Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band - Tenth Edition!
Ringo Starr is back this summer with the tenth edition of his All Starr Band!The current tour just came through the area - June 24 at Radio City Music Hall, June 27 at PNC Bank Arts Center and June 29 at Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury (in addition to shows in Uncasville, Connecticut and Atlantic City, New Jersey). The tour will end in early August. I was lucky enough to catch two of the area shows - Radio City Music Hall and Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury. I’m happy to say that this year’s All Starr Band did not disappoint! This tenth All Starr Band featured returning members Billy Squier (lead guitar, bass, vocals), Colin Hay (guitar, vocals), Edgar Winter (keyboards, saxophone, vocals) and Hamish Stuart(bass, guitar, vocals). First time All Starrs included Gary Wright (keyboards, vocals) and Gregg Bissonette (drums, vocals). Then, of course, there’s Ringo Starr (drums, vocals)!
Billy Squier- Formerly of the band Piper, Billy Squier kicked off his solo career in 1980. His biggest success came with his albums Don’t Say No (1981), Emotions In Motion (1982) and Signs Of Life (1984). He is best known for his songs “Everybody Wants You”, “In The Dark”, “Lonely Is The Night”, “My Kinda Lover”, “Rock Me Tonite” and “The Stroke”. His most recent album, Happy Blue, came out ten years ago.
Colin Hay - He’s the former lead singer and guitarist of Men At Work and has been recording solo since 1987. Men At Work are best known for their first two albums, Business As Usual (1982) and Cargo (1983). Those albums gave us favorites like “Be Good Johnny”, “Down Under”, “It’s A Mistake”, “Overkill” and “Who Can It Be Now?”. Men At Work broke up after their third album Two Hearts (1985). In 1987, Colin released his first solo album, Looking For Jack. His latest came out last year called Are You Lookin’ At Me?.
Edgar Winter - Edgar’s musical background goes back to when he was a teenager playing with his brother Johnny Winter. Edgar is a multi instrumentalist, capable of playing keyboards, saxophones, guitars, bass and drums. In 1970, Edgar released his first album called Entrance. A year later, he formed Edgar Winter’s White Trash. Edgar would enjoy his greatest success with the Edgar Winter Group. Their first album, 1972’s They Only Come Out At Night, gave Edgar his signature songs - the instrumental “Frankenstein” and “Free Ride”. Edgar just released his brand new album Rebel Road.
Hamish Stuart - Hamish Stuart was a long time member of the Average White Band who later on joined Paul McCartney’s band. Hamish played rhythm guitar and bass with Paul McCartney from 1989 through the first half of the 1990s.
Gary Wright - Gary, a New Jersey native, is making his All Starr Band debut. Gary is best known for his songs “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive”, but his resume goes back aways. Gary was a long time member of Spooky Tooth from the late 1960s into the 1970s. He released his first solo album, Extraction, in 1971, but it was his third one, 1975’s The Dream Weaver that gave Gary his biggest success, thanks to the massive hits “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive”. Beatles fans have a soft spot in their hearts for Gary because he was close friends with George Harrison and played on most of George’s solo albums.
Gregg Bissonette- Gregg is a session drummer who has worked with artists like Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Joe Satriani, the Electric Light Orchestra, Andy Summers and many more. He has also played with Ringo in the past.
When I heard what the lineup would be for this year’s All Starr Band, I do have to admit, I was a little disappointed. There was only one prominent new member (Gary Wright) and the rest of the group featured players who had just been part of the two most recent All Starr Bands. I was ready for a fresh start from Ringo’s touring band and I thought that might happen being that Ringo took 2007 off from touring and had released an album back in January (Liverpool 8). Despite this, Ringo dipped back to the 2006 band for Billy Squier, Edgar Winter and Hamish Stuart (who had been a last minute replacement for Ringo’s estranged collaborator Mark Hudson) and the 2003 band for Colin Hay. The other feature of this year’s band that had me initially a bit disappointed was that it seemed like another odd collection of talent from very different musical worlds. The reggae-ish early 80s pop of Men At Work teamed up with the classic rock thunder of the Edgar Winter Group seemed like a mismatch. These pairings that seemed strange on paper had become a common occurrence in recent years, starting with the seventh All Starr Band in 2001 which had prog rockers like Greg Lake and former Supertramp member Roger Hodgson in the same band as 80s pop keyboardist Howard Jones and percussionist Sheila E. (who would go on to become an All Starr Band favorite). But in most instances, despite the odd collection of decades represented, most of these All Starr Bands turned out to be terrific. This year’s tenth band was no exception, in fact it might have been the best All Starr Band since the 2001 edition. The musicianship was nothing short of fabulous. Multi instrumentalists Edgar Winter and Hamish Stuart provided the versatility to perform the wide range of material, Billy Squier proved he is a very solid lead guitarist and even Colin Hay, who I think of as a pop singer songwriter first and not a technically gifted guitarist, excelled as rhythm guitarist, giving me the impression that he worked hard to make his playing stronger for this tour.
