Starr of the show makes room for eclectic mix

Spencer Patterson

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 | 8:29 a.m.

"What usually happens (now) is we all run into the corner and hide in the dark. You make noise, and you know we're coming back and we know we're coming back," Starr told the crowd of 1,100. "I refuse to do it anymore."

Instead, Starr remained onstage to perform his signature number, "With a Little Help From My Friends," before exiting for good.

Starr earned the right to write his own rules decades ago, when he played with the band many consider rock 'n' roll's greatest ever.

His status as one of two surviving Beatles also affords him the opportunity to spend summers touring at the helm of a rotating musical ensemble, known as his All Starr Band.

Past versions of the group featured some of Starr's well-known 1960s and '70s contemporaries, including John Entwistle of the Who, Jack Bruce of Cream, Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Levon Helm and Rick Danko of the Band.

For his 2003 edition, however, the 63-year-old Starr vaulted forward another decade, selecting five musicians most famous for their contributions during the 1980s.

As expected, such a lineup made for a strange night of music, with Starr's beloved Beatles material mixed in not only with his less familiar solo work, but also with a bunch of songs dug straight out of VH1's "Where Are They Now?" file.

A few rows of Beatles diehards -- who dished out $130 for the right to be close to the rock icon for a couple of hours -- stood throughout the show. The rest of the crowd kept mostly to their seats, probably wondering why a man who once drummed to "Revolution" would even consider playing along to Bad English's "When I See You Smile."

That number, sung by bassist John Waite, wasn't the only one that sounded dated Saturday night. Waite's solo hit, "Missing You," also seemed out of place, as did keyboardist Paul Carrack's version of former band Mike & the Mechanics' "The Living Years."

Starr's Beatles cuts, on the other hand, were fresh and fun as the day he recorded them. His heavy British accent came through clearly on "Boys" and "Act Naturally," while "Yellow Submarine" transformed the room into a giant schoolyard singalong.

The All Starrs performed a sweet rendition of George Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun," after which Starr dedicated "Never Without You" -- from his new album, "Ringo Rama" -- to his late bandmate.

The chorus: "Every part of you was in your song / Now we will carry on / Never without you / Within you, without you / 'Here Comes the Sun' was about you." When he wasn't behind his drum set, Starr danced goofily at the foot of the stage, arms flailing as he swayed from side to side, flashing peace symbols all the while.

"Is everybody having fun in Las Vegas?" he asked early on. "That's what tonight is all about, music and fun. I didn't carry on for this to be torture."

It certainly wasn't painful watching drummer Sheila E. perform her two hits, "A Love Bizarre" and "Glamorous Life." Each was followed by a short solo drum piece by the sometime Prince collaborator, bringing an otherwise staid, Boomer-dominated audience to its feet for two standing ovations.

Sheila E. also gave Starr his due as an instrumentalist.

"He's actually one of the most amazing drummers in the world," she said, prompting Starr to respond: "I only gave Sheila one lesson."

Sheila E.'s father, Pete Escovedo (or "Pops E.," as Sheila referred to him), was at the show, and the band brought him onstage to play percussion for the final number. After that, dad and daughter shared a bear hug behind the drums, long after the other musicians had headed off.

Men at Work frontman Colin Hay also provided a few memorable moments, teaming with saxophonist/flutist Mark Rivera to give "Down Under," "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Overkill" an energy missing from some of Hay's cohorts' tunes.

Hay, who dressed in a fire engine-red suit, also told a funny story about a pre-show elevator encounter with a fan who didn't believe he once led Men at Work.

"He said, 'No, no, the singer of that band died,' " Hay recounted.

It proved to be just one of several jabs the All Starrs took at their own careers and former bands, such as when Waite joked that he was one of only four people in the room who remembered the Babys.

The comments were amusing. But ultimately, they only served to further undermine the musicians' credibility as viable counterparts to the brightest Starr in their midst.