While some music critics scoff at the idea of Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band, the group's shows prove they're having too much fun to care about the criticism. Not only that -- they put on a great show.
See more pictures from the show in a slideshow at the bottom of the page. Also see a video there of Richard Page doing "Broken Wings" at the show.
That's what we saw Tuesday night at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA., a venue which Ringo had played two years ago on the last ASB tour. It was a nice evening and the band certainly made the best of it.
Ringo came out moments after the opening notes of "It Don't Come Easy" and did the song very energetically, then moved into "Honey Don't."
He was in great humor. When a fan wished him a happy birthday, he thanked the fan, then said, "It's the longest birthday known to man."
Next came "Choose Love," which had a harder edge than the CD version. That helps point up what a great combination this version of the All-Starr Band has been. They displayed a great cohesiveness all through the night.
One of the reasons is Edgar Winter, back for his third stint. His two songs with each of the Bands he has been highlights of the show. Tuesday night with "Frankenstein" was no exception. He did an extended version and took the song a lot longer than we can remember him previously. The crowd loved it and clearly he enjoyed doing it. We hope he'll be back again for the next tour.
New to the band this year was Wally Palmar of the Romantics, who did "Talking In Your Sleep" and "What I Like About You." Both of those songs have been MTV and radio favorites and both really pleased the crowd, especially "What I Like About You."
Another new addition is Rick Derringer, good buddy to Winter. He's played with Winter many times over the years, including a past edition of Edgar Winter's White Trash. Derringer did two fantastic songs -- "Hang On Sloopy" from his days with the McCoys and "Rock 'n' Roll Hootchie Koo." Telling a great story, he somewhat proudly mentioned his parents still have the Billboard chart where "Sloopy" was number 1 and a Beatles song, "Yesterday," was number 2 with a bullet (meaning "Sloopy" wouldn't be staying at number 1 very long). We hope Derringer comes back for the next tour.
Also returning was Gary Wright. His two songs -- "Dream Weaver" and "Love Is Alive" -- were repeated from the 2008 edition, but the songs are so iconic, especially "Love Is Alive," that it was great to hear them again, along with the story about how George Harrison inspired "Dream Weaver."
The last new addition is Richard Page of Mr. Mister. His two songs, "Kyrie Elieson" and "Broken Wings" brought enthusiasm from the crowd when they started, though in terms of comparison to the rest of the set, they weren't as big a highlight as some of the other non-Ringo songs.
Ringo's set included two songs from his current "Y Not" album ("for all the nine people that bought it," he joked) -- "The Other Side of Liverpool" and "Peace Dream." As good as those songs and the album are, we wish he'd also done "Fill in the Blanks," which kicks off "Y Not" in a powerful way. With a band as dynamic as this, it would have made a great addition to the set. We also loved hearing Ringo do "Back Off Boogaloo" live.
Unlike Paul McCartney's current tour set, which has rotated some songs, Ringo's has remained constant. However, as an introduction to one song late in the set, he joked that the response for the song hadn't gone over well and he might drop it if last night's response wasn't good. That song was "With a Little Help From My Friends."
As one of the members remarked last night, the All-Starr Band is like a bunch of different concerts in one. That may be overstating it a little, but there's no doubt the idea of the band works better than you would expect. That's a testimonial to the band members for their efforts and an even better salute to Ringo Starr for making it work.
(Special thanks to Mark Homen for the pictures.)
Here's the complete set list: "It Don't Come Easy" / "Honey Don't" / "Choose Love" / "Hang On Sloopy" (Rick Derringer) / "Free Ride" (Edgar Winter) / "Talking In Your Sleep" (Wally Palmar) / "I Wanna Be Your Man" / "Dream Weaver" (Gary Wright) / "Kyrie" (Richard Page) / "The Other Side of Liverpool" / "Yellow Submarine" / "Frankenstein" (Edgar Winter) / "Peace Dream" / "Back Off Boogaloo" / "What I Like About You" (Wally Palmar) / "Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo" (Rick Derringer) / "Boys" / "Love Is Alive" (Gary Wright) / "Broken Wings" (Richard Page) / "Photograph" / "Act Naturally" / "With A Little Help From My Friends"/"Give Peace a Chance"
Richard Page performs "Broken Wing" from Tuesday's Ringo Starr All-Starr Band concert at Mountain Winery.
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Comments
Had never seen Ringo's tours before last month, when I went twice in one week! (One being the Paul "surprise!) Excellent show! I brought some young fans with me, and even though they didn't know some of the performers, they loved it, too. Ringo runs a tight show, keeps it moving, no encores, and no big ego, either, giving everyone their "star" turns. Great night of entertainment for all ages.
You might want to correct your report, the singer from the Romantics is Wally PALMAR not Paymar.
Too bad Saratoga didn't get the full set dressing with the inflatable star!
Yeah, that is a great story Derringer tells. Good thing he didn't let facts get in the way of the tale. On the Billboard charts, the week "Hang On Sloopy" was #1, "Eve Of Destruction" was the #2 record.
Actually BT you make it seem like Derringer LIED about the Charts. He said, his parents still have the Billboard Chart and "yesterday" was #2 and "Hang On Sloopy" was #1, then he said, "you can guess how long that lasted, one week" So truth be known "Yesterday was actually # 3 and over took "Hang On Sloopy" the next week for the #1 slot. Not exactly the deception of the decade that you made it out to be eh?
Well, Maclen .... FACTS IS FACTS, and that wasn't them. Actually, in the best "telephone tag" tradition, some reports (including one on Derringers own Facebook page!) twist it further noting it "knocked yesterday out of the #1 position". Again, just the facts.
In the larger scheme of things, who cares about the position of Hang on Sloopy on a chart 45 years ago! The point is that it was a huge hit, whether it was number 1, 2 or 3 on the charts, and it's still enjoyable. So Rick has an ego and has selective or inflated memory, big deal, what a surprise! Judge him on his performance people, not his ego or selective memory. I thought his spots on the tour were fantastic...and I'm not a fan of the prolonged guitar solo...
I saw the Ringo Starr Tour in Hammond, In. I don't know what happened where you were but Richard's set at the Venue rocked the house. He was the reason I was there to begin with. I don't think there is an artist out there that touch his voice quality or song writing style. I have been a fan for 25 years.
Michele
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