When Leonard Cohen launched his revival concerts earlier in the decade, his stature ensured he would tour the world with the finest musicians in the industry; the sort who have instruments named after them. But he’s far from the only legend to accumulate such talent. Since the mid-90s, The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr has been touring the world with his aptly named All-Starr Band, all of whom are established names in their own right (look no further than legendary guitarist Steve Lukather and you get the idea). It gave Starr the opportunity to play shows with musicians he admired (“spend my summers playing music with my friends” as he put it), enhance his own music and pad out the nature of his performance.
But even with such talent behind them, be it Cohen or Starr, it was the performance’s namesake who we had all come to see. And given this was Starr’s first trip to Australia since The Beatles’ visit almost FIFTY YEARS AGO (1964), that should come as little surprise. It was, after all, why I was there – a Beatles tragic who tonight would hear a Beatles song, sung by a Beatle for the first time – with everything else that came along a bonus.
The format of the show saw Ringo and his six “All-Starrs” rotate the role of the frontman. In addition to Starr’s own hits (which we’ll get to in a moment), we had the opportunity to hear the music of Toto courtesy of legendary guitarist and G3 member Steve Lukather. “Africa” was an unexpected highlight of the night, bringing on a spirited sing along from the crowd and showing Lukather off at his best, while Ringo bopped away on the drums, accompanied by a second drummer and percussionist, Gregg Bissonette. Other Toto classics were also included, “Rosanna” and “Hold The Line”.
On the keys we had Gregg Rolie, who, in addition to being the original lead vocalist of Journey, was the same for Santana and as such the voice behind many of the band’s early hits, such as “Black Magic Woman” (technically a Fleetwood Mac song, but I digress…), “Everybody’s Everything” and “Evil Ways”, all of which got a look in today, with Lukather once again being utilised to the best of his abilities as he played the role of Carlos Santana – and he did it ample justice.
Continuing the “frontman” ensemble we had Todd Rundgren, who called the show a “love-in every night”, and he performed “Bang The Drum All Day” – a particular favourite of Ringo’s thematically – “I Saw The Light”, which was the first track in the set to feature Ringo on the drums and “Love Is The Answer”. Then there was Richard Page of Mr Mister. Reasonably unfamiliar with the the band, Page’s voice was immaculate and his band’s biggest hits, “Kyrie” and “Broken Wings”, went down a treat. He also performed the beautiful new solo track “You Are Mine”, which saw Ringo on the Cajon. Keeping the music flowing throughout the set was Ringo’s other touring member, and the “musical director” of the performance, Mark Rivera, who joined the All-Starr band in 1995 as a strapping multi-instrumentalist, with particular mention being paid to his saxophone performance in “Africa”.
And what of the man himself? Well, like Page, he used the show as an opportunity to play a new track or two, off of his latest album Ringo 2012 (his 17th solo album!!!); “Wings” and “Anthem”. These songs arguably made the best use of the band of the night, with the songs obviously intended to be performed by the band in their formation, and were well enjoyed by the crowd as a result. But it was The Beatles’ songs we wanted to hear, and while “Octopus’ Garden” was a notable omission, it was hard not to get a little bit emotional as he performed “Boys”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Don’t Pass Me By” (the first song Ringo wrote) and “With a little Help From My Friends” throughout the show, songs everyone in the audience has known for the majority of, if not all of, their lives. It was nothing mind-blowing from a performance level – the best moments were definitely elsewhere – but these were the songs we came to see and it couldn’t help but be a special experience.
In addition to the Beatles tracks, Ringo played his hits “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Photograph”, the latter of which enjoyed a particularly warm reception (in my personal opinion it’s his best song), plus covers from Buck Owens, “Act Naturally” – a mainstay of Ringo’s set – Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”, another mainstay, and also performed as part of The Beatles’ sets back in the day, and the closer of the night, Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”.
All in all, this was a terrific night of music. We got to experience a multitude of songs we never thought we’d get to hear live (by their original voices anyway), plus plenty of tracks we didn’t expect to hear at all, even on entry of the room. Well, maybe that was just because I hadn’t delved too deeply into Ringo’s most recent setlists. I was quite keen for a surprising night of music. And that’s very much what it was, with the 72 year old (he’s looked the same for decades – it’s amazing!) in fine form from start to finish. He left the stage with a quick wave, and no real encore, but just to witness the man in action was more than enough, let alone to hear the songs we did along the way.
Also worth mentioning were support act Mojo Jacket, an unsigned guitar duo (although according to their Facebook page there are normally three or four of them) from Melbourne who held their own supporting the legends of the industry, and played some of their own tracks plus a solid cover of Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love”. In spite of the missing member(s), they proved that it’s not bad what you can do with a guitar and a bass.
SETLIST:
Matchbox (Carl Perkins cover)
It Don’t Come Easy
Wings
I Saw the Light (Todd Rundgren cover) (vocals by Todd Rundgren)
Evil Ways (Willie Bobo cover) (vocals by Gregg Rolie)
Rosanna (Toto cover) (vocals by Steve Lukather)
Kyrie (Mr. Mister cover) (vocals by Richard Page)
Don’t Pass Me By (The Beatles cover)
Bang the Drum All Day (Todd Rundgren cover) (vocals by Todd Rundgren)
Boys (The Shirelles cover)
Yellow Submarine (The Beatles cover)
Black Magic Woman (Fleetwood Mac cover) (vocals by Gregg Rolie)
Anthem
You Are Mine (Richard Page cover) (vocals by Richard Page)
Honey Don’t (Carl Perkins cover)
Africa (Toto cover) (vocals by Steve Lukather)
Everybody’s Everything (Santana cover) (vocals by Gregg Rolie)
I Wanna Be Your Man (The Beatles cover)
Love Is the Answer (Utopia cover) (vocals by Todd Rundgren)
Broken Wings (Mr. Mister cover) (vocals by Richard Page)
Act Naturally (Buck Owens cover)
Hold the Line (Toto cover) (vocals by Steve Lukather)
Photograph
With a Little Help from My Friends (The Beatles cover)
Give Peace a Chance (John Lennon cover)
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Ringo Starr’s tour around the Pacific Rim continues tomorrow night in Melbourne:
Feb 16 & 17 – Melbourne – Festival Hall
Feb 19 – Adelaide- Entertainment Centre
Feb 21 – Perth – Challenge Stadium
Feb 25 & 26 – Zepp Arena, Tokyo, Japan
Feb 27 – Zepp Hall, Nagoya, Japan
March 1 – Zepp Hall, Osaka, Japan
March 2 – U-Express 2013 at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo Japan
