A Night with a Beatle
July 24, 2012
by — Posted in Event Reviews
I don’t think I could be a fan of the ‘60s era without loving the Beatles. In fact, I don’t think I could be alive and not love the Beatles. So I was pretty excited when I had a chance to go see Ringo Starr and his All “Starr” band at the Greek Theatre this past weekend.
It was a perfect summer evening to see a show nestled in the trees of Griffith Park. Ringo was in full effect and it’s hard to believe he’s 72. He looks a man of age 50 and has the energy of a little kid, smiling widely, telling jokes and doing his boppy, swinging arm dance, punctuating his between-song banter with shouts of “peace and love!” I adored him!
His All “Starr” band included Todd Rundgren, Toto’s Steve Lukather, Santana/Journey keyboardist Gregg Rolie, Mr. Mister singer/bassist Richard Page, drummer Gregg Bissonette and sax player/percussionist Mark Rivera.
Ringo took turns sharing frontman duties with the rest of his band, who each got a chance to bust out some of their best hits. And there were a few surprises, firstly, Joe Walsh who came out and did a down ‘n’ dirty version of “Rocky Mountain Way,” and then the finale when Ringo called on a “little help from his friends” and was joined on stage by Peter Frampton, Jeff Lynne, Edgar Winter, Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, Gary Wright, Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum and others.
All-in-all it was such a joyful night. I must say, now I know why these songs are classic hits – I knew them all and had a really good time singing along!
Tags: Beatle, Greek Theatre, Gregg Bissonette, Gregg Rolie, Guns N' Roses, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, Mark Rivera, Matt Sorum, Micky Dolenz, Monkees, Peter Frampton, Richard Page, Ringo Starr, Steve Lukather, Todd Rundgren, Toto, Velvet Revolver