“It’s always weird when I’m at CVS, in line to pick up my medication, and I hear one of my songs playing on the speaker. I want to yell out, ‘I’m a grammy-award winning, platinum album artist!’ But instead I just say, 6/29/1953, please,” joked Colin Hay, guitarist from Men at Work, in between songs. Eliciting laughs from the older members of the audience, Hay’s joke was representative of the universally warm atmosphere that permeated the Anthem for Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band’s 15th tour performance on September 17th, 2024.
On Tuesday night The Anthem’s seats were completely filled; fans old and young gathered to enjoy Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band and take a trip down memory lane. After a brief wave to the crowd, the band opened right at 8pm with “Matchbox,” immediately stirring members of the audience to stand up and sing along. The concert had officially begun.
“It Don’t Come Easy,” a song from Starr’s solo career, followed “Matchbox” with Starr singing front and center on the mic. After his song, Starr introduced Toto’s Steve Lukather and the band sprang into “Rosanna,” with Lukather on the guitar and lead vocals and Starr back on the drums. Warren Ham, the multi-instrumentalist also from Toto, stunned audiences with solos on the harmonica and alto-saxophone and shone through as a consistent star throughout the show.
Ham especially showed off his expertise during Average White Band’s “Pick up the Pieces,” the almost four minute instrumental piece that launched AWB into stardom. Ham’s practically four minute solo in another band’s song perfectly showcased the magic of Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band — getting together the best rock and roll musicians to have fun and play with their talents, using hit songs from the 70s as their medium.
After Men at Work’s Colin Hay’s introduction, in which he shared laughs with the older audience while telling his CVS story, the momentum continued with “Down Under,” the first song in the concert that was unanimously shouted by everyone in the audience. “Boys” and “I’m the Greatest” followed, then, after a bit of teasing, the audience was treated to the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” with Starr back on the mic. Love for Starr was evident throughout the show, with shouts of “We love you, Ringo!” accompanying almost every pause between songs.
Starr took a brief intermission for a quick costume change and “a cup of tea” after “Octopus’s Garden.” While waiting for Starr’s return, the audience was treated to famous rock instrumentals by percussionist Gregg Bissonette, who teased more 80’s hits like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and Van Halen’s “Hot for Teacher.”
Starr returned sporting a black shirt with a large bedazzled peace sign on the front, with matching bohemian holographic designs lighting up the screen behind him. The second half of the show was hit after hit; Toto’s “Africa”, Men at Work’s “Overkill” and “Who Can It Be Now?,” and The Beatles’ “I Wanna Be Your Man” were all met with raucous applause from the audience, with “Africa” especially rousing the already standing audience. The live version of each song sounded even better than the recorded ones; the strength in each member’s vocals and their musical talent seemed only to grow over time. Also brilliantly evident was the joy emanating from each musician, each of whom appeared to be having as much fun as their gleefully singing and clapping audience.
The band rounded the final bend with another song from Starr’s solo career, “Photographs,” setting the tone for a warm, nostalgic finish. The last song of the evening was “With a Little Help from My Friends,” (“If you don’t know this next song, you’re in the wrong venue,” Starr joked) accompanied by soft, warm colors and floating flowers on the projector screen. By the end of the song both the band and the audience had begun swaying back and forth, every soul in the venue singing along with all their might. After a quick bow, the band returned for their encore, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Give Peace a Chance,” a song not originally on their set list but very fitting for a performance in the nation’s capital a mere few months before the election.
Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band’s stop at DC’s the Anthem attracted a varied audience — young and old, Beatles fans and Toto fans and Ringo fans, families and single concertgoers — yet undoubtedly left each and every one of them feeling as if they’d witnessed something magical. The musical finesse of each musician delivered, of course, but even more wonderful was the pure joy filling the concert, both to and from the band and audience. “Isn’t it amazing to get to do what you love with your best friends?” one concertgoer was overheard as saying leaving the Anthem. No where else will one find grandparents and their grandchildren alike dancing to the same song; such is the timeless magic of Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band.
For the full setlist of the September 17th performance at the Anthem: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/18KcBH71CjxxuV7w59rgdG?si=50d296479b7c42e0
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