Ringo Starr played Pier 17

Thirty years after assembling his first ever All-Starr Band, Ringo brought the latest version to lower Manhattan's Pier 17 to gently rock and older crowd back to the glory days of classic rock.

On the same weekend as the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock, Ringo Starr brought his friends to New York to play the hits on a beautiful Sunday evening. As storm clouds parted, the living legend went on the play for two hours, breaking the venue's strict curfew and making sure fans left happy. Rounding out the All-Starr Band on this tour is Gregg Rollie (of Santana and Journey), Steve Lukather (of Toto), Colin Hay (or Men at Work), and Hamish Stuart (and Average White Band), who all played their own hits in addition to the former Beatles' own medley of greatest hits from his time in the Fab Four as well as his own solo numbers. While early versions of the band included members of Cream, Peter Frampton himself, and the Who and set lists could feature some major tracks from the '60s, these days, the band feels a bit more reliant on borrowed nostalgia and while it's fun to hear classics like "Rosanna" and "Africa" played alongside "Down Under" and "Who Can it Be Now?," it doesn't have quite the same punch as seeing John Enwhistle plow into "Boris the Spider" or Jack Bruce unleash some gnarly riffs on "White Room" and "Sunshine of Your Love." Still, hearing the group rock out to Santana's "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va" was thrilling and the Beatles songs all felt a bit like magic. "Don't Pass Me By," "Yellow Submarine," "I Wanna Be Your Man," and the only Lennon/McCartney/Starkey track ever written, "What Goes On," were all testaments to the band's everlasting impression on rock music. Ringo's sense of humor was transparent throughout the night as the legend cracked jokes between songs and kept the night at a light-hearted pace that radiated his mantra of "peace and love." It was about as classic as shows get these days, with only one newer song making the set list, otherwise it was hits like the Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" and "Cut the Cake" which provided some excellent instrumental fillers for the evening and really showcased the guys on stage having fun. All in all, Ringo will continue to make the trek out with All-Starr Band as long as he can keep filling seats and judging by a sold-out crowd that withstood an hour ran delay on a Sunday night, it seems like Ringo will be catering to these wishes for quite some time. And he'll keep doing it all with a little help from his friends.


01 "Matchbox"
02 "It Don't Come Easy"
03 "What Goes On"
04 "Evil Ways"
05 "Rosanna"
06 "Pick Up the Pieces"
07 "Down Under"
08 "Boys"
09 "Don't Pass Me By"
10 "Yellow Submarine"
11 "Cut the Cake"
12 "Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen"
13 "You're Sixteen"
14 "Anthem"
15 "Overkill"
16 "Africa"
17 "Work to Do"
18 "Oye como va"
19 "I Wanna Be Your Man"
20 "Who Can It Be Now?"
21 "Hold the Line"
22 "Photograph"
23 "Act Naturally"
24 "With a Little Help From My Friends"