Tag Archives: Music Legends

Avril Lavigne Announces the ‘Greatest Hits Tour’

Today, eight-time GRAMMY®-nominated diamond-certified icon Avril Lavigne announced her 2024 headline tour across North America, Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits. Produced by Live Nation, the 27-date tour will see Avril perform her biggest songs to-date including the RIAA 3x platinum-certified “Complicated,” the 2x platinum-certified “Sk8er Boi,” the 2x platinum-certified “Girlfriend,” the platinum-certified “Here’s To Never Growing Up,” and many more from her record-smashing catalog.

The Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits tour kicks off on Wednesday, May 22 in Vancouver, BC at Rogers Arena, with stops in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Toronto, Charlotte, Chicago and more before wrapping up on Monday, Sept 16 in Edmonton, AB at Rogers Place. All Time Low and Simple Plan will join Avril on select dates throughout the tour as special guests and direct support, with Royal & the Serpent and Girlfriends joining select dates as opening acts.

Avril Lavigne Greatest Hits Tour dates

View List of Tour Dates

TICKETS: Tickets will be available starting with an Artist presale beginning on Wednesday, January 24 at 10 AM local time. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, January 26 at 10 AM local time at ticketmaster.com.

VIP: The tour will also offer a variety of different VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but may include premium tickets, invitation to the SK8ER BOI Hospitality Lounge, specially designed merch bundle, and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

Beyond selling 50 million albums worldwide with 12.5 million units sold in the U.S alone, Avril’s live performance prowess has been widely praised throughout her storied, two-decade career:

EPIC.” – Alternative Press

“Avril Lavigne proved she is STILL POP PUNK’S PRINCESS” – Chicago Tribune

“After all of these years, Avril still has one of the BEST AND MOST VERSATILE VOICES IN THE INDUSTRY.” – Twin Cities Media

ENERGETIC and… EMPOWERING FUN” – The Oakland Press

DEAFENING SCREAMS FROM THE FANS in attendance greeting her Grammy-nominated hit, ‘Complicated.’ The overwhelming reaction and boisterous sing-a-long MADE IT SEEM LIKE THE SONG ARRIVED IN 2022, NOT 2002.” – Times-Columnist

 “While it’s her hits that made Avril Lavigne pop-punk royalty, it’s the PRODUCTION OF HER SHOW that cements that status.” – The Upcoming

 “It felt like Lavigne had never left. Her voice had new depth and power, but her performance was just as BOUNCY, ENERGETIC AND FUN as in the past…Fans seemed to connect with Lavigne from the show’s first notes and NEVER LET UP.” – RIFF Magazine

In addition to the North American Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits tour, Avril is gearing up for a run of UK and European performances this summer including festivals like Rock For People on June 14 in Hradec, Czechia; Nova Rock Festival on June 15 in Nickelsdorf, Austria;  Pinkpop Festival on June 21 in Landgraaf, Netherlands; Hurricane Festival on June 22 in Schnee, Germany; and Madcool Festival on July 13 in Madrid, Spain; as well as two special UK headline shows at Cardiff Castle on July 2 and Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl on July 3. For more, visit https://avrillavigne.com/.

Avril Lavigne’s Greatest Hits Tour Dates

  • Wed May 22 — Vancouver, BC — Rogers Arena ^
  • Sat May 25 — Auburn, WA — White River Amphitheatre ^
  • Sun May 26 — Ridgefield, WA — RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater ^
  • Tue May 28 — Mountain View, CA — Shoreline Amphitheatre ^
  • Thu May 30 — Inglewood, CA — Kia Forum ^
  • Sat Jun 01 — Las Vegas, NV — MGM Grand Garden Arena ^
  • Sun Jun 02 — Phoenix, AZ — Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre ^
  • Wed Aug 14 — Ottawa, ON — Canadian Tire Centre +
  • Fri Aug 16 — Toronto, ON — Budweiser Stage +
  • Sat Aug 17 — Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC — Festival International de Montgolfières ~
  • Tue Aug 20 — Buffalo, NY — Darien Lake Amphitheater +
  • Wed Aug 21 — Hartford, CT — The XFINITY Theatre +
  • Fri Aug 23 — Holmdel, NJ — PNC Bank Arts Center +
  • Sat Aug 24 — Mansfield, MA — Xfinity Center +
  • Tue Aug 27 — Wantagh, NY — Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater +
  • Thu Aug 29 — Camden, NJ — Freedom Mortgage Pavilion +
  • Sat Aug 31 — Bristow, VA — Jiffy Lube Live +
  • Sun Sep 01 — Charlotte, NC — PNC Music Pavilion +
  • Tue Sep 03 — Alpharetta, GA — Ameris Bank Amphitheatre +
  • Wed Sep 04 — Nashville, TN — Ascend Amphitheater +
  • Fri Sep 06 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH — Blossom Music Center +
  • Sat Sep 07 — Clarkston, MI — Pine Knob Music Theatre +
  • Mon Sep 09 — Milwaukee, WI — American Family Insurance Amphitheater +
  • Tue Sep 10 — Chicago, IL — Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island +
  • Thu Sep 12 — Minneapolis, MN — The Armory +
  • Sat Sept 14 — Winnipeg, MB — Canada Life Centre +
  • Mon Sept 16 — Edmonton, AB — Rogers Place

