Ringo Starr has added five new stops onto his 2022 All Starr Band tour. The trek now includes two stops in Rama, Ontario; and one each in Canandaigua, New York; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Richmond, Virginia. Americana band the Avett Brothers will open for the group during its two New England dates.
Replacing longtime All Starr keyboardist Gregg Rolie of Santana and Journey fame is returning All Starr, Edgar Winter. Rounding out the 2022 All Starr's are Toto's Steve Lukather, Men At Work's Colin Hay, along with percussionist Warren Ham, drummer Gregg Bissonette, and Hamish Stuart from the Average White Band — and a longtime Paul McCartney sideman.
Ringo Starr said in a statement: “I can’t wait to get back out on the road and play. This is the longest I’ve been off the road in years — up until 2020 I was touring every year with the All Starrs — and I’ve really missed it. Making music in the studio has been great, and it certainly saved me during the pandemic, but nothing beats playing live with great musicians in front of an audience. I love my fans and they love me and it’s going to be wonderful to be peace and loving and playing for them again.”
When we last caught up with Ringo we asked him if he's getting excited to spend another summer onstage criss-crossing North America: “Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It's exciting. Every time I put the All Starr's together, we end up in a room in some country — we like to call it 'rehearsals' and, y'know, we've never played together and it works. We all know what we're supposed to do, we get on with it, and we have a lot of fun. That's the only rule I have; do you wanna have fun in the summer? Then let's go. I'm not here to be tortured.”
One of the ultimate All Starr Band rockers over the years has been Edgar Winter's signature tune and 1973 chart-topper, “Frankenstein.” Winter recalled to us how the song was born out of a pieced-together jam back in the day and named by one of his bandmates when he saw all the session tapes spread out around the room: “Back in those days, the only way to edit anything was by physically cutting the master tape and putting it back together with splicing tape. Chuck (Ruff), the drummer, said, 'Wow, man! It's like Frankenstein!' — drawing the analogy of an arm here, and a leg here, and pasting the thing back together. And I said, 'Wow! That's it!' It has that lumbering, monster sound.”
UPDATED: Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band tour dates (subject to change):
May 27, 28 – Rama, ON – Casino Rama
May 30 – Canandaigua, NY – CMAC
May 31 – Asbury Park, NJ – Paramount Theatre
June 2 – Boston, MA – Boch Center Wang Theatre (with The Avett Brothers)
June 3 – Hanover Theater – Worcester, MA
June 4 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion (with The Avett Brothers
June 6, 7, 8 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
June 10 – Red Bank, NJ – Count Basie Theater
June 11 – Easton, PA – State Theater
June 12 – Providence, RI – Providence PAC
June 14, 15 – Baltimore, MD – The Modell Lyric
June 17 – Lenox, MA – Tanglewood
June 18 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
June 19 – Philadelphia, PA – Metropolitan Theater
Jun 21 – Richmond, VA – Virginia Credit Union Live
June 22 – Atlanta, GA – Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
June 24 – St Augustine, FL – The St. Augustine Amphitheatre
June 25 – Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
June 26 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall