“I promise that you’ll know one song tonight. Or, maybe five.” quipped the rarely serious and perpetually jovial drummer of the world’s most famous rock and roll band during his two hour set in Worcester, Massachusetts. Carrying on with his ever popular All Starr Band tour series, the legend himself, along with Steve Lukather (TOTO) on guitar and lead vocals, Todd Rundgren on guitar, Richard Page (Mr. Mister) on bass and lead vocals, Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth) on drums, Gregg Rolie (Santana) on keys, and Warren Ham (Kansas/TOTO) on keyboard/sax, delivered a glorious night of Beatles hits, solo gems and a plethora of hits from his band members’ glory days.
Ringo led the band in front of the drum kit for the set’s opening three numbers, “Matchbox”, “It Don’t Come Easy” and “What Goes On”, before spryly climbing up onto his drum riser and ascending upon his drum stool to hammer out hit after hit alongside fellow drummer, Bissonette. Ringo has not lost his touch with the borderline corny jokes and peace-loving guy next-door persona. He was impressively charming and active on stage giving the audience everything that they could have asked for.
Clocking in at over two hours and a twenty-four song plus set list, there were many delights bestowed unto the fans. Ringo introduced his friend, Steve Lukather, as “a hell of a comedian”. Lukather, wearing a garish red and white Hawaiian-style shirt and a crop of crazy black hair, dazzled the crowd with an incredible rendition of TOTO’s hit “Rosanna”. Keyboardist, Warren Ham aptly handled the vocal high notes and wowed with his skills on the ivories as well. “Rosanna” was nothing short of spectacular. The extended jam was nothing to scoff at either.
Lukather then introduced Richard Page as a long time friend and from a band that he wanted to be in decades earlier, a band aptly called Pages. Page spoke to the crowd and expressed how this was such a cool band to play with and then added, mimicking the late Sammy Davis Jr., “I mean that with all my heart! I’m honored to be playing with the legendary man back there.” Page and the band blasted out “Kyrie”, which sounded phenomenal. One probably wouldn’t have expected to hear his voice sound so good. The harmonies were particularly stellar.
Todd Rundgren, who was often seen having a blast dancing around the stage while hamming it up for the crowd, walked over to a pair of drums and stopped to look at the audience before saying, “Oh. You’re assuming something. And if you assume something, you’ll just be making an ass out of you and me.” He then half-heartedly broke into fifteen seconds of an unknown song as a tease. He said to the band, “Wow. This doesn’t sound like it did in rehearsal. Let’s do the other song.” The other song being, what everyone expected and assumed correctly was Rundgren’s trademark, “Bang The Drum All Day.” The audience ate it up and sang every word along with the band.
Ringo stepped away form the drum kit and announced, “I’m over here now” sitting at Ham’s keyboard. Starr then poignantly played one quick chord and said “Thank you!” Then he grabbed the mic, walked back down to center stage and stated, “You know, I wrote a lot of great songs with the Beatles. But, they weren’t recorded. (insert audience laugh track) But this one was.” The fanciful opening notes of “Don’t Pass Me By” rang out on the keys and once again the crowd went nuts. Starr’s self-deprecating sarcasm was truly endearing.
Later in the set, Starr piped up with, “You know, I feel that you’ve been pretty quiet. Are you ready to sing? If you don’t know this next one, you must be in the wrong venue. You’re probably waiting for Led Zeppelin! Look, there’s Robert Plant in the audience.” Lukather and Co. joined in the gag and kicked into the opening riffs of Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. When Starr and the band got serious, they plunged into “Yellow Submarine“. Starr may have gotten lost in the moment as he appeared to struggle to find the right key, but it really didn’t matter. The audience was listening to a flippin’ Beatle sing the one song that he’s probably best known for from the band’s catalog.
Lukather slayed the crowd, during “Black Magic Woman”, a Peter Greene cover, with a wah-drenched solo that was out of this world. Bissonette’s outro, turn drum solo, was chaotic and amazing. Towards the end, it sounded like fireworks were exploding inside the arena. Starr returned to formerly introduce the band and then he said, “So I don’t feel left out, what’s my name?” The band started up again and Starr’s voice was on point for “You’re Sixteen”.
The pendulum swung in the other direction and the momentum slowed a bit with a couple more mellow tunes, but Lukather took the reigns and cracked the whip with TOTO’s “Africa”. Lukather gave it his all on vocals, but it was keyboardist and saxophonist, Warren Ham again, that stole the spotlight with a gutsy sax solo. Lukather took his crown back after delivering a monstrous guitar solo during Tito Puente’s “O Yo Como Va”. Starr then asked the crowd, “Are there any ladies in the house? Well, this one’s for you.” “I Want To Be Your Man” was sensational. Starr was upbeat as he jigged like a tipsy marionette.
Rundgren’s “Love Is The Answer” fell flat and brought the momentum back down. However, Page lifted the crowd’s spirit somewhat with another tremendous performance of Mr. Mister’s top 40 hit, “Broken Wings”. Page’s voice, again, was most impressive. It’s a wonder why his band’s career didn’t continue to flourish after their debut album. He did politely remind the audience that he has stayed very busy writing songs for other people. Lukather and his axe came back to barrage the audience with monster riffs while performing TOTO’s “Hold the Line”. Ham more or less helped sing this one as a duet. He sang with intensity and helped increase the energy in the room.
Starr, toying with his fans, quipped, “You all look so good. I wish that I could take a photograph of you.” And with that, the band played “Photograph”, a staple in Starr’s sets. He sounded great and played to the audience, capturing their hearts once again. After a slight set list miscue, the band soldiered on through the Beatles’ “Act Naturally” and “With A Little Help From My Friends“. Mid-song, Starr accepted a bouquet of flowers and kneeled down to acknowledge a young fan being held in her father’s arms. The band wrapped up “Help”, but brought it back with a rousing reprise for what cold have been considered the beginning of the finale. Starr, fingered his peace signs and danced jumping jacks across the stage, exclaiming, “Peace and love! It’s the only way.” And without wasting a second, the band charged on with the final song of the night, a lively version of “Give Peace A Chance.”
In lieu of an impossible Beatles reunion, Starr gave it his all for his adoring audience. Looking left and right, the demographic was pleasantly a mix of young and old – most donning a Beatles or Ringo T-shirt. With any show, there will most likely be a lot of hits and a few misses, but when you have just watched a living legend perform – how could anyone complain? This show is well worth attending with friends, family or even by yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
4 Responses
The author didn’t mention Todd Rundgren in the opening paragraph. A dis? Likely; bad journalism AND ethics.
Thank you John for letting me know that I missed Todd’s name in the opening paragraph. It was an oversight. Todd was very entertaining throughout the show. His colorful personality and outfit were hard to miss. If you’re a fan of Todd’s, I personally apologize for my mistake. I will contact my editor and ask that we include his name in the opening paragraph.
always great to read about Ringo have seen him afew times always a great show. Todd is always great to see as with the rest of the band
Rundgren’s voice is shot, but the rest of the All-Starrs are amazing. At almost 76, Ringo is a joy to watch.