Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band: 6/2/1992

This was my first time seeing Ringo. What can I say—he’s a Beatle and therefore resides in the hall of rock and roll royalty.

He performed at the Sunrise Musical Theatre, a small venue that had good acoustics, and we had fourth-row seats, which was especially nice. I went with my wife, who is a huge Todd Rundgren fan, so she was especially excited that Todd was a part of Ringo’s band. His band truly was an all-star lineup:

• Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, cowbell, vocals
• Joe Walsh – guitar, keyboards, talk box, bass drum, vocals
• Nils Lofgren – guitar, vocals
• Todd Rundgren – guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, tambourine, vocals
• Dave Edmunds – guitar, vocals
• Burton Cummings – keyboards, guitar, tambourine, harmonica, flute, vocals
• Timothy B. Schmit – bass, guitar, vocals
• Zak Starkey – drums
• Timmy Cappello – saxophone, percussion, keyboards, vocals

What was really cool about this show was that Ringo allowed all the other members of his band to perform a couple of their songs, so the set was very egalitarian. Todd singing “Bang the Drum All Day” and Dave Edmunds singing “I Hear You Knocking” particularly stood out for me.

What was really bizarre, though, was Burton Cummings. I’d seen him with the Guess Who, and he was cool. He sang and performed well at this show, but he was doing some strange things on stage. He kept licking the microphone stand, like he was performing fellatio or something, then stroking it furiously in masturbatory fashion. Not that I was offended—all’s fair in rock and roll as far as I’m concerned—it just seemed out of place with the rest of the band and what they were doing.

As far as Ringo’s songs, he sang a nice mix of Beatles’ tunes and solo material. The only song that was noticeably absent was “It Don’t Come Easy.” That was one song I pretty much expected to hear, but didn’t. Still, it was a great show, and I would see Ringo perform “It Don’t Come Easy” the next time I saw him.

Here’s the full setlist.

Setlist:

• I’m the Greatest
• No No Song
• No Time
• Girls Talk
• Look at Us Now
• I Can’t Tell You Why
• Shine Silently
• Bang the Drum All Day
• Don’t Go Where the Road Don’t Go
• Yellow Submarine
• Pretty Maids All in a Row
• Love of the Common Man
• Keep On Tryin’
• Wiggle
• Black Maria
• In the City
• You’re Sixteen
• Weight of the World
• Walkin’ Nerve
• I Hear You Knocking
• American Woman
• Photograph

Encore:

• Act Naturally
• With a Little Help From My Friends