{"id":55057,"date":"2026-10-10T16:44:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=55057"},"modified":"2026-10-10T16:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:44:25","slug":"ringo-starr-all-his-starr-band-mgm-music-hall-9-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2026\/10\/10\/ringo-starr-all-his-starr-band-mgm-music-hall-9-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Ringo Starr & All His Starr Band @ MGM Music Hall 9\/30"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photos by Mina Jones<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Review by Kainat Deo<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Wednesday was an inconspicuous weekday for many Bostonians, likely made up of the typical traffic-jammed commute, a lazily thrown-together midweek dinner and emails scheduled to send before settling into stress-soaked covers. However, for others, a timeless mission of peace dictated their evening, led by former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sir Richard Starkey, known to the world as \u201cRingo,\u201d took the stage at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, bringing together all different walks of life. Showgoers, packed body-to-body and brimming with excitement, reflected the sheer influence of the Beatles across age categories: those needing canes to stand swayed with the night\u2019s music alongside high school and college students who jumped at the beat with painted signage and long hair bouncing. Throughout the evening, peace signs decorated the audience, channeling John Lennon and Ringo\u2019s \u201cpeace and love\u201d slogan, popularized during the 1960s anti-war movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 86 years old, Ringo brought an impressively youthful energy to his performance, putting together a nearly two-hour setlist for the evening. The show kicked off with a loudly exclaimed \u201cAre you ready?\u201d leading into Ringo\u2019s 1973 solo song \u201cIt Don\u2019t Come Easy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ringo, jumping between the drum set and microphone, sometimes both at the same time,\u00a0 throughout the evening, was accompanied by members of his All Starr Band: Steve Lukather of Toto on guitar, Colin Hay of Men at Work on guitar and vocals, Hamish Stuart of Average White Band on bass, Gregg Bissonette on drums, Buck Johnson of Aerosmith on keyboard and Warren Ham of Kansas on saxophone, bongos, harmonica and an assortment of other nonstandard instruments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The night\u2019s second song played was Toto\u2019s Grammy-winning \u201cRosanna,\u201d featuring a show-unique harmonica solo from Ham and a guitar solo from Lukather. Ringo\u2019s selection of tracks spotlights the pioneering musical contributions of his band members, affording concertgoers a curated throwback experience. Although the tour is officially advertised with Ringo front and center, he assumed the classic role of a drummer when behind his kit, suave and unflappable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ringo assumed his position as drummer for Average White Band\u2019s \u201cPick Up the Pieces\u201d and Men at Work\u2019s \u201cDown Under,\u201d with Colin Hay jokingly sharing, \u201cIf you would have said 20 years ago that I would be on tour with Ringo Starr… I would have said I can envision that!\u201d The whole audience came together to chant the lyrics for the aforementioned Men at Work song, a timeless tune recognized by fans and nonfans alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this guy named John [Lennon]. One day we were sitting in the studio, and he goes, \u201cRingo, this one is for you,\u201d Ringo said, grabbing the mic in preparation for one of the night\u2019s standout tracks, \u201cYellow Submarine.\u201d Hands soared through the venue; those there with partners turned inwards to dance with one another and Ringo jumped around the stage. As the energy dwindled, Ringo slunk behind the stage, telling showgoers it was time for his tea break. In the meantime, Stuart led the performance of \u201cCut the Cake,\u201d giving the audience \u201ca little slice of 1975.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reemerging, Ringo led the band in performing the sole self-written track from the Beatles\u2019 iconic 1969 album \u201cAbbey Road,\u201d \u201cOctopus\u2019s Garden.\u201d Throughout the Beatles\u2019 discography, it is a known trend that Ringo either wrote or led the vocals on at least one track per album, an effort to showcase the typically unpretentious image. Waltzing back to his kit, the band performed Toto\u2019s \u201cAfrica,\u201d Average White Band\u2019s \u201cWork To Do\u201d and the Beatles\u2019 \u201cI Wanna Be Your Man,\u201d on which Ringo simultaneously played the drums and sang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The evening was initially concluded with \u201cWith a Little Help from My Friends,\u201d from the Beatles\u2019 \u201cSgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band,\u201d with chants from the audience reverberating throughout the venue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeace and love everybody!\u201d exclaimed Ringo as he scurried behind the curtains. <\/span><\/p>\n

The All Starr band riffed amongst themselves for a few minutes before Ringo reemerged, delivering a powerful outro performance of \u201cGive Peace A Chance\u201d by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In lieu of applause, peace signs erupted across the audience in remembrance of a mission transcendent of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mark Kerekes, a showgoer from Minnesota, shared his perspective, likely echoed by most present that evening: \u201c[Ringo] is a special person; we need people like that more than ever. [He is] truly a kind musician who brings people, including some of the finest musicians, together.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photos by Mina Jones   Review by Kainat Deo Wednesday was an inconspicuous weekday for many Bostonians, likely made up of the typical traffic-jammed commute, a lazily thrown-together midweek dinner and emails scheduled to send before settling into stress-soaked covers. However, for others, a timeless mission of peace dictated their evening, led by former Beatles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26199,"featured_media":55060,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1895,1525,1523,15,1530,1],"tags":[1920,2785,2786],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55057"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55143,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55057\/revisions\/55143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}