Med Norwegian Wood på Ringo-konsert

Da vi var på konsert med RINGO STARR!

Rapport fra Ringo-turen sommeren 1998: 141 innbydelser ble sendt til de som på forhånd hadde meldt sin interesse for å bli med på Ringo-konsert i Danmark, samt andre medlemmer i sentrale strøk i Østlandsområdet. Vi ble ca. 10 i alt og måtte derfor droppe planer om å sette opp busstur, men vi kjørte avgårde i to privatbiler via Color Line Oslo-Hirtshals.

Det ble avspilt Beatles-muzak under inntak av middagsbuffeten, ellers tror jeg at jo mindre vi sier om musikken på danskebåten, jo bedre. Det virket som om alle deltakerne på turen koste seg under konserten, og bandet spilte veldig bra. Vi traff den danske Beatles-sjefen, Arno Guzek som hadde med seg en busslast av danske fans fra København. Etter konserten forsøkte vi å spore opp Ringos turnebuss ved diverse hoteller i Aarhus, men måtte slukøret sette kursen mot Hirtshals og ta fatt på hjemreisen. Anja mistet stemmen, Jon Vidar fikk vanskelige Beatles-spørsmål og ble kjent igjen av dansker på grunn av sin deltakelse i Pick-Up. På tross av skuffelsen over at så få hadde interesse av å være med oss hadde vi en fin tur, og for de deltakende tror jeg nok dette var årets Beatles-høydepunkt.

Til alle de som ikke ble med "fordi det bare var Ringo": For en ekte Beatlesfan er en Ringo-konsert like fantastisk som en Harrison, McCartney eller Lennon-konsert! Så det så!

Review in English:

Aug. 9 - Skanderborg, Denmark

It was a beautiful Sunday evening after a long hot day that the All Starr Band took their places on stage, bringing the 4 day danish rock and blues festival in the woods to it's climactical conclusion. The band had already started playing "It Don't Come Easy" when I took my place in the audience.

My late arrival had a good excuse, I had just been back stage wishing Ringo the best of luck with his show! He didn't need it, when he appeared on stage a little after 10 pm, hundreds of people were holding up sparkle sticks, making the natural valley-shape of the festival site resemble a dark cathedral with lots of candles lit.

Ringo liked what he saw, and thanked the audience. He seemed to be in a good mood, and he was shining throughout the concert, obviously both enjoying his own spots in the show as well as being the session man on all those great hits from his fellow bandmembers Mark Rivera (Sax, percussion,keyboards), Gary Brooker (keyboards), Peter Frampton(electric guitar), Simon Kirke (drums) and Jack Bruce (fretless bass guitar).

Mark Rivera didn't have a solo spot. I was sorry that it turned out to be such a short set, and I was hoping that Ringo would let us hear Octopus' Garden and Don't Pass Me By since he had performed these recently on american TV. A little less Peter Frampton and a lot more of Ringo would have been more to my liking. Nearly all the songs performed were warmly welcomed by the festivalgoers, because you could clearly hear the audience respond by singing loudly along with most of the songs. The biggest crowdpleasers and sing-along-songs were Love Me Do, Boys, La De Da, All Right Now, A Whiter Shade of Pale,Yellow Submarine and With A Little Help From My Friends. Yellow Submarine was the last song to be performed in the regular set, and the band was called back on stage for the encore by the audience who continued to sing Yellow Submarine. Ringo: "Shall we do that one again? I think you'll enjoy this one as well!" The musicianship was brilliant all the way through, and Ringo did an excellent job on drums, as did Simon Kirke. The other musicians were given opportunities to solo away on their own instruments and Jack Bruce especially did an awesome bass-solo.
~ Roger Stormo