Concert Review: Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band at Fox Theatre

When I was making my plans to attend the sold-out Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band show at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St Louis on Saturday evening, September 23^rd, I decided to leave extra early so that I could get plenty of people watching in before the show.  I arrived a full hour before the doors opened, expecting to be one of the first people in the lobby.  Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find hundreds of people already waiting outside.  That was the first sign that this would not be your average show. 

I went to the end of the line, which wrapped around the corner and halfway to the end of the building and immediately found myself in conversations with the folks in front of me, the ones in front of them and the people behind me.  These people felt like old friends.  Nearly everyone was wearing Beatles t-shirts, and that automatically made us all family.  The excitement was palpable, and as it turns out, for very good reason.

Ringo Starr has been touring with different iterations of his All-Starr Band for over three decades.  This tour marks the fifteenth version of outstanding musicians that have been selected by Ringo for this tour. 

Unlike most other supergroups, The All-Starr Band does not write original music, but rather performs the hits from the band members’ former groups.  The band’s lineup for this tour includes Ringo, Colin Hay (Men at Work), Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Edgar Winter (Edgar Winter Group), Greg Bissonette (David Lee Roth’s drummer), Steve Lukather (Toto), and Warren Ham (Kansas).  Pause for a moment and take in those names. This show is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The show started promptly at 8:00 with no opener, (who needs an opening act for these guys?!). The band members ran out on the stage first and then the magic words “Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Ringo Starr!”  The crowd went crazy, everyone was on their feet, and I am not ashamed to admit I may have shed a tear or two.  Ringo is 83 years old, but you would never know.  For the next 2 plus hours he danced, sang, played drums and never, not once did he stop smiling.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time that I saw a show where every single band member was clearly having the time of their lives.

The set started with Matchbox, a Carl Perkins cover, It Don’t Come Easy (a Ringo song) and What Goes On (The Beatles).  Then the genres began shifting.  We were treated to Edgar Winter jamming Free Ride, which he clearly thoroughly enjoyed, as did the audience. Another little genre switch and Steve Lukather led the group with the classic Toto song Rosanna, sounding as fresh and new as the year it was written.

Ringo was on the drums for these songs, and it was like being transported back in time.  He looked the same as he did 60 years ago when he was playing with The Beatles. He never missed a beat.

Then it was Hamish Stuart’s turn.  For me, this was the biggest surprise of the night.  He launched into his instrumental “Pick Up the Pieces” from his time with Average White Band.  I will just say now that I would have bet money before the show that I never heard this song.  And I would have lost.  If you think you have not heard this song, please stop now, Google it, and then come back.  I’ll wait. ………

The saxophone plating could be felt in your soul.  But the best part was Mr. Stuart himself.  He made me want to run up on stage and dance.  He was engaging, laughing, almost flirting with the audience.  But we were just getting warmed up!  We went right from 1974 jazz-funk into 1980s “new wave” pop rock with Colin Hay launching into the iconic Men At Work song, Down Under.  Every single person was singing along at this point. 

Ringo then performed Boys (The Shirelles) and his own song I’m the Greatest before jumping into what we were all waiting for – Yellow Submarine.  What an absolute treat.

Ringo then took a short break and Hamish led the rest of the group on Cut the Cake.  Edgar Winter then gave us a quick music history lesson by informing us that he himself had designed the keyboard strap that you sometimes see performers wearing like a guitar, and he was the first person in musical history to wear it on stage.  He then donned said synthesizer strap for what else but the synth heavy classic Frankenstein.

Ringo then returned for the second half of the show.  Can you believe we are barely halfway through this magic carpet ride of a night? He jumped right into Octopus’s Garden, a personal favorite guilty pleasure of mine that my husband has always teased me about.  However, he was on his feet singing as well.

The concert got more energetic and surprising with each song. The jumping from band to band and genre to genre suited my ADD perfectly, as you never knew what was coming next.  So many classics followed, including Overkill (Men at Work), Africa (Toto), Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry cover), Who Can It Be Now (Men at Work), Hold The Line (Toto) and finishing up with the Beatles classic With a Little Help From My Friends morphed with snippets of Whole Lotta Love (Led Zepplin) and Give Peace a Chance (john Lennon).  Yes, you read that correctly.  To say that this entire show was mind blowing would be an understatement.  This was not a concert where people started leaving near the end.  Everyone wanted every second of this legendary set that they could get.  Even when the band left the stage, people just stayed and mingled. 

We were, after all, all family.