REVIEW: Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band — a Memorable Evening of Rock ‘N’ Roll Intimacy at Celebrity Theatre (5-20-23)

PHOENIX — Thinking of the history of popular music, especially rock ‘n’ roll history, I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of people who were “there.” Every legendary artist started small, as even the biggest artists of all time had those early shows before it all blew up, and inexplicably there were people — average everyday people — who were lucky enough to be “there” to see those struggling performers before they turned into superstars.  

Still walking around are those who saw Elvis play local shows in Memphis, Bob Dylan play coffee houses in New York or, most mind-blowing of all to me, The Beatles play The Cavern Club in Liverpool. For the rest of us, those artists existed bigger than life, playing the biggest stages in the world. Unless you were one of those lucky individuals in The Cavern Club, or The Star Club in Hamburg, they only existed as mega stars, playing the biggest venues the 60’s had to offer. 

We would never get as close or as intimate as those lucky individuals who were there for those early days before they were legends, that is unless you were lucky enough to catch Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band at Celebrity Theatre on one of two nights at their Phoenix stop on the tour. The Celebrity Theatre is a rare wonder that has no such thing as a “bad seat,” with its smaller intimate setting in the round with a rotating stage dead-center. It is certainly the most up-close anyone is likely to get to any of these legends since they first began their careers in bars and small clubs. 

Celebrity Theatre’s illuminated sign welcoming concertgoers to the sold out Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band show on 5-20-23
Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

Ringo Starr and His All-Star Band

The “All-Starr Band” concept was originally conceived in 1989 by Ringo, with the idea that he would put together a band, not just of professional hired guns to help him perform many of his hits across his storied career from The Beatles to his many incredible solo records, but instead pack the band with fellow legendary performers who also had a bottomless well of hits from which to pull. 

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

Over the years, the Ringo’s All-Starr Band has included members of The Band, Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, The Eagles, The Who, Dr. John, Todd Rundgren, Peter Frampton, and the “fifth Beatle” Mr. Billy Preston. This, the 15th iteration of Ringo’s All-Starr Band, included Edgar Winter, Hamish Staurt from Average White Band, Steve Lukather from Toto, and Colin Hay from Men at Work. The band is rounded out with Warren Ham who has played with Kansas and Toto (nice pairing) on saxophone, flute, and keyboards and Gregg Bissonette, who has played with seemingly everyone (seriously, look him up) on all things percussion. 

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

What of course makes the All-Starr Band so fun is that any given member could step up to the microphone and have enough hits at their disposal to play the show all by themselves. All of this results in a kind of jamboree of fun, as members take turns stepping into the spotlight for a song, only to then pass the spotlight to the next member, as the show rotates around the already rotating stage (if you’ve never been to the Celebrity Theatre, you need to get there for a show). 

Steve Lukather, Warren Ham, Ringo Starr
Steve Lukather, Warren Ham, & Ringo Starr
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

Ringo opened the show with a raucous cover of Carl Perkins’ “Matchbox,” a staple of The Beatles early live shows and later showing up as a single off of the Long Tall Sally EP. It was followed by “It Don’t Come Easy,” arguably Ringo’s most soulful vocal performance from his solo records. After blazing through “What Goes On” from The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, Ringo seceded the spotlight and moved to the drums. 

Ringo Starr (Vocalist, Drummer)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

This began what makes the All-Starr Band concept so much fun every time: each performer taking turns stepping up to the microphone to perform one of their own hits. Leading off was Edgar Winter who played his now 51-year-old hit “Free Ride,” which sounded as fresh and fun that night as it did the first time any of us played it in our cars with the windows down and the volume up.

