Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band: 3/27/1999

This was my second time seeing Ringo.  The first time was cool, but this show was light years better.

The lineup for this incarnation of the All-Starr Band was nothing short of mind-blowing.

• Ringo Starr – drums, vocals
• Todd Rundgren (from Nazz and Utopia) – guitar, percussion, vocals
• Gary Brooker (from Procol Harum) – organ, keyboards, vocals
• Jack Bruce (from Cream) – bass, keyboards, vocals
• Simon Kirke (from Free and Bad Company) – drums, vocals
• Timmy Cappello – saxophone, keyboards, harmonica, guitar, vocals

The band opened the show with “It Don’t Come Easy,” which is maybe my favorite Ringo solo song and one that he did not play the first time I saw him. This show also had a nice amount of Beatles tunes woven in. And the songs from the other members—WOW! Todd actually played some Utopia, Simon sang some Bad Co. and a Free song, Gary Brooker sang some classic Procol Harum stuff, including Conquistador, and Jack Bruce belted out several Cream hits. There was absolutely no weak spots anywhere in this show.

Here’s the full setlist. Rock on!

Setlist:

• It Don’t Come Easy
• Act Naturally
• Whisky Train
• I Saw the Light
• Sunshine of Your Love
• Shooting Star
• Boys
• Love Me Do
• Yellow Submarine
• Conquistador
• Hammer in My Heart
• I’m the Greatest
• No No Song
• I Feel Free
• All Right Now
• I Wanna Be Your Man
• Bang the Drum All Day
• White Room
• A Whiter Shade of Pale
• Photograph

Encore:

• You’re Sixteen
• With a Little Help From My Friends

The Firm: 3/15/1986

Those of you who missed the 80’s (or just have a cloudy memory) may need a little info on The Firm. They were a supergroup comprised of some very notable musicians:

• Paul Rodgers on lead vocals (from Free and Bad Company)
• Jimmy Page on guitar (from The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin)
• Chris Slade on drums (from Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, Uriah Heep, and AC/DC)
• Tony Franklin on bass (from Roy Harper, John Sykes’ Blue Murder, David Gilmour, Kate Bush, and Whitesnake)

I went to this show with my friend Mike. Since we were both young guitarists, we were pretty psyched to see the legendary Jimmy Page.

What I remember about the performance was that they were awesome. I personally would have liked to have seen them do a Led Zeppelin tune, but alas. Page did do a really cool guitar solo, though, using the violin bow, with a pyramid of lasers encasing him, reminiscent of the solo featured in “The Song Remains the Same” movie. That was the high point for me.

After the show, we were making the long drive back from the Sportatorium along the two-lane road that took you out of the boonies and back to civilization. We saw two young women hitchhiking, so we picked them up. Mike immediately began chatting them up, clearly hoping to get lucky. When he asked them what they were into, one of them replied, “We’re into each other,” and began making out in the back seat. We could respect that. We drove them as far as we could and dropped them off, then headed home to recover from the killer night of rock and roll.

Here is the setlist, courtesy of the internet.

Setlist

• Fortune Hunter
• Closer
• Someone to Love
• Make or Break
• Prelude (Chopin)
• Money Can’t Buy
• Satisfaction Guaranteed
• Radioactive
• Live in Peace
• All the King’s Horses
• The Chase
• Cadillac
• Midnight Moonlight
• You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’