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After playing drums on 75 dates of John Mellencamp’s 2023 tour, Dane Clark said he turned back the clock to study the early-career work of Ringo Starr.
Clark will anchor an all-star band performing Beatles songs as part of this weekend’s All IN Music & Arts Festival at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. All IN, returning for its second year, is planning “Dreamsets” to celebrate the Beatles on Saturday and Led Zeppelin on Sunday.
Sept. 3 marked the 59th anniversary of the Beatles’ historic visit to the Indiana State Fair, where Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Starr played an afternoon show inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum and an evening show outdoors at the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand.
“I’m going back, listening to isolated Ringo drum tracks from the albums from 1964,” said Clark, a member of Mellencamp’s band since 1996. “I’m seeing how much I can recreate that feel of what those guys were doing.”
The All IN festival will feature performances inside Indiana Farmers Coliseum and outdoors on a Main Street stage. At last year’s All IN, headliners Cage the Elephant and John Fogerty played the Main Street stage. This year’s headliners, Trey Anastasio & Classic TAB and Tenacious D, are scheduled inside the Coliseum.
The Beatles “Dreamset,” defined by the festival as a one-time-only collaboration in which musicians from different bands, genres and eras join forces, is set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Main Street stage.
An assortment of artists playing All IN plan to sit in with the band assembled by Clark and fellow Indiana vocalist Doug Henthorn. Attendees should look for Cory Wong, Andy Frasco, Karina Rykman, Quinn Sullivan and members of the bands the Main Squeeze and Eggy to interpret Beatles tunes.
Students from Butler University will make up a brass section for the performance. The core band, billed as the All INdy Allstars, includes Clark, Henthorn, keyboard player Troye Kinnett (a member of Mellencamp’s band since 2006), guitarist Kevin Silva and bass player Jack Taylor.
Meanwhile, Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band will visit Indianapolis for a Sept. 29 show at the Murat Theatre in Old National Centre.
At All IN, the celebration of Beatles songs won’t be confined to what the Fab Four had in their repertoire in 1964.
“We couldn’t take the opportunity to do Beatles music without diving into some of those later-era gems,” said Paul Peck, one of All IN’s founding partners. “The music has just meant so much to us, so we’ve spent a great deal of care identifying how we’re going to approach songs and what songs we’re going to be celebrating. I think it’s going to take people for a ride and be something unforgettable for all of us.”
Peck helped launch Tennessee’s Bonnaroo festival in 2002, and he organized the first all-star “SuperJam” at that event.
The Dreamsets at last year’s All IN festival featured songs popularized by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and the Allman Brothers Band.
This year’s All IN will close Sunday with a Dreamset devoted to the music of Led Zeppelin. Umphrey’s McGee will perform Led Zeppelin tunes, joined by drummer Jason Bonham, son of late Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.
For more information about All IN, visit allinfestival.com.
All IN lineup
Saturday
Tenacious D
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Andy Frasco & the U.N.
Cory Wong
Karina Rykman
Eggy
Stardust Social Club
Malingo
“Beatles Dreamset”
Sunday
Trey Anastasio & Classic TAB
“Led Zeppelin Dreamset” performed by Umphrey’s McGee with Jason Bonham
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe
Greensky Bluegrass
The Main Squeeze
Neighbor
Hyryder
Quinn Sullivan
Dizgo
Pushing Daisy’s Band with Rob Dixon
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