Besides a having a great band, the 2007 All Starr Band tour featured an interesting set list that provided the type of surprises that long time All Starr Band fans have been craving. For the second consecutive tour, Ringo opted to leave popular hits like “You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful And You’re Mine)” and “No No Song”, two songs which he has performed during most of his past All Starr Band tours, out of the show. Instead of replacing them with other popular songs from past tours, like “I’m The Greatest” (written by John Lennon), “Back Off Boogaloo” and the Beatles’ “Honey Don’t” (written by Carl Perkins), Ringo instead chose to leave newer songs like “Memphis In Your Mind” and “Never Without You”, from 2003, and “Choose Love”, from 2006, in the set. Add to that the brand new song “Liverpool 8” and, the big surprise of the night, 1973’s top ten hit “Oh My My”, which Ringo has never performed live before, and you have a set that will appeal to veteran All Starr Band show attendees like myself. Of course, if you aren’t a veteran of these shows, you probably would rather have all the hits and other favorites like the Beatles’ “Don’t Pass Me By” (which Ringo has only performed live once before) or “Octopus’s Garden” (which has never been performed by an All Starr Band), rather than the newer songs from Ringo’s last three solo albums. But, everyone will be happy with mainstays “Yellow Submarine”, “With A Little Help From My Friends”, “Photograph”, “It Don’t Come Easy”, “Act Naturally”, “Boys” and “I Wanna Be Your Man”.
So, here is the set list from both the Radio City Music Hall and Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury shows:
“With A Little Help From My Friends” introduction
“It Don’t Come Easy” (Ringo)
“What Goes On” (Ringo)
“Memphis In Your Mind” (Ringo)
“Lonely Is The Night” (Billy Squier)
“Free Ride” (Edgar Winter)
“Down Under” (Colin Hay)
“Dream Weaver” (Gary Wright)
“Boys” (Ringo)
“Pick Up The Pieces” (Hamish Stuart)
“Liverpool 8” (Ringo)
“Act Naturally” (Ringo)
“Yellow Submarine” (Ringo)
RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL SHOW ONLY: “Are You Lookin’ At Me?” (Colin Hay, solo)
CAPITAL ONE BANK THEATER AT WESTBURY SHOW ONLY: “ “ (Hamish Stuart, solo)
“In The Dark” (Billy Squier, solo)
“Frankenstein” (Edgar Winter)
“Never Without You” (Ringo)
“Choose Love” (Ringo)
“The Stroke” (Billy Squier)
“Work To Do” (Hamish Stuart)
“I Wanna Be Your Man” (Ringo)
“Love Is Alive” (Gary Wright)
“Who Can It Be Now?” (Colin Hay)
“Photograph” (Ringo)
“Oh My My” (Ringo)
“With A Little Help From My Friends” (Ringo) * LEVON HELM CAME OUT TO PLAY DRUMS AT RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL!
Now, the cherry on top, for me and my daughter Emily, was getting to meet Ringo before the Capital One Bank Theater at Westbury show! We quickly went backstage to say “Hi”! Ringo was totally gracious and put his arm around my daughter. It was a moment she will never forget! I introduced her to Ringo, saying “Here is the next generation of Beatles fans!”
One final note...Ringo has just released a new live album and DVD documenting the 2006 All Starr Band. It’s called Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Live 2006 (of course)!
Peace and love!
