Any
time that I get the opportunity to see one of the remaining living Beatles on
stage, I try to do so. I grew up on their music on many levels, even though I
was born well after the legendary band had already broken up. I have seen Ringo
Starr and His All Starr Band on four prior occasions, the first dating back to
his tour in 1997, that being with Peter Frampton, and some others that I am not
recalling at the moment (someone from Procol Harem, and another from Bad
Company, if memory serves me correctly). I have seen Paul McCartney twice as
well, once in Madison Square Garden ,
and the other time in Quebec City , when he gave
a legendary free show on the Plains of Abraham
on the occasion of that city’s 400th anniversary, back in 2008. I
have even seen the Pete Best Band, featuring Pete Best, the original drummer of
the Beatles just prior to his being released and the band bringing in Ringo
Starr as his replacement.
So, when I saw the opportunity was
there to go see Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band once again, I jumped on the
opportunity. How many more chances can one get to see a living member of the
Fab Four, anyway? There are only two of them left, and neither are exactly
spring chickens.
This edition of the All Starr Band
featured numerous notables from the music industry to back Ringo Starr up, as
they pretty much always capably do. Todd Rundgren, who has had an impressive
solo career, and also was part of the band Utopia, was perhaps the most famous
individual among them, and seemed to generate the strongest crowd reaction and
identity.
Steve Lukather has been many musical
projects and worked with some of the best talent in music over many decades
now. Among his projects, he was co-founder of the group Toto, and found in the
setlist for the show was Toto’s biggest hit, the instantly identifiable
“Africa”, which he introduced by claiming it was a party song, as he tried to
get people on their feet.
Richard Page is working with the All
Starr Band for the second time, having
worked with Ringo in his last incarnation of the All Starr Band when
they played in 2010. Page was the lead vocalist for Mr. Mister, which had two
enormous hits that earned that band platinum records, both of which were played
in this show, “Kyrie” and “Broken Wings”. He also did a new song that, he
noted, was a departure from much of the stuff that people know him best for,
and it was truly a beautiful piece, actually.
Gregg Rolie is on keyboards. He
co-founded and played with two huge bands, Santana and Journey. With Santana,
he played at Woodstock
Finally, Mark Rivera and Greg
Bissonette each have a longer history working on Ringo Starr's All Starr Band.
They both have illustrious credentials to their name, as well. Rivera featured
on the percussions, saxophone, keyboards, and vocals. He has worked with Peter
Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Simon & Garfunkel, John Lennon, Billy Ocean
It was a good concert overall. Jones Beach Jones Beach
The entire top section was empty for
this show, but that may have been a result of the weather – it was rainy and
with passing thunderstorms around the time of the concert – than for any other
reason. One thing that I enjoy about Jones
Beach
It always helps, of course, if the
show is good, and this show was. It had a good cross section of people, young
and old and everything in between. The
variety of different songs and styles of music, from Ringo doing his Beatles
stuff (and one song even predating the Beatles) to his solo stuff, to the
involved and hippie-era Santana material such as "Evil Ways", "Black
Magic Woman", and "Everybody's Everything", to Toto’s “Africa”,
"Hold the Line" and "Rosanna", to Todd Rundgren’s popular
hits (which the crowd really responded well to), and Richard Paige doing his
popular Mr. Mister eighties anthems, then switching gears and introducing a new
song that truly was beautiful, this one was memorable in many respects.
Ringo showed his trademark sense of
humor, as well – something that has been in evidence since the early days of
the Beatles, back when they had their then trademark mop haircuts. My favorite example was one
that he repeated from at least the last tour – when he mentioned his most
recent album. He then specifically thanked “the seven people” who bought it,
and the “hundred people in the audience” who had applauded (but not bought the album).
This is where I will have to make my
admission: I have not gotten Ringo 2012 yet, either. I in fact had heard only
one of the songs on it prior to the concert, which was the third in a trilogy of songs he had
done about his upbringing in Liverpool during
his last three albums. I enjoyed the one from his previous album (which I
actually did buy), and enjoyed this one, as well. However, I would not
necessarily have been able to identify the songs from the recent album that he
did do, although what I did hear sounded pretty good. I particularly enjoyed
"Anthem".
