Last night the wife and I had the great fortune to attend Ringo Starr's All Starr Band concert last night in Calgary and indeed we were nothing short of star struck! In a two-hour show Wednesday night featuring his 11th All-Starr Band, Ringo showed why he is a beloved Beatle with his warm sense of humor, wit and muscianship. Starr delivered a strong set featuring Fab Four classics, his trademark Beatles numbers, timeless solo hits and afew new numbers and several tunes by his bandmates that are musical monsters in rock ‘n’ roll history and ones that tore up the charts during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
The backdrop for the stage was a huge, psychedelic star adorned with star-gazer lilies and the sold-out hall was filled with a different sort of audience than I’d become accustomed to seeing at rock concerts — old and new school hippies, Beatles fans, 70s-era music alumni, and fans of this year’s 11th line-up of All Starrs. The “All Starr” label is, indeed, intended a pun. In his 11th line-up, Ringo was supported by Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Wally Palmer, Richard Page, Rick Derringer, and Gregg Bissonette, all popular in their own right, with a hit or two to offer, but not likely names you’d associate with super stardom. Ringo was definitely the name that held it all together, though it was an amazing gathering of first class musicians.
The lights dimmed, the applause started and the All Starrs came out and introduced their frontman, Ringo Starr, who took the stage with hands held up in peace signs and face wearing a big smile. Everyone jumped to their feet to give him the standing ovation he deserved. For being in his seventh decade, Ringo looked great and seemed to be feeling good and full of energy. The BeatleMania and perhaps the corny-nostalgic part of me fought off a tear while staring in awe at this legend of rock music.
The band launched into “It Don’t Come Easy” during the sold-out performance and out came Ringo, dressed all in black to front the stage for the opener, “Honey Don’t,” and the more recent “Choose Love.”
“It’s great to be here,” Starr said. “This is a historic musical memory.” Three songs into the set, they changed things up, and the crowd loved it.
Then Ringo went to man the drums, turning over the set to his band: sharpshooters including saxophone/keyboard virtuoso Edgar Winter, bassist Richard Page, guitarist Rick Derringer, Wally Palmar on guitar, Gary Wright on keyboards and Greg Bissonette on drums. Talk about some musical history.
Ringo introduced Rick Derringer, formerly the lead singer of the McCoys, who said his parents were at the show and claimed “They still have the Billboard chart where the McCoys song was #1 and the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ was #2, although that only lasted a week.” Then the band played that old aforementioned #1 hit, “Hang on Sloopy.” The show had officially taken off. The chemistry between these guys was amazing and it was great to see a group of musicians reminisce, rock out and just have fun some good-old fashioned fun. Edgar Winter took the spotlight next and busted out the 70’s classic “Free Ride” complete with a sweet solo on a keyboard that hung from a strap around his neck. He claimed he was the first musician to play keys this way, and did it so he could move around the stage and not be stuck in one place. Winter then introduced Wally Palmer, a Detroit native who played with The Romantics, and kept the crowd going. Everyone was singing along to “Talking in Your Sleep,” and for this piece, multi-instrumentalist Winter contributed a great sax solo.
They threw the Beatles classic “I Wanna Be Your Man” into the rotation, then introduced Gary Wright for the segue into “Dream Weaver,” Wright attributing some of his inspiration for the song to George Harrison. Wright discussed how Harrison had given him a book on spiritualism when the two took a trip to India. From that book, Wright came up with the words for the huge 1974 hit “Dream Weaver.”
What makes the All-Starr bands so special are all of the other songs they are able to play from the members’ backgrounds.
Ringo and His Starrs played all the hits you’ve heard on the radio for decades, the ones so contagious, you know all the words but could never get sick of. Richard Page, the former lead and bass player of Mr. Mister, took the lead to play the “Kyrie,” prompting the entire audience to clap along to the beat. With that, they’d finished the first rotation and moved onto the next, throwing Ringo back into the spotlight here and there. Each of Ringo’s players had the chance to rock out to their fullest and amp up the audience to the max. There was almost a sense of the surreal with this continuous barrage of one classic song followed by the next. I remarked to my wife several times throughout the evening, “this feels like high school circa 1973!” And how sweet it was to be treated to this fest for the eyes and ears last night!
It was one of those great concerts where, instead of being tired and wondering how long they’ll play or when it will end, you can’t wait to hear what’s next. Of course, the night belonged to Ringo. He assumed command of the show with Beatles’ songs “Boys” and “Act Naturally” and solo 1970s hits “Back Off Boogaloo” and “Photograph.” And then Ringo dipped into a song from the album that shook the world: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
They played for two hours and closed the show with a tune that Ringo claimed hadn’t gotten such a good response at their other shows. He said he’d leave it up to the Clearwater audience to decide whether or not to keep it on the set list.
When they launched into “With a Little Help from My Friends,” the crowd went completely nuts, therefore sealing the fate of the song’s inclusion in future set lists. For the first time since the beginning of the show, everyone in the audience was standing, most of them singing and dancing, too. The big finale was a Lennon-esque tribute of “Give Peace a Chance.” Ringo left the stage to yet another standing ovation, the audience sending waves of love his way. The All Starrs took their final bows and disappointingly, no one returned for an encore. The crowd left the hall happy and buzzing on a music high, nonetheless, the awesome blast from the past by Ringo and his All Starr Band a most welcome Wednesday night treat for these thirsty ears!
July 28, 2010 All Starr Set list:
It Don’t Come Easy
Honey Don’t
Choose Love
Hang on Sloopy
Free Ride
Talking in Your Sleep
I Wanna Be Your Man
Kyrie
The Otherside of Liverpoole
Yellow Submarine
Frankenstein
Peace Dream
Back Off Boogaloo
What I Like About You
Rock And Roll Hootchie Coo
Boys
Broken Wings
Photograph
Act Naturally
With A Little Help from My Friends/Give Peace a Chance Finale!
Up next…McCartney!
