Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie Review

In an Octopus' Garden with a Few Thousand Friends

Reviewed by Michael Reuben December 23, 2011

The Genesee Theatre in Waukegan, Illinois is one of those old-time vaudeville and movie palaces that closed in the Eighties, the victim of changing tastes in entertainment and a previous real estate crash. Fifteen years later, catching the rising wave of a real estate boom that, as we now know, ended badly, the Genesee reopened its 2400-plus capacity auditorium following a renovation estimated at $25 million. What better location for the Chicago-based Soundstage series to host a performer whose drawing power would easily overwhelm the usual performance space provided by WTTW, the PBS station that co-produces Soundstage in association with HD Ready? They don't come any bigger than the Beatles, and with only two former Beatles remaining, either of them can sell out any venue.

The overall arc of Ringo Starr's reputation is roughly a valley between two peaks. When the Beatles first burst onto the scene, Ringo was arguably the most popular member of the band (if it's possible to bestow such an honor among four men whose mere existence inspired total adulation). His quick adoption by an adoring public no doubt had something to do with the sense of regular-guy approachability he projected from behind the drums and cymbals, an openness that starkly contrasted with McCartney's pin-up good looks, Harrison's obvious desire to be left alone and Lennon's rebellious streak that, as the years passed by, would become increasingly overt. (Yoko didn't break up the band; Lennon's anger did. It's right there in his first solo album.) Ringo, by contrast, didn't appear to be carrying any emotional baggage. He wasn't there to prove a point or manipulate an audience into submission. He'd simply come to have a good time.

By the time the Beatles went their separate ways, Ringo's reputation had taken a beating. Lennon and McCartney had been deified as musical geniuses, with Harrison at least taking a respectable second place (his reputation would grow over time). Never a prolific songwriter, Ringo was now perceived as the group's dunce, a musical lightweight who'd been carried by his betters all these years. The rap was unfair and underestimated the drummer's essential contribution to the band's sound through many successful collaborations, but public opinion is fickle (and careless).

Eventually the magic of time worked its transformation, especially after Lennon's tragic murder, and anyone who'd been part of the creation of such landmark albums as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album became a living legend. Since 1989, Ringo has toured with a revolving group of high-powered musicians (many of them stars in their own right) under the name "Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band". The concerts mix classics from the Beatles era with new songs from solo albums that appear at regular intervals. It's not hard to get major players to accompany an ex-Beatle. Everyone wants to touch the magic (and history).

For the Genesee concert, a one-night event, Ringo assembled a band of former and future All-Starrs, as well as players who were simply there for the one gig. The performance was broadcast by WTTW in August 2005 as part of season 3 of the revived Soundstage series. A DVD was released by Koch Vision in 2007, and Image is issuing the Blu-ray.

With a little help . . .

The Roundheads consist of Gary Burr (guitar), Gregg Bissonette (drums), Matt Bissonette (bass), Steve Dudas (guitar), Mark Hart (keyboards) and Mark Hudson (guitar). They're joined in the middle of the set by occasional All-Starr Colin Hay of the Australian band, Men at Work, who performs his band's early hit "Who Can It Be Now?", with backing vocals from Cecilia Noel and essential work on saxophone by James Perkins (the song wouldn't be the same without it).

As Ringo is not shy about reminding the audience, he had just released an album entitled Choose Love, and several songs, including the title track, are woven throughout the performance. But the bulk of the evening is devoted to tunes from his years with the Beatles, including a song I hadn't heard for years called "I'm the Greatest", which Ringo tells the crowd John Lennon wrote just for him. (The lyrics bear Lennon's signature irony.)

Ringo Starr has never been a particularly subtle or expressive vocalist. Lennon and McCartney had good reason for limiting him to one song per album (if that), because his singing style could easily becomes monotonous. In "Yellow Submarine" they cleverly broke up Ringo's vocals with interludes and sound effects (reproduced effectively in this performance by various members of the Roundheads), and both they and Ringo wrote songs to the limitations of his voice. But what he lacks in vocal range, he more than makes up for in stage charisma, and the enthusiasm of the large and diverse crowd (ranging in age from teenagers to people old enough to have bought the Beatles' first 45s) is boisterous and infectious. Throughout much of the concert, Ringo remains front and center instead of concealing himself behind his drum set. Like any great performer, he understands the importance of being seen, so that he can absorb the crowd's enthusiasm and radiate it back at them.

After "Yellow Submarine", Ringo mocks the pretense in which bands leave the stage intending to be "called back" for an encore. Everyone knows we're coming back, he tells the audience, so why don't you just applaud really loud, and we'll play the rest of the show. No Ringo Starr performance would be complete without a rendition of "With a Little Help from My Friends", and Colin Hay and his backing performers join Ringo and the Roundheads for this rousing finale. Ringo may not be the musical genius that John Lennon was, but he was and remains a consummate showman. And all he had to do was . . . act naturally.

The complete song list follows:

1. It Don't Come Easy
2. Octopus's Garden
3. Choose Love
4. I Wanna Be Your Man
5. Who Can It Be Now? (featuring Colin Hay)
6. Don't Pass Me By
7. I'm the Greatest
8. Give Me Back the Beat
9. Memphis in Your Mind
10. Photograph
11. Back Off Boogaloo
12. Yellow Submarine
13. Act Naturally
14. With a Little Help from My Friends

Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"You're all on television!" Ringo tells the crowd, and indeed the crowd is illuminated in the usual Soundstage fashion. However, the Genesee Theatre is so big that the lighting tends to fall off toward the back of theater, especially in the balcony, but perhaps that's just as well. The 1080i, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is one of the best-looking discs I've seen from Image in the Soundstage series to date, with almost no aliasing, fine clarity and detail and vivid color. Director Joe Thomas and his HD crew seem to have had no trouble adapting their equipment and techniques to the larger venue, and they returned with a product they can be proud of.

Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Even though the Genesee Theatre is a different accoustical space than Soundstage's usual venue, standardized miking techniques have eliminated any differences created by locale (for better or worse). The DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks reflects HD Ready's usual approach to mixing Soundstage concerts. The viewer is placed in the position of an audience member with the sounds of cheering and applause directed to the surrounds, while the band and vocalists remain spread across the front, with some degree of presence in the surrounds to create a sense of space and depth. The Roundheads are a guitar-heavy band that plays straightforward arrangements, and the Blu-ray's soundtrack presents them clearly and effectively.

A PCM 2.0 track is also available.

Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

None.

Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Soundstage may not be a vehicle for discovering new artists, but it has become a valuable curator of live performances by established musicians at mature moments in their careers. As Image Entertainment continues to work its way through the Soundstage catalogue, these beautifully memorialized experiences are at last becoming available on home video in affordable versions that fully reproduce what the HD and sound technicians were able to capture. Ringo Starr and the Roundheads: Live is one of the most interesting Blu-rays to appear in the series to date and is highly recommended.