If there’s an opportunity to see a living Beatle, and the price is right, you have to take it. My wife and I were lucky enough to get heavily discounted tickets (from $72 to $20 -- thanks Summerfest flash sale!) to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band at the BMO Harris Pavilion last night. The show was practically sold out, and it wasn’t hard to see why.
Ringo brought his innate Ringoness to the stage, strutting out before opener “Matchbox” in exaggerated motions while flashing the peace sign. His goofy charm came out in the way he told corny jokes that mostly weren’t jokes and how he profusely thanked the crowd and told us how much he loved us. Also, there was a random “Hare Krishna” shout-out during solo hit “It Don’t Come Easy.” He was more cheesy Vegas lounge singer than benevolent bandleader.
You may be thinking that Ringo doesn’t have enough Beatles and solo hits to fill a show, and you would be correct. That is where the All-Starr band comes in. The two-hour show was set up like this: Ringo sang a few of his songs, some out front and some behind the drum kit. Then the guys in the band took turns playing songs that their former (or still current) bands made famous. This time around the comprised of Steve Lukather (guitar) from Toto, Colin Hay (guitar) from Men at Work, Gregg Rollie (keyboards) from Santana, and Graham Gouldman (bass) from 10cc. Filling out the band -- these guys didn’t get songs of their own -- was Gregg Bissonette (drums) and Warren Ham (sax, flute, percussion).
Clearly these guys have been playing together for a while as they sounded very tight no matter whose songs they were playing. I thought Steve Lukather’s guitar playing was a little flashy for the Beatles songs, but he absolutely slayed on Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” and Toto’s “Africa.” With the exception of some extended outros and solos, the songs pretty much sounded exactly as you would expect them to.
Ringo’s voice did not sound weathered or thinned at all, which was impressive considering he is 78 years old. All of the well-known hits were there: “Yellow Submarine,” “Act Naturally,” “It Don’t Come Easy,” “Photograph,” and set-closer “With A Little Help From My Friends.” There really wasn’t a clunker in the set save for 2012’s “Anthem,” a song Ringo wrote as an anthem for, what else, peace and love.
Though it could not possibly have the same emotional impact that a Paul McCartney show would have, it was still pretty cool to see Ringo Starr perform his hits live. The All-Starr Band’s contributions to the act rounded out the evening nicely. For two hours, it was all good times, good tunes, and good vibes. There’s really not much more you could ask for on a Saturday night.
Set list:
Matchbox
It Don’t Come Easy
What Goes On
Dreadlock Holiday (10cc)
Evil Ways (Santana)
Rosanna (Toto)
Down Under (Men At Work)
Boys
Don’t Pass Me By
Yellow Submarine
I’m Not In Love (10cc)
Black Magic Woman (Santana)
You’re Sixteen
Anthem
Overkill (Men At Work)
Africa (Toto)
Oy Como Va (Santana)
I Wanna Be Your Man
The Things We Do For Love (10cc)
Who Can It Be Now? (Men At Work)
Hold The Line (Toto)
Photograph
Act Naturally
With A Little Help From My Friends
Give Peace A Chance (chorus only)
