumming on "Tomorrow Never Knows." That was cool.
There were a lot of Beatles geeks around me so imagine my disgust when only a handful of us raised our hands when Ringo asked who had Y Not. Hey, I may not think that it is his best but at least I bought a commercial version so Ringo got a royalty. A lot of the men and women around me had all their Beatles' gear on(not me, I never wear Beatles' clothing) and held their signs but had not purchased Ringo's newest album.
Ringo kind of wearily said, "Oh good, all nine of you bought it." Some really obnoxious fat lady to my right kept screaming at Ringo during the quieter moments when he was trying to talk so Ringo finally acknowledged her and said, "Well let's hear what you have to say." Then Ringo turned to the band and very sarcastically said, "Yeah, let's just stop the whole show so this lady can say what she's been trying to scream all night.!" That was awesome as Ringo had dissed this self-indulgent fan without her realizing it.
When the fat lady went to talk she was totally lame and sounded like she had shit in her mouth! Her big moment brought on by her obnoxiousness and she totally choked! I loved it! ;D Ringo blew her off after a moment and moved on.
As is always my luck, I had a woman in front of me who felt the need to be the only person standing on all songs even for all the songs where everyone else were sitting. She proved the maxim that middle-aged white women cannot dance! Her lame dance moves with her hands up in the air did nothing but block my view. On "Photograph," she predictably had to hold up a poster size photo of her and Ringo at some record signing event. Now I totally couldn't see on my favorite Ringo song. Thank God Ringo totally ignored her even though we were very close to him. Some fans like the "lame dancer" in front of me and the fat yelling broad to my right are just so precious and self-indulgent and the whole evening is about them. Not!
What can I say about Ringo's set-list? He did the majority of his Beatles' songs and just few great solo hits. The real dog of his set, and a real mystery to me, is "Choose Love." That song sucks and was totally forgotten by most of the audience(if they ever knew it). That was three albums ago on Ringo's worst album since the dreaded mid and late 1970's albums. Why he would choose that I have no idea. I would have loved to have heard "Liverpool 8" which would have been much better received.
I will say that Ringo sounded great on the two new songs "The Other Side Of Liverpool" and "Peace Dream" which Ringo made a real effort to sing and not just speak it as he does too often in his later years. Well done Ringo.
I had a fair to good time. We had trouble getting seated because the whorehouse, er casino, has free, first come, first serve, parking and with more people there to gamble than to see Ringo, parking was hard to find. We got there a half hour early but it took me that long to find a free parking place. That sucks. Parking should be a no-brainer at a concert. Again, I had no warning from Ticketmaster that parking was tricky because of the damn casino. I'd rather pay $10.00 to park, but get immediate parking, than search for a parking place frantically like one does at a busy shopping mall at Xmas.
This was easily my least favorite All-Starr Band but as others have suggested, I was pleasantly surprised by most of the band. I still enjoyed the band and Ringo seemed to have fun.
I felt like I was in a legalized whorehouse when walking through the casino to get to the theater(how clever casinos are to force concert attendees to walk through the gambling floor to get to the concert). It kind of disappoints me that Ringo, who fought addiction to alcohol, would agree to play in a venue where my wife and I observed so many people addicted to gambling and spending money that should have gone to the support of their families.
When I bought the tickets, I had no idea "The Venue" was in a casino. Ticketmaster just said, "The Venue, Hammond, Indiana." Hammond is next to Chicago(but in Indiana) so I thought that it was another music venue competing for the Chicago market. Oh well, other than my ticket purchases, I did not spend a penny in that place.
The set-list was standard:
1. It Don't Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
2. Honey Don't (Starr)
3. Choose Love (Starr)
4. Hang On Sloopy (Rick Derringer)
5. Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
6. Talking In Her Sleep (Wally Palmer)
7. I Wanna Be Your Man (Starr)
8. Dream Weaver (Gary Wright)
9. Kyrie (Richard Page)
10. The Other Side of Liverpool (Starr)
11. Yellow Submarine (Starr)
12. Frankenstein (Winter)
13. Peace Dream (Starr)
14. Back Off Boogaloo (Starr)
15. What I Like About You (Palmer)
16. Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo (Derringer)
17. Eruption (Derringer) (Performed at the end of Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo)
18. Boys (Starr)
19. Love is Alive (Wright)
20. Broken Wings (Richard Page)
21. Photograph (Starr)
22. Act Naturally (Starr)
23. With a Little Help From My Friends (Starr)
24. Give Peace a Chance (Starr) (Performed at the end of With a Little Help From My Friends)
The Venue was cozy and we had seats center stage in the orchestra, row 8 so we were very close to the action. Ringo looked great, sounded strong and truly seemed in a good mood.