Edgar Winter
Edgar Winter (Vocalist, Keyboardist)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

This was followed by Steve Lukather leading the band through “Roseanna,” with the crowd spiritedly singing along and pumping their fist in time with the chord changes, Hamish Stuart playing a ripping version of Average White Band’s “Pick Up the Pieces,” and Colin Hay taking the band through an extended version of Men At Work’s hit “Down Under” that included a fun call-and-respond with the crowd. “I wrote this song in forty minutes, and it’s sustained me for forty years,” he told the crowd prior to starting the song. 

Steve Lukather
Steve Lukather (Vocalist, Guitarist)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

At that time, Ringo returned from behind the drum kit for a run through of “Boys,” his first vocal performance on The Beatles first album Please, Please Me, “I’m the Greatest” from Ringo (a song written for him by John Lennon), and “Yellow Submarine,” which a quick scan of the theatre revealed that every generation of fan in attendance — from those who were there from the start with The Beatles to little kids who have since grown up with the band through their parents and grandparents love for them — was joyfully and exuberantly singing along. Following this, as the crowd was still on their feet, cheering and clapping, Ringo waved to the audience and left the stage. “Don’t worry. He’ll be back,” Edgar Winter playfully reassured the crowd. 

Ringo Starr (Vocalist, Drummer)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

With Ringo gone, the band performed Average White Band’s “Cut the Cake,” the title track from their third album. “I’m going to hand it over to Edgar Winter now to unleash the beast,” he said at the song’s closing. Winter’s performance of instrumental classic “Frankenstein” allowed the band to have fun on what turned out to be a jam session that impressively highlighted the drumming skills of Gregg Bissonette. Throughout the song, which stretched to nearly ten minutes, Bissonette worked in drum breaks that steered the song into a range of hits by other artists, including “Come Together” by The Beatles, “Rock ‘N’ Roll” by Led Zeppelin, and appropriately enough, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” — the seventeen-minute Iron Butterfly classic in which the recognizable drumming comes during the lengthy instrumental break in the song. By the end of the jam, Bissonette, very deservedly, got one of the biggest pops from the crowd. 

Gregg Bissonette
Gregg Bissonette (Drummer)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

Ringo returned to the stage, and before going into “Octopus’s Garden” (rivaling “Yellow Submarine” for one of the most crowd-pleasing moments of the night), he introduced each member of the band, heaping praise on them as he did. It was followed by his solo hit “Back Off Boogaloo.” Next up was Colin Hay to perform Men at Work’s ode to anxiety “Overkill.”

Colin Hay (Vocalist, Guitarist)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

Every song we’ve played tonight is one you know, but I’d like to debut my 30-minute jazz odyssey,” Steve Lukather joked with the crowd, adding, “If you get really stoned first, you might just get into it,” before launching into “Africa” — Toto’s mega-smash that will live on for generations to come. The performance featured some incredible backing vocals from Colin Hay. 

Ringo Starr (Vocalist, Drummer)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

After going one more round with each performer, including Hamish Stuart with the Isley Brothers’ “Work to Do,” and Ringo playing The Beatles’ “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Edgar Winter took a moment to pay tribute to his brother Johnny Winter before playing “Johnny B. Goode,” a song the brothers used to play together growing up, as they each first learned to play the guitar. It was immediately followed by Colin Hay playing “Who Can It Be Now?” and Steve Lukather on Toto’s  “Hold the Line.”

Hamish Stuart (Vocalist, Bassist) with Colin Hay and Edgar Winter
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

The evening closed as it began, with the tour’s namesake Ringo Starr on vocals for his solo classic “Photograph,” the Johnny Russell hit “Act Naturally”, made famous by Buck Owens and even more famous by The Beatles version on Help!, and finally and very fittingly given the vibe of the tour and the mutual respect and camaraderie amongst the performers, they closed the evening “With a Little Help From My Friends.” As the song came to a close, they shifted to a cover of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” to send the crowd home happy, still singing along in their own acapella as they exited the Celebrity Theatre and out into the warm Phoenix night.

Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr (Vocalist, Drummer)
| Photography:
Mark Greenawalt © All Rights Reserved

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Photographer: Mark Greenawalt

Ringo Starr & His All-Star Band – Celebrity Theatre 5-20-23

Photography © Mark Greenawalt.
All Rights Reserved