RINGO AND HIS ALL STARR BAND AT CASINO RAMA

Ringo has decided for the first time to tour with the same All Starr Band members from a previous trek — in this case 2012 — and it paid off for the onetime Beatle drummer, who launched his latest North American tour on Friday night at Casino Rama.

The end result was a looser, jammier, longer show in recent memory with the 73-year-old Starr and his bandmates — singer-guitarist Steve Lukather (Toto), singer-bassist Richard Page (Mr. Mister), singer-organist Gregg Rolie (Santana, Journey), singer-guitarist Todd Rundgren (Utopia, The New Cars) & second drummer Gregg Bissonette along with newest member and multi-instrumentalist-backing singer Warren Ham - stretching out and really seeming to enjoy their two hour set.

The energy was infectious.

Ringo was, of course, the show’s undisputed star as he launched the show with Matchbox, previously covered by the Beatles, before delving into solo songs like the classic It Don’t Come Easy and Wings, the latter from his last solo album, Ringo 2012.

“Thanks all three of you for buying it,” he joked later in the evening when he trotted out another tune from that disc called Anthem.

But vocally it was Page who had the strongest pair of lungs on such Mr. Mister hits as Kyrie, Broken Wings, and a new song, You Are Mine (reminiscent of Paul Simon or James Taylor's warm sound), which he said Starr was gracious enough to let him play.

“Because I’m crazy,” Ringo deadpanned.

Starr eventually climbed up to his drums on an elevated riser in the middle of the stage and handed the first non-Ringo/Beatles song off to Rundgren and I Saw the Light and so it went for the rest of the night with each musician-singer taking his turn in the spotlight with their respective hits.

Rolie had some of the biggest crowdpleasers with such Santana songs as Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va, while Lukather handle the guitar solos and eventually lead vocals on Toto hits like Roseanna (after a shaky start), Africa - which got the entire crowd on its feet for the first time - and Hold The Line, which he quizzically described as “a good ole Canadian drinking song!”

Rundgren also roused fans with Bang On The Drum All Day and Love Is the Answer while Starr’s biggest moments at the halfway mark were such Beatles tunes as Boys, Don’t Pass Me By - “the first song I ever wrote,” as he explained - and Yellow Submarine.

“If you don’t the words to this song, you’re at the wrong venue, you’re waiting for Led Zeppelin!” said Starr of the latter.

He also scored major points later with the Beatles’ I Wanna Be Your Man, and the show-ending With A Little Help From My Friends/Give a Peace A Chance even if the crowd was pretty evenly divided among vocally enthusiastic female and male fans, who eventually gathered at the front as the concert wrapped up.

“It always gets weird when it’s a deep voice,” joked Ringo.

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SET LIST:

• Matchbox
• It Don’t Come Easy
• Wings
• I Saw The Light
• Evil Ways
• Roseanna
• Kyrie
• Bang on The Drum All Day
• Boys
• Don’t Pass Me By
• Yellow Submarine
• Black Magic Woman
• Honey Don’t
• Anthem
• You Are Mine
• Africa
• Oye Como Va
• Love is the Answer
• I Wanna Be Your Man
• Broken Wings
• Hold The Line
• Photograph
• Act Naturally
• With A Little Help From My Friends/Give a Peace A Chance