Starrstruck

Last night was the Ringo Starr concert that my friend Nick and I went to. Nick and I were set on getting autographs after the show. I brought my Abbey Road sleeve, and Nick brought his as well, but it looked completely different because it was from a rare box set that his late father had purchased and (of course) never played. We figured it was going to rain, so Nick brought a large plastic bag that we put our record sleeves in.

Before going into the amphitheater at Mizner Park, we cruised around behind the place to see where Ringo et al. would leave after the show. That was where we were going to go after the show. Then we got dropped off and entered. They were frisking everybody going in, and I was worried what would happen if they found my camera, but I hid it and they didn't find it. We got up to our seats, which were in the tenth row. The place was packed. Luckily, it wasn't long before the show started. Ringo sang the first few songs, and then he mostly handed it over to the others.

Included in Ringo's All-Starr Band were Richard Marx, Billy Squier, Hamish Stuart, Rod Argent, Sheila E., and Edgar Winter. The only one I had heard of besides Ringo was Rod Argent, who was the keyboardist from the '60s British rock group The Zombies ("She's Not There," "Tell Her No," "Time of the Season"). He looked like my fifth-grade math teacher. She's a bit worse for the wear. Later, though, I realized that I had heard of someone else: One time in class, my sixth-grade English teacher put on a song by Richard Marx. During the show, the name just came back to me. I don't think he played the song that I heard in class, or I would have remembered that too.

I think Edgar Winter was the only person who played more than one instrument; he excelled at the saxophone, keyboard, and drums. Richard Marx and Billy Squier were great guitarists, and Hamish Stuart, who didn't really have any of the spotlight, did a cool bass solo. Sheila E., who joined Ringo on the drums, was amazing. I've never seen anyone hit anything so fast. It's no wonder she had to leave toward the end of the show due to heat exhaustion. Nick later said that he was so inspired by Ringo and Sheila that he wanted to play the drums in our new band like he did in our old one.

Of course, the biggest pleasure was getting to see Ringo Starr with my own two eyes. Earlier that day, I had watched him in A Hard Day's Night, and now there I was in his presence. I could hardly believe it, of course, and I'm sure Nick couldn't either. Seeing a Beatle! One of the highlights, by the way, was Ringo singing "Never Without You," his own tribute to George. (I still can't believe George is dead.) Even as it started to rain, nothing could keep my spirits down. It rained and rained and rained. I was drenched but happy.

The show ended with Ringo singing "With a Little Help from My Friends," and the two and a half hours that had passed seemed like two and a half minutes. We got out of there as fast as we could, which wasn't very fast considering there were a ton of people also getting out. Then we headed out back to where Ringo would be leaving from. A security guard told us to go away ("across the street" is what he actually said), so we walked down the sidewalk back and forth until we found some bushes to hide behind.

It was definitely suspicious hiding behind bushes and watching the stage door, so I suggested we move to the median on the street, where two men had been standing. They were apparently fans also. We went to stand next to them, and sure enough, they were talking about Beatles songs. After a few minutes, a security guard (probably the same one as before) said to us that Ringo and the others (except Sheila E.) had sped away in a van a minute and a half after the show ended. Nick and I went home disappointed and wet (it was still raining) but still happy to have seen one of our musical heroes live in concert.

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