Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band
Now 84, Ringo Starr has recorded and released more music since 2020 than at any time since his his tenure with the Beatles in the mid-1960s.
His most recent, the four-song EP “Crooked Boy,” came out in April and features two very notable former San Diegans in bass-guitar great Nathan East and songwriter Linda Perry. Alas, you probably won’t hear even one of these songs when the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee performs here this weekend at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay.
Why not?
I put the question to Starr during our interview last year.
He replied that doing any new songs will prompt audience to head “to the toilets and the merch table!”
Accordingly, Starr will stick to his tried-and-true mix of solo hits and classics by The Beatles — including “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Yellow Submarine” and “Photograph” — when he opens his 2024 fall tour Saturday at Humphreys. You’ll also hear hits by the bands the of the All Starr Band rose to fame with, including Toto’s “Rosanna,” Men at Work’s “Down Under” and Average White Band’s “Pick Up The Pieces.” And, in addition to his usual banter wit the audience, you can expect to see Ringo do some jumping-jacks on the stage as his show draws to its conclusion.
As of this writing, there are only a handful of tickets left, so if you want to attend, act quick.
8 p.m. Saturday. Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. $230.70. ticketmaster.com
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, with Big Boi
One of the only two hip-hop acts to win a Grammy Award for Album of the Year thus far, the long-dormant OutKast has no known plans for any new activities. (The Atlanta duo reunited, after an 8-year hiatus, for a 2014 tour that opened with a decidedly uneven performance at that year’s Coachella festival.)
But San Diegans this month will have a rare opportunity to hear both of OutKast’s perform separate shows here.
First up is Big Boi (real name: Antwan Patton), who opens Friday night’s concert at The Shell by the brassy, dance-happy Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.
On Oct. 1, OutKast co-founder Andre 3000 (real name: Andre Benjamin) will perform at Humphreys with his new, flute-led all-instrumental group, which fuses New Age-y ambient music with vaguely jazzy instrumental noodling.
Big Boi has been devoting half of his recent performances to favorites by OutKast, including “Rosa Parks” and “So Fresh, So Clean.” Andre 3000 is eschewing any songs by OutKast to focus on the vocal-free music from his 2023 album, “New Blue Sun,” including “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.”
If it’s an OutKast-leaning trip down memory lane you crave, Big Boi’s your man. If it’s something new and unexpected, head to Andre 3000’s show. How many devotees will attend both? We’ll see.
7 p.m. Friday. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, 222 Marina Park Way, downtown. $57-$142. theshell.org
Kristin Korb Trio
Former San Diego bassist and singer Kristin Korb has been a resident of Denmark since 2011. She has released nine albums since her 1996 debut and has become increasingly assured as an instrumentalist and vocalist who plays and sings with equal skill.
With any luck, her free Sunday concert at Tio Leo’s will feature some songs from her terrific new album, “Sweet Dreams,” which will be released in October. It is likely first album by any jazz artist to exclusively feature selections from the songbooks of Eurythmics and Annie Lennox’s solo career.
Korb, who earned her master’s in music at UC San Diego — where she studied with contrabass innovator Bert Turetzky — strikes a deft balance between performing with reverence and adding her own distinctive stamp to the songs on “Sweet Dreams.” Her sultry swinging version of “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” is a treat. So is her ingenious take on “Here Comes the Rain Again,” which Korb slows down and transforms into a poignant torch ballad.
Her San Diego return should be a memorable one. She’ll be accompanied by ace San Diego drummer Duncan Moore and Los Angeles pianist Andy Langham.
5:30 p.m. Sunday. Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Free. tioleos.com
20th anniversary San Diego Beatles Fair
It’s been 60 years and almost 7 months the day since The Beatles made their U.S. TV debut on the Feb. 9, 1964, telecast of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and 55 years since the band that changed the world gave its last performance in 1969 on a downtown London rooftop. It’s been two years since Oscar Award-winning director Peter Jackson cast The Beatles in a whole new light with his epic, three-part documentary, “Get Back.”
On Saturday, the San Diego Beatles Fair will celebrate its 20ths anniversary with an 11½-hour program. The lineup features at least five Fab Four tribute bands, including Come Together, Acoustic Universe and the Tijuana-based Revolution Band.
A total of 9 groups and solo acts will perform. One of them is Oasiz, an Oasis tribute band that was booked before the real — and very Beatles-inspired — English band Oasis last week announced its reunion after a 15-year hiatus. Also on the bill is the veteran San Diego group True Stories, whose set will include songs that the late Neil Innes recorded with The Rutles, whose loving lampooning of The Beatles was chronicled in the 1978 TV film, “All You Need is Cash.”
As usual, Beatles-related merchandise will be on sale, although — unlike in most previous years — there will be no talks by any authorities on The Beatles. What is perhaps most notable about this year’s Beatles Fair, however, is that it may be the last to take place in North Park at Queen Bee’s Arts & Cultural Center. A legal dispute between the new owner of the building and the operators of Queen Bee’s could result in the venue’s relocation.
Noon to 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Queen Bee’s Arts & Cultural Center, 3925 Ohio St., North Park. $32.64 and $11.54 (for kids 13 and under). beatlesfair.com
