What a way to end the year!! How long have we been waiting for this??? After all these years Ringo Starr has finally put a female musician in his band. Not only a musician but a DRUMMER!!!!  If this isn't historic, I don't know what is. Normally this would not be a big deal, how really hard are all those Beatles songs to drum [absolutely no offense!]?  It's the line-up itself besides these 2 drumming greats!! 80s dude Howard Jones: keyboards, Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople: Guitar, piano, Roger Hodgson from the great Supertramp on guitar & piano, Mark Rivera who played everything known to man & woman, & what kind of bassist would this line-up require???? A King of Crimson that is & of the fantastic ELP, Greg Lake.   Now how great is that?
    With all the great rhythm & lead guitarist out there & the typical fashion of how they work, one would play the background line the other would play the lead solo, it was clear here that the moment that Sheila E & Ringo Starr took their seats on their thrones, that this would be a very tight unit. Completely shining in a pretty blue sequin suit, Sheila looked ready to kill, especially when surprisingly Ringo took the "lead" drums on the very 1st few songs & Sheila followed behind him on "rhythm" perfectly. Although on her own for the 1st 2 Ringo classics "Photograph" & "Act Naturally" Sheila proved herself the ultimate musical director.   Slowly & desperately waiting for the ELP classics that would surely destroy anyone's notion of a female playing serious progressive rock,  it was a wonderful gift to hear "In the Court of the Crimson King" being played by seasoned musician who knows what real music is all about!! [Anyone who doesn't know this I urge you to get this record so that when you do see the flute solo live will surely send you sky high.]
    But that was just the beginning. [Now that's scary!!] As Roger , Howard & Ian took their fanatical  turns on their great solo hits the moment came when Sheila's turn came. Introduced by Ian as having "the most beautiful smile that knocked them off their feet when she walked in the door",  I felt a strange chill wondering how these heavy rock guys would take to playing a dance song. Sheila's 80s jazz/dance oriented records didn't showcase her drumming as well as her live shows did but to see them break into "A Love Bizarre" was brilliantly bizarre! As she stayed behind her set the band went into her classic jazz jam [this is well known that she makes her musicians work at most Sheila E concerts of the past ] & turned that song into what it should have been in the 1st place & to top it off a RINGO STARR DRUM SOLO which he has never ever done, now that was amazing!!
    The show was one great song after another Roger's beautiful "Give A Little Bit" & Ian's cosmic "All The Young Dudes" & Ringo's brilliant "No No Song" were all fan faves. The musicianship was absolutely impeccable. The highlights of the show were of the genius of "Karn Evil 9" when introduced as the solo portion of the show, the band left to reveal Emerson Lake & Sheila!!  The solos weren't exact but it was just as incredible to see Howard Jones almost turn into Keith Emerson. The P in ELP was no match for Sheila this time. It was an amazing thing to see her glow in that song as she & the audience were loving it. Later when she came off the drums to let Ringo lead her to "Glamorous Life" she clearly stole the show with her incredible timbales solos & amazing speed & energy.
    Despite all these great adventures in this show including the most beautiful rendition of  Lake's "Lucky Man" that the band along with Howard "Jones Beach"  on a perfectly beautiful night nailing that keyboard solo that just sent chills, the major highlight came in the form of, amazingly,  Howard's own Everlasting Love, which fueled an incredible drum duet which surely spells out who will win best drum duel of the year!!
          Ending with the Beatles classic of yesteryear, it was clear that this was an historic night that might not to be duplicated unless Ringo decides to play with other females.
 

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