Words & Photos by Rod Snyder
Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band made their way back to Philadelphia on just their third show of his 2025. His band includes long time members Colin Hay, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette, Steve Lukather and Warren Ham, plus, added into the fold as of 2024, Buck Johnson. Ringo Starr released his 21st album – and first country album – “Look Up” in January 2025, but only the title track was performed this evening.
The show started off with local broadcasting legend, Larry Kane. Kane has a personal history with the Beatles that goes back to 1964/65 – he was the only broadcast journalist to travel to every stop on their 1964 and 1965 tour. It was nice to hear old stories of the early careers of the band.
The show started about 7:30 and went on for almost 2 hours. The All Starrs weaved in and out of Ringo, the Beatles, Toto, Average White Band, Men at Work and a few other covers. The songs are reworked to fit the band’s format, and there’s plenty of freedom for the band to move around in the songs. Case in point was the extended version of Toto’s “Rosanna”, which featured a nice guitar solo from Toto’s Steve Lukather.
As you’d expect, the musicianship in the band is top notch, which was exemplified through the remainder of the night, ending with a rousing rendition of a Beatles classic. After a joke from Ringo saying. “if you don’t know this song, you’re in the wrong venue and probably waiting for Led Zeppelin” (to which Lukather started riffing “Whole Lotta Love”), the band performed “With a Little Help From My Friends”. The song segued into the chorus of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance”, as Ringo ran offstage and left the band to close out the show.
Ringo is 84 years old, 85 on July 7. He was the oldest Beatle, and its’ hard to believe that he’s still going strong. He was actually doing jumping jacks during the last song too! Ringo and his band have about 17 shows left in the USA and will wrap up later this September in Las Vegas.
“Remember, Peace and Love”
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TheWaster.com | Philadelphia
6.18.25
