Saw the All Starrs on the summer tour last night. First of all, when we got to the Hard Rock, there was a showing of all original, signed Ringo Starr artwork. We were excited to hear on the radio on the way there that he'd be doing something in the casino at 5pm and we made it in plenty of time. We got to watch him blow out the candles on his really cool birthday cake. I'll post a picture of it later when I get them all together, they need to be fixed and gone through.

Anyway, awesome as he is, he threw the peace sign, big smiles and waves as he leaves. With that we head over to the Hard Rock Cafe for some sustenance. Cheeseburgers for all! And a Long Island Iced Tea! LOL! We were even brought a piece of Ringo's birthday cake! Not everyone in the cafe, just the three of us, for we are that special. LOL! That was a fun surprise and it was delish, buttercream frosting with raspberry. Mmmmm.

Then it was time to head over to the venue for the concert.

Here's the set list and some comments as appropriate.


It Don't Come Easy was a good intro, got people dancing and excited. One of Ringo's biggest hits.

What Goes On An old Beatle tune, it was the first time we ever heard Ringo sing solo on a Beatles record. A fun one too, everyone was loving it. Very country rock flavored.

Memphis In Your Mind was next. He's done this one before on the tours and I like it a lot. From his Ringo Rama album.

Ringo settles in behind his drum kit at this point, surrendering the mic to Billy Squier who does Lonely Is The Night . He can still really rock, and the place was pumped. Billy seemed to have brought out quite a few fans to this venue, many chanting Billy! Billy! Billy!

Billy calls the next All Starr up to the mic at this point. The lucky guy? None other than the incredible Edgar Winter who launches into Free Ride . Everybody seemed to really love and know this one well. I tell you the man amazes me, I don't think there was an instrument on that stage that he couldn't not play. This one was another get up out of your seat, sing along and dance song.

Edgar turns it over to the next All Starr. Who could it be now? Yep. The wonderful Colin Hay. Did you know that Colin isn't Australian? He lived there but he's actually Scottish! Colin wows the audience with his big Men At Work hit Down Under . Much singing along and dancing yet again ensued.

Colin leaves us with visions of vegemite sandwiches dancing in our heads, and turns it over to the next All Starr. This time it's Gary Wright's turn. Of course he sang his biggest hit Dream Weaver which had the audience swaying and singing along. Wonderful song. Did you know he got the inspiration to write this song after reading a book of Indian poetry that George Harrison gave him?

Then a real treat. Gary introduces Hamish Stuart, who was formerly a member of Average White Band. Hamish usually just stays quiet on Ringo's tours, save playing bass and chiming in supporting vocals for the other All Starrs. So when he launched into Pick Up The Pieces it was great. Edgar Winter again amazed me becoming a one man two man horn section! LOL!

Hamish finishes up, and YAY! It's Ringo's turn again! He launches into the fun Beatles rave-up Boys. So cute!

After "Boys", Ringo talks about his newest album Liverpool 8 for a minute. Joked that he's got more than enough copies of it in his house to supply the entire place with. Haha! 8 is the zip code for Liverpool, by the way. He then launches into Liverpool 8, charming the crowd as usual.

Ringo jokes warmly with the crowd after wrapping up "Liverpool 8" and then starts up Act Naturally which of course got everyone singing along again.

After this, it was just a given that he'd bring out Yellow Submarine which really gets the crowd going each and every time. It's his signature song, after all!

Ringo and the rest of the All Starrs take a bit of a break at this point. During the shows, instead of a full intermission, two All Starrs get solo spots while the others leave the stage. Tonight's first solo spot was Colin Hay, singing the title track from the album he released last year Are You Looking At Me?. I liked it a lot. Colin impresses me every time. I just might have to check this CD out now.

Solo spot number two was for Billy Squier, who came out to do an acoustic version of a song I'm not really familiar with called In The Dark. He said he heard a fan's acoustic cover of the song while surfing You Tube, liked it and said to himself "now why didn't I do it that way myself?" It was nice.

The rest of the All Starrs take back to the stage, and once again we are wowed by Edgar Winter who only has to ask "are you ready for THE MONSTER?!" when the crowd erupts. Yes, of course it's the hit Frankenstein. Loved it. Damn. He not only handled keys and horns on this one, but drums as well!! I got a VERY nice shot of him drumming that I'll have to post when I get the pictures together.

Once the electricity of Edgar's hit subsides somewhat, Ringo takes to the forefront again to sing his tribute to George Never Without You. So lovely, and yes my friend and I shared a kleenex.

Cheeks are daubed, quiet love and vibes are sent up to George, and Ringo launches into the rollicking Choose Love. Great number and got the audience up again.

Keeping the energy going, Billy Squier jumps in for The Stroke pumping the place up yet even more.

Hamish Stuart comes forward again with an early AWB nugget Work To Do which is a cover of an Isley Brothers song. It was funky and fantastic.

Ringo doesn't miss anything. He calls out that he saw that lady in the back in the white dress dancing and she waves. She. Was. In. The. Back. Of. The. Place!! LOL! He's so funny.

With that he takes to the kit and pounds out I Wanna Be Your Man, another early Beatles rocker.

Gary Wright takes to the forefront again to do Love Is Alive, another hit off his album "The Dream Weaver".

Colin's turn again! He of course would be remiss if he didn't do another big Men At Work hit Who Could It Be Now? which had the crowd going nuts again.

Ringo takes the lead again delighting me with Photograph. My favorite. ♥

After "Photograph" though he delighted me further by bringing out a song he hasn't done live in many moons, Oh My My!! Oh, my my did we ever dance and sing along!

I have to take a second here to give kudos to the wonderful drum work of Gregg Bissonette. He filled out the beat with Ringo throughout the entire show in fine fashion.

Then the familiar strains of With A Little Help From My Friends start up, and we know it's almost the end of a wonderful evening with some A class musicians.

You Tube (non embeddable) With A Little Help From My Friends from NYC. How adorable is Ringo I ask you?

The All Starrs end the set by segueing into Give Peace A Chance which had people all over the venue throwing up the peace sign and swaying and singing along.

We left quite happy, with the music still ringing in our ears.



Happy Birthday, dear Ringo. Again, it was a pleasure to celebrate it with you, even if it was three days early. And thank you for picking an INDOOR venue this time! It did rain last night so we were VERY happy it was the Hard Rock.

Happy Fourth of July!