Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune

I’m a long-time Beatles fan.  I was too young to remember the heights of  Beatlemania, but the music stood the test of time and I have the full collections as well as most of the solo work done by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.  These guys have been producing some great music for years, much of it after the Beatles, as a band, dissolved.

That’s why when Ringo Starr announced a tour again this year, My wife, Kim, jumped on the opportunity to get us VIP seats to Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band in concert at Mystic Lake Casino.

Thanks to Kim, we were VIPs, which means we were in the front few rows and got a Ringo Starr t-shirt and other memorabilia.  We were scheduled to see him a year ago, but Ringo was derailed twice last year by COVID-19 and had to postpone his tour.

But he was back in Minnesota, singing, drumming, flashing peace signs and even doing a few jumping jacks to get the crowd going.  Of course, those things are expected of rock stars, but remember, Ringo is 83 now.

He didn’t look or act his age.

Sure, he’s not the young mop top of the 60s, but he’s in remarkably good shape and had the energy to do a more than two-hour show.

Ringo doesn’t turn his concerts into a Beatlefest. Starr performed only five Fab Four nuggets, four Ringo solo favorites, four classics the Beatles covered and several hits associated with the other members of his All-Starr Band.

In fact, Ringo doesn’t even mention the Beatles by name.  While introducing one Beatles song, he said: “this is one I used to do with that other band I was in back in the 60s.”

Ringo’s concerts are as much about the “All-Starr Band” members as they are about him.  When he’s not singing, members of the band are performing their popular tunes.  The All-Starr Band this year consisted of Edgar Winter, Collin Hay of Men at Work, Hamish Stewart of Average White Band, Steve Lukather of Toto and ultimate band member Warren Ham, who plays saxophone, keyboard, percussion, harmonica and sings.  All of them are fabulous musicians who composed some great songs and were in top form as they performed on stage together a few weeks ago.  Edgar Winter, of the Edgar Winter Group of the 1970s, stole the show for me when he did “Free Ride” and “Frankenstein” while putting on an exhibition on keyboards, drums and saxophone for his and other band members’ songs.  Where was Ringo while those other songs were being played?  He was playing drums.

With the All-Starr Band, its like going to five concerts in one.

Ringo was talkative between songs as a front man and was enthralled with the warm reception he received from the Minnesota crowd of just 2,000 people at the sold-out venue. He flashed peace signs to many and even flashed a couple to me as I did the same from near the front row with my Ringo Starr t-shirt on. It was a great moment, and a great concert for this long-time Beatles and Ringo Starr fan. Special thanks to my wife for taking the time to get us such great tickets for a memorable concert.