All Starr Band - 2/13/99

Review by Ellen Griffis (Switch to
)
2/15/1999

The closer it got to the Ringo All Starr concert in Atlantic City, the sorrier I was that I had bought the tickets. It was a long trek from Lancaster, I wasn't that keen on seeing Todd with another band (even if it was Ringo's), my Todd Fan friend wasn't making this road trip.... "Well, I won't be a fool no more." Here was a Todd I had never heard perform before - this HUGE, masterful inspiration of a musician who played in the the concert at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City on Saturday night. His guitar playing reached a whole new level, he was polished and passionate both as part of the band and in his own numbers, and he was truly a star by himself in a band that boasted more incredible "mature" talent than I had ever expected to see or hear.

Todd, playing a guitar that rumor has it was once Eric Clapton's, opened his portion of the show with I Saw the Light. I KNOW I heard the bossa nova in there! He also played Hammer in My Heart, which I don't usually care for, but Tim Capello helped turn this into a whole new version. (Capello is a show all his own!) Bang the Drum had the entire crowd standing and cheering - Todd was SO far removed from the Channel Surfing's Tour ukulele number - it was geriatric beach bum turned maniacal godd.

My other favorites were White Room with Jack Bruce, Whiter Shade of Pale with Gary Brooker (it's so great when you can hear the bass through the floor!), It Don't Come Easy, Sunshine of Your Love (I wanted the guitar on this to go on all night), and I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends (with Max Weinberg gearing up to go on tour with Bruce and the E-Street Band this spring). It was an All-Todd Night with Todd playing up ten notches to become one of the legends on stage completely in his own right.

The other personal highlight for me was bringing home two All Starr Band t-shirts - one for Chris, my best Todd Fan friend, who opened up a whole new world for me by introducing me to Todd's music, but on this night couldn't make the trip. For once I got to tell him all the Todd stories I can never hear enough of from his many years of listening to TR. The other t-shirt was a surprise for Rory, an 11 year old Beatles fan, whose eyes got big and wide when he saw the shirt. He wore it all day and probably slept in it that night. Ellen Griffis, Lancaster


Other reviews for Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band
2/13/1999 - Trump Taj Mahal - Atlantic City, NJ


The Todd Rundgren Connection is brought to you by Roger D. Linder & The Linder Logo Rocemabra Web Services.