Richard Page of Mr. Mister was really good on his two songs and was a wonderful bass player. I had heard those songs but had never really known much of the band. Gary Wright was really good and sang well. I had read many reviews from 2008 that said Wright's voice was shot. Sure, he didn't sound exactly like the 1976 records but he was good. In fact, after "Dream Weaver," Ringo seemed to be sincere when he said that was the best he's ever heard Gary sing that song. Of course, I am skeptical of anything artists say in concert because they may say that every show!
Edgar Winter was cool and his songs were good. He was pretty intense musically but friendly and funny. Wally Palmer was probably the least impressive of the band even though I am more familiar with his music than the others(except for Ringo). He kind of looked like a drunken Hobbit or an older, beer-gut version of Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day! ;D He was okay I guess.
Rick Derringer was a good guitar player and "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo/Eruption" was very well received.
I was pleasantly surprised that Ringo seemed to play more drums though-out the night than I ever remember him doing. He sat out on "Frankenstein" but I recall him playing on all other All-Starr songs. That is good as I always hated when Ringo would leave the stage on the others' songs which use to happen quite often in a show it seemed. Ringo did some really cool drum patterns on one of the Richard Page songs. While the other drummer was playing a regular beat, Ringo was playing a pattern that reminded me of his drumming on "Tomorrow Never Knows." That was cool.
There were a lot of Beatles geeks around me so imagine my disgust when only a handful of us raised our hands when Ringo asked who had Y Not. Hey, I may not think that it is his best but at least I bought a commercial version so Ringo got a royalty. A lot of the men and women around me had all their Beatles' gear on(not me, I never wear Beatles' clothing) and held their signs but had not purchased Ringo's newest album.
Ringo kind of wearily said, "Oh good, all nine of you bought it." Some really obnoxious fat lady to my right kept screaming at Ringo during the quieter moments when he was trying to talk so Ringo finally acknowledged her and said, "Well let's hear what you have to say." Then Ringo turned to the band and very sarcastically said, "Yeah, let's just stop the whole show so this lady can say what she's been trying to scream all night.!" That was awesome as Ringo had dissed this self-indulgent fan without her realizing it.
When the fat lady went to talk she was totally lame and sounded like she had shit in her mouth! Her big moment brought on by her obnoxiousness and she totally choked! I loved it! ;D Ringo blew her off after a moment and moved on.
As is always my luck, I had a woman in front of me who felt the need to be the only person standing on all songs even for all the songs where everyone else were sitting. She proved the maxim that middle-aged white women cannot dance! Her lame dance moves with her hands up in the air did nothing but block my view. On "Photograph," she predictably had to hold up a poster size photo of her and Ringo at some record signing event. Now I totally couldn't see on my favorite Ringo song. Thank God Ringo totally ignored her even though we were very close to him. Some fans like the "lame dancer" in front of me and the fat yelling broad to my right are just so precious and self-indulgent and the whole evening is about them. Not!
What can I say about Ringo's set-list? He did the majority of his Beatles' songs and just few great solo hits. The real dog of his set, and a real mystery to me, is "Choose Love." That song sucks and was totally forgotten by most of the audience(if they ever knew it). That was three albums ago on Ringo's worst album since the dreaded mid and late 1970's albums. Why he would choose that I have no idea. I would have loved to have heard "Liverpool 8" which would have been much better received.
I will say that Ringo sounded great on the two new songs "The Other Side Of Liverpool" and "Peace Dream" which Ringo made a real effort to sing and not just speak it as he does too often in his later years. Well done Ringo.
I had a fair to good time. We had trouble getting seated because the whorehouse, er casino, has free, first come, first serve, parking and with more people there to gamble than to see Ringo, parking was hard to find. We got there a half hour early but it took me that long to find a free parking place. That sucks. Parking should be a no-brainer at a concert. Again, I had no warning from Ticketmaster that parking was tricky because of the damn casino. I'd rather pay $10.00 to park, but get immediate parking, than search for a parking place frantically like one does at a busy shopping mall at Xmas.
This was easily my least favorite All-Starr Band but as others have suggested, I was pleasantly surprised by most of the band. I still enjoyed the band and Ringo seemed to have fun.