(7/18/06) From Frank C. Branchini:
Ringo Starr and The All Starrs
North Fork Theatre
Westbury, NY
July 12, 2006
It was sunny, hot, and humid when we left Maryland for New York. As we
got closer to New York the skies darkened. We had the radio on and they
were predicting severe thunderstorms. Then they issued a tornado watch for
parts of the New York area. It was almost 4:40 pm by the time we arrived at
the Red Roof Inn in Westbury. We had just enough time to check in and
change clothes. We had the TV on and they were reporting that there was a
waterspout on the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee Bridge and a tornado
touched down in Tarrytown, Hawthorne, and Greenwich. There was a lot of
damage in Hawthorne and they reported that 9A, the Saw Mill Parkway, the
Taconic Parkway, and the Harlem Division of Metro North were all shut down.
The North Fork Theatre is a theater in the round with a revolving stage in
the center. First the stage revolves in one direction, then it reverses.
It is not a huge a theater and all of the seats are pretty close to the
stage. This was a much better choice than the huge PNC Arts Center in New
Jersey where you always feel you are sitting miles from the stage.
The theater was packed and the audience was extremely enthusiastic.
I was completely unfamiliar with Billy Squire and Richard Marx and not
able to tell the difference between Edgar and Johnny Winter so I did not
have high expectations for this show. I felt I was going to see Ringo. As
usual, I was pleasantly surprised.
Of couse I expected to like Sheila E. and she seemed to be the most
popular member of the band. She was smiling throughout the show and she
looked like she was having the time of her life. She is gorgeous and her
energy is completely infectious. You can really tell that the other band
members like working with her. One of the really neat things about seeing a
show like this with a revolving stage is that you can see the musicians from
all sides. I love watching her and Ringo drum together. Sheila has a white
drum set with flowers painted on the sides of the drums. Ringo's drums had
red stars. And the monitors were decorated with white stars.
At one point in the show one of the musicians introduced Ringo, mentioning
his work with the Beatles and describing him as the greatest drummer, and
then referred to Sheila E. (who was on his left) as "being on the left hand
of God".
Sheila was wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse. Over that was a black
sort of tube top with straps that were supposed to go over her shoulders.
But the straps kept falling down. It seemed like it must be annoying and
would hamper the movement of her arms. At one point Richard Marx walked
over and pulled one of the straps back up over her shoulder. She turned and
playfully pulled it back down. He walked back and grabbed the strap with
his teeth and pulled it back up. I thought that Sheila's two performances
didn't have quite as much energy as they have had in the past, and yet she
was still stunning.
Hamish Stuart was beaming throughout the show. He has a wonderful smile
and he looked like he was having the time of his life. It was a shame that
he was not given a solo spot.
The most popular non-Ringo numbers were She's Not There, Hold Your Head
Up, Frankenstein, and Free Ride. I had no idea that Free Ride was an Edgar
Winter song. I loved both of his performances. He has a pretty dramatic
stage presence. He has very long white hair and came on stage wearing
dramatic full length black coat. I had seen Rod Argent with the Zombies so
I knew he would be good.
I didn't recognize any of the Billy Squire material but except for a
dreary blues tune at the center of the show (which seemed more popular with
the audience than it was with me) he was pleasant enough. I didn't
recognize the Richard Marx material either and it seemed sort of light
weight. He got the least reaction from the audience. He mentioned that he
had appeared at the North Fork Theater previously and a handful of people
applauded. He quipped, " I have more relatives than that."
Of the Ringo songs, Yellow Submarine got the biggest reaction with the
audience participating very enthusiastically. I was pleased that he
included What Goes On, Choose Love, Never Without You, and Memphis In Your
Mind in his set. It is always a thrill to see Ringo and I thoroughly
enjoyed this show. While I didn't find the non-Ringo part of the show to be
as strong as on previous All Starr tours, being so close to the stage really
made up for it. I enjoyed this show more than some of other All Starr shows
I have seen with stronger line ups!
Usually at Beatles-related shows the audience is pretty diverse. For some
reason this audience seemed to be mostly first-generation age fans. There
were very few children and Ringo reacted very strongly to two of them. He
singled out a young boy in the first row who was very enthusiastic and gave
him drum sticks. He also reached out to and kissed a young girl in one of
the front rows.
The Billy Shears introduction from With A Little Help from My Friends
It Don't Come Easy
What Goes On
Honey Don't
Everybody Wants You (Billy Squire)
Free Ride (Edgar Winter)
Love Bizarre (Sheila E.)
