Something magical happened last night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Something way beyond just having an ex-Beatle in the house. This show went far beyond all that…
Ringo Starr brought his All Starr Band and a truckload of great tunes into Penticton and rolled them all out onto the arena wide stage in front of an energized crowd of fanatical fans that spanned several generations. Lots of Beatles tunes and songs from Starr’s solo career, which has resulted in more than 20 albums, were featured. But as is Ringo’s way with his All Starr Band, tunes from each of his band mates’ previous groups were included in a set that ran over 2 hours without an intermission.
Starr opened with Matchbox from the Beatles catalog and then went straight into It Don’t Come Easy, easily one of his biggest hits as a solo artist. The crowd was still on their feet from Starr’s entrance and would get back up over and over again throughout the night. His charm is undeniable, as is his obvious comfort on the stage. His insane ability to pull together incredible bands and have them deliver epic shows was unmistakeably apparent to the thousands that gathered at the Okanagan’s crown jewel of concert venues.
Ex Santana organist Greg Rollie chopped his way through several of that group’s biggest hits from the time he was a member, including Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen and Oye Como Va. Steve Lukather more than covered Carlos Santana’s guitar solos, inserting much of his own personality while still showing serious respect for the original. Toto, Lukather’s super group of studio cats from the 80s, was well represented with Rosanna, Africa, and Hold the Line being played with intensity and precision. Throughout the evening, Lukather effortlessly and seamlessly switched between playing with incredible control and total and complete reckless abandon. He was and still is a guitar god. Interestingly, the best solo of the night may have come from Warren Ham on soprano sax on Toto’s Africa. After singing tasty, soulful and powerful background vocals earlier in the song,Ham took center stage and played an extended solo that left this reviewer in stunned silence. Virtuosic and then some. A complete journey to someplace you’d never been before with a smooth take off, exhilarating scenery along the way and a perfect landing. This reviewer would love to have the board tape of that one.
Bassist and vocalist Richard Page from Mr. Mister sang some of their songs such as Kyrie and Broken Wings and did so at a level that matched everything else being offered up. Todd Rundgren also laid down some great groove on guitar, took a couple short solos, and sang a massively expressive version of Love Is The Answer. This show kept dipping into the rich and deep pools of each of the band members’ pasts, and coating it all with their ridiculously high levels of musicianship and packaged it all in a straight forward, unpretentious package that almost felt at times like a bunch of music buddies just hanging out in someone’s garage and playing their favorite tunes. Of course, it was a very big garage with insanely good musicians and an incredible sound system, but if you’re a musician, you get what I’m trying to say.
The interplay between Ringo Starr when he was behind the kit and drumming superstar Gregg Bissonette was very interesting. One or the other would be working the hats while his counterpart would cover the toms, the snare, and the rest of the metal. This is a huge understatement of what the two were up to, but it was fun to watch.
So many great songs from several vastly different decades musically, played with such passion and perfection by what back in the 70s and 80s would have been called a “super group” more than exceeded the expectations of an enraptured audience and sent everyone home not sure what they had just not only witnessed, but experienced as a collective whole. A very short encore version of John Lennon’s Give Peace a Chance served to bring everyone to a place of calm and left them on a perfect note to head home after what will have been an unforgettable night. Perfect score on whatever scale you want to use.