Hi Steve,

I just wanted to share my thoughts about the Mohegan Sun show on 7/31/03. The set list was the same as it was on opening night with the exception of "We Can Work It Out" being skipped. The only downside to the All-Starrs Connecticut appearances is that they always seem to have an early morning TV appearance in New York City the next day.

Ringo continues to be more at ease interacting with the crowd on each tour. He was very appreciative of signs and lighters held up by the audience, particularly one sign that read, "Never Without You / George John". He used the "if you don't know this one, you're in the wrong arena" line for both "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help From My Friends", and got a big laugh with, "this one's called, You're 16, You're Beautiful, and You're Probably Here with Your Dad!" He also remarked on the progress of Mohegan Sun's new arena over the years, saying, "when I first played here, there were like 3 card tables set up, then 10, and now look at it. You can play football in here!" In fact, the WNBA Connecticut Sun plays basketball here.

The rest of the All-Starrs seemed like they were still learning many of the songs, though they were not as sloppy as they would be the following day on "Good Morning America". The biggest non-Ringo ovations came for the ensemble "Here Comes the Sun", Carrack's "The Living Years", Sheila E's "Glamorous Life", and Hay's "Who Can It Be Now?". Ironically, John Waite seemed to be the one looking for the most crowd adulation, but receiving the least. At one point he said, "does anybody remember a band I was in called 'The Babys'?" When there was no reaction, he sighed, "exactly."

The crowd was enthusiastic despite some empty seats. There were many standing ovations, but the only drawback was their reluctance to sing along. Sheila E implored them after a few silent "la la la" choruses of " Glamorous Life" to "come on, it's your last chance". Although Colin Hay's lead guitar playing was a drawback in certain songs, his Men At Work tunes were the most familiar. When he sang "Down Under", he pointed the microphone at the crowd to complete the following line, and we all seemed to know it, even 21 years later: "lying in a den in Bombay, with a slack jaw and not much to say. I said to the man 'are you trying to tempt me?'" -----

If you guessed "because I come from the land of plenty", you can be on my Trivial Pursuit team any time! The funny thing about that song is that it may have worked just as well if he were looking for the other verses' closing lines: "I met a strange lady, she made me nervous, she took me in and gave me breakfast" or "I said 'do you speak-a my language?' He just smiled and gave me a vegamite sandwich." I hadn't realized how memorable this quirky story of a traveling Australian would become.

Overall, it was a great show, well-paced and well-received. The proven format of each member taking turns singing hit songs kept it interesting, especially since I was careful this time around to not read any spoilers ahead of time. Ringo got a huge reaction no matter what he did, but it was refreshing to finally hear some new songs- the moving "Never Without You", "Memphis in Your Mind", and "Don't Pass Me By", which was the biggest treat. I am also partial to his 'closing' song, "Don't Go Where the Road Don't Go", which really rocked. The crowd got a huge kick out of Ringo's virtual encore, and roared with delight as if they really were trying to get him to come back onstage. When they burst into "With a Little Help..." the crowd got even louder, and everyone went home happy (which is of course unusual for a casino!)

Best Regards,
Tony Vournazos

(8/2/03) From Michael Rivard:

I was at the Mohegan Sun concert in Connecticutt on Thursday night July 31. There were close to 10,000 people in attendance, a near sell out. It was a GREAT show!! The band sounded terrific. The set list was the same as everyone else is reporting. The highlight for me was when Ringo played "Don't Pass Me By" with him playing the first part on the keyboards. Another highlight was the band (minus Ringo) playing "Here Comes The Sun" right before Ringo sang "Never Without You".

I also have to comment on the NYC show the next morning. It was amazing how good they sounded. They could't have gotten that much sleep. It is about a 3 hour drive from Mohegan Sun to New York City. The show at Mohegan Sun finished at about 9:30 pm Thursday night.