Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band 2008 - Radio City
Last night, Amy, Christina & Austin took me for my big birthday/Father's Day present - seeing Ringo and his band at Radio City Music Hall. Being as it was going to be the kids' first real rock concert, I had made them a CD of the biggest hits by each of the members of the band. It turned out that the band had a few surprises in store for us, and played 8 songs that were not on my list. Austin listened to the CD on-and-off for a few days before the show, so he recognized a lot of the songs, and though Christina did not listen to it, she recognized a lot of the songs from other places.
Here is the set list, with some comments as appropriate:
It Don't Come Easy - Ringo's big hit was a great intro for the show, and got people's energy up.
What Goes On - The first Beatle song Ringo sang, and not one I'd predicted. Great fun, and well-known to my kids.
Memphis In Your Mind - one of Ringo's solo hits, and another I hadn't anticipated.
Lonely Is The Night - Billy Squier's big 80s hit. Despite the fact that he no longer sports long hair, Billy still rocks, and was Austin's favorite performer (other than Ringo).
Free Ride - Edgar Winter's big hit, which he rocked like this was a stadium concert in the 70s. Age has not touched any of these guys' ability to perform.
Land Down Under - Colin Hay's big 80s hit, well-known to all. Men At Work were the second rock act I ever saw live in concert, and though he's not as edgy as he used to be, Hay still plays and sings with gusto. He was Amy's favorite (other than Ringo).
Dreamweaver - slowing it down with Gary Wright's 70s ballad. I did not know that the song was inspired by some Indian literature which George Harrison gave to Wright, so the Beatles connection was interesting. I was hard-pressed to find much difference in the live performance from the recorded version.
Pick Up The Pieces - Hamish Stuart's big instrumental funk hit from his days with The Average White Band. Edgar Winter amazed me, as with two saxes, he filled in the part of the usual two-man AWB horn section.
Boys - Ringo back on the mike with a Beatles' tune revved up for live performance.
Liverpool 8 - Ringo's recent autobiographical ode to his childhood and days with the Beatles. Met fans Austin and I got much enjoyment out of the line "In the U.S.A. when we played Shea". The rhyme scheme on the song is a bit forced, but the sentiment makes up for it.
Act Naturally - a favorite Beatles' song of both Christina and Austin, they sang their hearts out on this one.
Yellow Submarine - another favorite that had the whole family singing along. What a crowd-pleaser.
Are You Looking At Me? - this was an unfamiliar song that Colin Hay played solo. Apparently, instead of taking a full intermission, each show two of the band members get to do solo numbers while the rest of the band catch some air. This was an audience participation tune - imagine several hundred New Yorkers yelling "Are You Lookin' At Me?" in their best Robert DeNiro voice.
In The Dark - Billy Squier came out with an acoustic guitar, surprising me no end. He sat down and told the story of how he'd written this song so many years ago. He discovered recently that a fan had done an acoustic version, and his reaction had been, "Why the hell didn't I do that?" So he did, and he did it well. It's a completely different song done this way.
Frankenstein - OK, so Edgar Winter was definitely going to play this one. There would have been a riot if he didn't. But, he did it in top fashion. With the strings and drums handled by the band, Edgar did the keyboards and horns all by himself, AND the drum solo. What a performer! Austin loved this tune, and Christina was amazed at all the things Edgar can do.
Never Without You - a song Ringo wrote for George, and another I didn't expect. Lovely.
Choose Love - another Ringo song that was nowhere on my radar before the show.
The Stroke - much as Winter wouldn't have left out Frankenstein, Squier had to do The Stroke. The audience had called for it the other two times he came to the mike, so it was well received (as well as well-played).
Work To Do - Hamish Stuart with another tune I'd not expected. My track record at anticipating the set was not so great, but boy was it fun to be wrong.
I Wanna Be Your Man - having just had a big burly guy in the audience yell out "I Love You, Ringo", Ringo noted that he always loved to have "men with hairy voices" say that to him. He then dedicated this song to that guy. Ringo has lost none of that famous Beatles era wit.
Love Is Alive - Gary Wright back again with another big hit. Never one of my favorite songs when it would come on radio, but the live performance was terrific.
Who Can It Be - another must-have from Colin Hay. The audience went nuts, as did we.
Photograph - Back to Ringo to round out the final set. An old favorite of mine.
Oh My My - now here was a Ringo song that I'd never considered that he would do live. He said that he hadn't done it live in many years, so it was a treat.
With A Little Help From My Friends- acknowledging that at this point in the show, the band should go off-stage, allowing the audience to scream and cheer for them to come back, Ringo said "Why bother? We're here. You know we'd come back. We know we'd come back. Let''s play!" He introduced a special guest at this point - Levon Helm of The Band, and an original All-Starr Band member from 1989 sat in for the final two songs. I love Helm, and it was good to see him there.
Give Peace A Chance - with Ringo's theme of "Peace, Love and Rock", this was a lovely end. Especially touching was seeing my kids, up well after their regular weeknight bedtime, swaying back and forth, singing John Lennon's anthem with arms raised in the peace sign. I'd call that a truly successful first rock concert. The only thing they didn't get to do was flick cigarette lighters in the air.
Overall, what an amazing show. Twenty-six songs in just shy of two-and-a-half hours, with no intermission, and no filler songs. It was a delight to see these musicians having such fun playing one another's songs, and jamming like they were 20 again. The performers were at the top of their game, and made it hard to realize that they were not a long-standing band. The show was family-friendly -- not a single obscenity spoken from the stage or audience, with fun songs that everyone could enjoy.
ETA: I would be remiss (and was) in not mentioning Gregg Bissonette, who played drums throughout the show. Though he didn't sing or headline, he provided a terrific beat for all the songs. Rock on, Gregg.
Finally, let me say that I've been a Beatles fan for many years. I missed out on seeing John and George live. I've seen Paul McCartney live. Paul puts on a wonderful stadium show, with lights and effects, and tons of his hits. But, my admiration for Ringo as a showman and performer had notched him a bit higher than Sir Paul today. The show wasn't about Ringo, or his latest CD. It was about the music we all grew up with, and can share across the generations. I tip my hat to you Ringo. Thank you for a lovely evening. (P.S. If you should happen to read this, next time, Austin would like you play "Back Off Buggaloo", Christina would like you to play "Octopus' Garden", and I'd love to hear "The No-No-Song". You know. Just saying.)
Edited to add: I just found this YouTube clip from the show. It's not embeddable, but here is the link. Check it out.