Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band

When I first saw Colin Hay play solo, in Manchester some years back, he broke off from regaling the crowd with a tour anecdote to reassure them, “don’t worry, we’ll get through at least three songs tonight.” He was on stage for well over two hours, but got through maybe sixteen songs in that time; the rest of the show was taken up by stories, jokes and interaction with the crowd. Frankly, you wouldn’t have it any other way; the former Men at Work frontman is a genuinely funny guy, and it was as much a delight to hear him share stories of awkward dinners with a soon-to-be-divorced Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, or drinking sessions with Russell Crowe, as it was to hear him play tracks from a formidable back catalogue. The crowds at his shows are looking a little younger these days, and it’s telling as to what - or rather, who - has afforded him some recent popularity; Hay guest-starred on Scrubs and had a song featured on the soundtrack for Zach Braff’s Garden State. Often backed by his wife on backing vocals, he includes plenty of his finest solo cuts - ‘Waiting for My Real Life to Begin’ and ‘Beautiful World’ included - as well as classic Men at Work material, reworked for the acoustic guitar, including ‘Overkill’ and the recently-contentious ‘Down Under’. Should he return to the UK on his current ‘Finding My Dance’ run, you’d be as well-advised to track him down for his quick wit as his fine songwriting; Hay’s a real entertainer.

Ringo Starr blew the house down with his All-Starr Band on Friday, June 27th, 2014 at DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan. At exactly 7:30 p.m., Ringo Starr burst joyfully onto the stage with Rockabilly Maestro Carl Perkins' famous song, "Matchbox", although Ringo Starr certainly did not have a long way to go! Following this Rockabilly Classic, Ringo burst effortlessly into his first solo hit, "It Don't Come Easy". Yet, throughout the entire 2 and half hour show, Ringo Starr kept the memories of his days with John, Paul and George constantly in mind! Ringo continued with his solo song "Wings".

He then made way for members of his All-Starr Band to "do their thing" with the following songs:
(1.) Todd Rundgren frolicked left and right on stage, with "I Saw the Light" and "Bang the Drum All Day".

(2.) Greg Rolie belted out the Santana hits "Evil Ways", "Black Magic Woman" "Gypsy Queen" and the Tito Puente cover "Oye como va".
(3.) Steve Lukather and Warren Ham broke-it-lose with the songs, "Rosanna" and "Africa". Steve Lukather also delivered a delectable solo in "Hold the Line".
(4.) Richard Page also "knocked the ball out of the park" with the Mr. Mister classic "Kyrie". He also drew Crowd-pleaser with the song "Broken Wings".

But, the undeniable Star of the show was the man "Ringo Starr", himself!

With almost no effort, except for one false-start on the song "Don't Pass Me By", from The Beatles "White Album", Ringo Starr gave his audience more than their money's worth with the songs, "Honey Don't" (another Carl Perkins Rockabilly Classic), "Yellow Submarine", during which he made reference to Led Zepellin, by warning that, "If you don't know this number, then you have come to the wrong venue!", his solo song "Anthem", "I Wanna Be Your Man" (before which he asked if there were any ladies in the audience?), "Photograph" (which he had co-written with George Harrison), "Act Naturally", which was written by Buck Owens, (about which Ringo said that always tries to Act Naturally), "With a Little Help from My Friends" and the John Lennon Anti-Vietnam Anthem "Give Peace a Chance", for which Ringo was joined once more my all the members of his 2014 All-Starr Band! Ringo finished off this truly memorable concert by saying "thank you very much! You have been a great audience! Always remember, "PEACE AND LOVE IS THE ONLY WAY!" "Good Night Everybody!" The audience was eager to catch a glimpse one more time of there "Starr", but this was not meant to be! The lights went up at 10:00 p.m. and Ringo Starr had made history yet again at DTE Energy Music Theater! By Amit Kshirsagar Ann Arbor, Michigan