"The Charbor Chronicles": Show Review of Ringo Starr at Atlantic City 9/24/22

Monday, October 3, 2022

Show Review of Ringo Starr at Atlantic City 9/24/22

In light of the fact that I just learned that Ringo Starr had to at least postpone, if not outright cancel, a show in Michigan on Saturday evening, it seemed like perhaps it was time to review the Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band show that my son and I recently attended at the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

One thing for sure is that if you are a Beatles fan like me, you will never see a bad show involving one of the former Beatles. And this was no exception. In fact, this was probably the second best overall Ringo show that I have ever seen. The top spot will surely always be the 70th Birthday show at Radio City Music Hall, when he was joined by a bunch of very well known guests, including Yoko Ono and, of course, Paul McCartney. Seeing half of the Beatles on stage, performing "Birthday," will always be my favorite memory of a Ringo show. It actually gave me goosebumps for several days after the fact when I watched video of it on Youtube.

This one was not quite like that. Yet, it was better than pretty much any of the other Ringo shows that I can remember, and with good reason. There were a number of teasers - that is to say, not full songs, admittedly, but just snippets of the songs - which included a number of Beatles classics, including Norwegian Wood (no, Ringo did not sing for that one).

It also gave my son a second opportunity to see Ringo Starr. I took him to a Ringo show back in 2016 in Worcester, Massachusetts. But this one is much more recent, and he is older, so there is a better chance of him remembering this one. He only vaguely recollects that first Ringo show. It also meant that we saw both of the surviving Beatles within months of one another, having seen Paul McCartney in Syracuse in June. Also, we happened to cross Abbey Road during our recent London trip in August in between. What a year we had as Beatles fans!

While I have been attending Ringo Starr shows from June of 1997, when he was touring with Jack Bruce of Cream, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, Peter Frampton, and Gary Brooker of Procol Harem. I saw a number of Ringo shows in 2010, and then one in 2012 at Jones Beach with my girlfriend, during some of the earliest days in our relationship. In 2015, I attended a sort of booksigning of his at Strand's in New York, although he did not actually sign the books, but had individualized stamps (not sure why, because there actually were not that many people there). But he did speak with Little Steven, and it was the closest that I ever got to a Beatle. Then, as mentioned already, I took my son to his first Ringo show in 2016. Again, however, I also wanted to take him to one that he might remember more clearly, and the tickets for this show kept going down in price as the date approached, for some reason. For the two tickets, I wound up spending less than $100, which felt more like a throwback to the old days, when I used to go to a ton of shows every year. At the last minute, I decided to go ahead with it, in case the opportunity never comes up again. Not to sound morbid, but you never know. He is 82 now, and also, he just got sick. It does not seem life threatening or anything, but still, at his age, you cannot exactly count on seeing him again in a decade or two. The opportunity was there, I was off from work and could take my son, and the price was reasonable. And so I got the tickets, and we went and enjoyed the show.

One thing I did notice - although I doubt that it is associated with Ringo's recent illness - is that his voice sounded a bit more raspy than it has in the past. It did not sound bad, or anything. Just a little rougher than I remembered from past shows.

Anyway, here is the setlist from the show, and below that are some of the pictures that I took, which I did not yet get to sort or go through (in other words, they are admittedly repetitive).

SEP 24 2022 Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Setlist at Hard Rock Live at the Etess Arena, Atlantic City, NJ, USA Tour: 15th All Star Band Tour statistics

Setlist

Matchbox (Carl Perkins cover)

It Don't Come Easy (Ringo Starr song)

What Goes On (The Beatles cover)

Free Ride (The Edgar Winter Group cover) (with Edgar Winter)

Rosanna (Toto cover) (with Steve Lukather)

Pick Up the Pieces (Average White Band cover) (with Hamish Stuart)

Down Under (Men at Work cover) (with Colin Hay)

Boys (The Shirelles cover)

I'm the Greatest (Ringo Starr song)

Yellow Submarine (The Beatles cover)

Solo Set