Boys
Don't Mean Nothing (Richard Marx)
She's Not There (Rod Argent)
Never Without You
Yellow Submarine
Whatever You Do (Richard Marx)
Rambling On My Mind (Billy Squire)
Frankenstein (Edgar Winter)
Photograph
Choose Love
Should Have Known Better Richard Marx)
Glamorous Life (Sheila E.)
I Wanna Be Your Man
Rock Me Tonight (Billy Squire)
Act Naturally
Hold Your Head Up (Rod Argent)
Act Naturally
Memphis In My Mind
With A Little Help From My Friends
North Fork Theatre
Westbury, NY
July 12, 2006 It was sunny, hot, and humid when we left Maryland for New York. As we got closer to New York the skies darkened. We had the radio on and they were predicting severe thunderstorms. Then they issued a tornado watch for parts of the New York area. It was almost 4:40 pm by the time we arrived at the Red Roof Inn in Westbury. We had just enough time to check in and change clothes. We had the TV on and they were reporting that there was a waterspout on the Hudson River near the Tappan Zee Bridge and a tornado touched down in Tarrytown, Hawthorne, and Greenwich. There was a lot of damage in Hawthorne and they reported that 9A, the Saw Mill Parkway, the Taconic Parkway, and the Harlem Division of Metro North were all shut down. The North Fork Theatre is a theater in the round with a revolving stage in the center. First the stage revolves in one direction, then it reverses. It is not a huge a theater and all of the seats are pretty close to the stage. This was a much better choice than the huge PNC Arts Center in New Jersey where you always feel you are sitting miles from the stage. The theater was packed and the audience was extremely enthusiastic. I was completely unfamiliar with Billy Squire and Richard Marx and not able to tell the difference between Edgar and Johnny Winter so I did not have high expectations for this show. I felt I was going to see Ringo. As usual, I was pleasantly surprised. Of couse I expected to like Sheila E. and she seemed to be the most popular member of the band. She was smiling throughout the show and she looked like she was having the time of her life. She is gorgeous and her energy is completely infectious. You can really tell that the other band members like working with her. One of the really neat things about seeing a show like this with a revolving stage is that you can see the musicians from all sides. I love watching her and Ringo drum together. Sheila has a white drum set with flowers painted on the sides of the drums. Ringo's drums had red stars. And the monitors were decorated with white stars. At one point in the show one of the musicians introduced Ringo, mentioning his work with the Beatles and describing him as the greatest drummer, and then referred to Sheila E. (who was on his left) as "being on the left hand of God". Sheila was wearing a white, long-sleeved blouse. Over that was a black sort of tube top with straps that were supposed to go over her shoulders. But the straps kept falling down. It seemed like it must be annoying and would hamper the movement of her arms. At one point Richard Marx walked over and pulled one of the straps back up over her shoulder. She turned and playfully pulled it back down. He walked back and grabbed the strap with his teeth and pulled it back up. I thought that Sheila's two performances didn't have quite as much energy as they have had in the past, and yet she was still stunning. Hamish Stuart was beaming throughout the show. He has a wonderful smile and he looked like he was having the time of his life. It was a shame that he was not given a solo spot. The most popular non-Ringo numbers were She's Not There, Hold Your Head Up, Frankenstein, and Free Ride. I had no idea that Free Ride was an Edgar Winter song. I loved both of his performances. He has a pretty dramatic stage presence. He has very long white hair and came on stage wearing dramatic full length black coat. I had seen Rod Argent with the Zombies so I knew he would be good. I didn't recognize any of the Billy Squire material but except for a dreary blues tune at the center of the show (which seemed more popular with the audience than it was with me) he was pleasant enough. I didn't recognize the Richard Marx material either and it seemed sort of light weight. He got the least reaction from the audience. He mentioned that he had appeared at the North Fork Theater previously and a handful of people applauded. He quipped, " I have more relatives than that." Of the Ringo songs, Yellow Submarine got the biggest reaction with the audience participating very enthusiastically. I was pleased that he included What Goes On, Choose Love, Never Without You, and Memphis In Your Mind in his set. It is always a thrill to see Ringo and I thoroughly enjoyed this show. While I didn't find the non-Ringo part of the show to be as strong as on previous All Starr tours, being so close to the stage really made up for it. I enjoyed this show more than some of other All Starr shows I have seen with stronger line ups! Usually at Beatles-related shows the audience is pretty diverse. For some reason this audience seemed to be mostly first-generation age fans. There were very few children and Ringo reacted very strongly to two of them. He singled out a young boy in the first row who was very enthusiastic and gave him drum sticks. He also reached out to and kissed a young girl in one of the front rows.