What a treat to finally get to see Ringo Starr in concert. It’s hard to believe that I have seen Paul McCartney 3 times and this is the first time that I have ever seen the other surviving Beatle.

I went to Spokane (just about ½ hour flight from Seattle) as I had missed the show in Seattle the week before due to other priorities. They were performing at the INB Performing Arts Center, which was in the convention center downtown in the river front area…very beautiful. Kind of a cool little theater, with the only problem being a very bouncy wooden floor. I was seated in the last row of the pit (3^rd row from the stage) and it looked like the seats were temporary and not very well secured to the floor. When people were dancing in their seats, it really made the entire section of seats move with them. Made me a little woozy at times. Other than that, there was a lot of room between rows, the seats fit normal size humans, the lighting was good and the sound was great.

So, the thing with Ringo Starr is that he plays (and has for quite some time) with a group of other really great musicians (the All-Starr Band) who come from many different bands and all have extensive music catalogs of their own. The show is made up of the band playing these hit songs. The members are Steve Lukather (guitarist from Toto), Gregg Rolie (Keyboardist from early Santana and early Journey), Todd Rundgren (solo artis as well as guitar and vocals in many bands through the years) and Richard Page (bass player and singer for Mr. Mister). These guys had great chemistry and were all clearly enjoying performing together and had a great deal of respect and admiration for Ringo Starr. Todd Rundgren seemed to have the most energy of the group running from side to side of the stage and jumping around like a crazy person… I hope to have as much energy and love for what I do when I am 69 years old.

Some of the more memorable songs of the night were, I Saw The Light, Bang the Drum All Day and Love is the Answer sang by Todd Rundgren. Steve Lukather had a couple Toto oldies but goodies on the list such as Africa and Hold the Line. I was very impressed with not only Gregg Rolie’s keyboards, but also his incredible voice on Black Magic Woman. Richard Page (who’s name I didn’t recognize) did an incredible job singing and playing Kyrie and Broken Wings, both very big hits from the band Mr. Mister. Of course the highlight of the show were the Beatles and Ringo songs such as Matchbox, It Don’t Come Easy, Boys, Yellow Submarine, You’re Sixteen, I Wanna Be Your Man, Photograph among others. They closed the show with a great rendition of With a Little Help From My Friends and Give Peace a Chance. I made a little YouTube video compilation and added it below.

I would definitely go to see them again.