Otherwise, he performed some of the
staples of his repertoire. He played what is probably his biggest hit, “It
Don’t Come Easy”, which was actually the first real hit by any former Beatle
following the break up of the band. This concert was the first time that I saw
Ringo in which he did not open up with that hit (he had opened up with it in
each of the previous times that I had seen him). He also performed
“Photograph”, which the crowd rather enjoyed, as well. Of course, the crowd was
particularly responsive to the Beatles songs that he did, and these included “I
Wanna Be Your Man”, “Act Naturally”, “A Little Help From My Friends”, and
“Yellow Submarine”, among others.
Ringo also shared some stories, which
he tends to do, to add a personalizing touch. For example, he mentioned that "Don't
Pass Me By" was the first song that he had ever written, before launching
into the song. He also mentioned that "I'm the Greatest" was a song
that John Lennon wrote for him.
I should note, that the last time I
saw Ringo, it was one of the most memorable concerts that I have ever seen.
This was back in 2010, on July 7th, specifically. That was the
occasion of Ringo’s 70th birthday, and you bet that I tried to make
a real point of getting those tickets. I was thrilled to have gotten them, and
was not disappointed. There were a lot of special guests, including George
Harrison’s son, Ringo Starr’s own son Zach Starkey, Yoko Ono, and quite a few
other notable artists. That was for what was supposed to be the finale, which
was “A Little Help From My Friends”, and he had many of those friends on the
stage with him. But the atmosphere was absolutely electric when the stage crew
brought out a left-handed Les base, which was clear indication that Paul
McCartney was about to come on stage.
When he did, dressed in a suit that
seemed almost reminiscent of the Beatles early days (as did the very
enthusiastic fan response, which was filled with screaming and shrieking that
was eerily reminiscent of the old enthusiasm that the Beatles generate din
their heyday), Ringo came back on the stage, and took his place on the drum
set! It was as close to a Beatles reunion as I’ll ever see, and the crowd just
went nuts. They played “Birthday”, with Nils Lifren playing guitar and . It was
an amazing thing to witness, and again, one of the most amazing moments that I
have ever witnessed at a concert – and I have been to quite a few!
Ironically, this night was yet
another birthday for a man on the stage – just not Ringo Starr’s. It was the
birthday of Todd Rundgren, and he was called “the birthday boy” throughout the
night – although surprisingly, no one sang the Happy Birthday song, and the
band did not even perform “Birthday” (I know, this is not actually one of the
Beatles songs that Ringo sings, but still).
Now, I did not expect this concert to
surpass the magic of the last time having seen Ringo in July of 2010 – and it
certainly did not. That one was a show for the ages, and I’ll likely remember
that for as long as my faculties are intact. Truly one of the most magical
experiences I have ever seen in any kind of event that I attended, and it felt
like history in the making. But that said, this was a good concert, and I felt
like it was money well spent to have gone. The seats were decent, and again,
the atmosphere felt fairly intimate. Despite the trouble with the traffic jams
in trying to get there, and then the unaccommodating weather conditions, the
best was made of it, and it proved to be a very good and enjoyable concert!
I would definitely go to se Ringo
again if the future should offer such an occasion!
Below is the set list for the memorable
show:
Matchbox (Carl Perkins)
It Don't Come Easy
Wings
I Saw the Light (Todd Rundgren)
Evil Ways (Santana)
Rosanna (Toto)
Kyrie (Mr. Mister)
Don't Pass Me By (The Beatles)
Bang The Drum All Day (Todd Rundgren)
Boys (The Beatles)
Yellow Submarine (The Beatles)
Black Magic Woman (Santana)
Anthem
I'm The Greatest
You Are Mine (Richard Page)
Everybody's Everything (Santana)
I Wanna Be Your Man (The Beatles)
Hello It's Me (Todd Rundgren)
Broken Wing (Mr. Mister)
Hold The Line (Toto)
Photograph
Act Naturally (Buck Owens originally, but which Ringo sang with The
Beatles, and which is likely the most well known version of this song)
With a Little Help From My Friends (The Beatles)
The Encore: Give Peace a Chance (John Lennon cover – an abbreviated
version of this one, following the trend the band set in 2010)
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