Ringo and His All Starr Band performs at the BMO Harris Pavilion.
When it was first announced in March that Ringo Starr would be playing the BMO Harris Pavilion at the Summerfest grounds, it was immediately earmarked by many as a highlight of an already busy 2018 full of great local concerts. Ringo and his All Starr Band consisting of Colin Hay from Men At Work, Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Rolie of Santana and Journey, Graham Gouldman of 10cc, Warren Ham, and Gregg Bisonette exceeded expectations on Saturday night with a prompt two-hour set that played like a catalog of greatest hits on shuffle.
Drummer Bisonette is the youngest member of the band at 59 years old. However, seeing the band live, everyone truly was a star(r), technically proficient as ever. Starr brings over a half a century of being a rock star, and the rest of the band have several decades of being on top of their game as well. When it meshes together, as it did on Saturday night, crowds like the jam-packed Pavilion audience eat up song after song. No solo was left untouched.It was like watching a surreal jam session for two hours without a lull.
Ringo’s solo songs, “Photograph”, “Anthem” and “It Don’t Come Easy” made it to the set, Ringo said: “Before joining The Beatles, I had written many songs” he quipped at one point, to follow with “most of them weren’t recorded”. This was also a great time to remind you that Toto and Men At Work had some bangers in their catalog. Ringo was quite spry as well; dancing, swaying, jumping, and even running within the course of the set, in the middle of many, many peace signs to the crowd. There was only a pair of back-to-back songs – 10cc’s “I’m Not In Love” and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”, that Ringo was not on stage, playfully mentioning the songs were “Magical musical moments” to the crowd while he was away.
The night closed on the all-too fitting “With A Little Help From My Friends”, and a touch of “Give Peace A Chance” which became an enthusiastic crowd singalong. Ringo Starr brought plenty of peace and love to the BMO Harris Pavilion, but he also delivered a night full of memorable moments, as well.
