This was quite a show! Much better than what I had anticipated. If it comes to your town, be sure to catch it.
Ringo thrills sell-out crowd at The Kirbytimesleader.com/news/local/554075/ringo-thrills-sell-out-crowd-at-the-kirbyWILKES-BARRE — Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band didn’t disappoint the sell-out crowd at the F.M. Kirby Center Tuesday night,
taking them on a sing-along journey back in time, and they knew all the words.
With peace signs flashing throughout the night, the crowd reveled in the songs of The Beatles, Journey, Santana, Toto, Mr. Mister and Todd Rundgren.
When Ringo, who will be 76 in July, walked on stage wearing a red coat and black pants, the crowd jumped to its feet as he opened with "Matchbox".
“Are you ready to have some fun?” Ringo asked the crowd. “Are you ready to listen to some good music? That’s what it’s all about.”
Ringo then sang “It Don’t Come Easy” as the crowd again sang along. After four songs, Ringo took his familiar seat at the drums as Rundgren broke into “I Saw the Light.”
“This will be the biggest love-fest you will experience all summer,” Rundgren said. “We will be pumping out the love tonight — we’re a love machine.”
The onslaught of hit after hit kept coming: “Evil Ways,” “Rosanna,” “Kyrie,” “Bang the Drum All Day,” and on and on.
“Here’s one from that other band I used to be with,” Ringo said, as he offered, “Boys.” When it was over, Ringo said, “Some people have very long memories.”
And that’s what this concert was about for many people attending — memories. When Ringo did “Yellow Submarine,” the Kirby was rocking.
More hits followed: “Black Magic Woman,” “You’re Sixteen (You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine),” “I Wanna Be Your Man,” “Love is the Answer,”
“Broken Wings,” “Hold the Line, and “Act Naturally.”
Ringo ended the two-hour concert with “Photograph” and “A Little Help From My Friends.”
Mary and Tim Young of New Jersey brought their daughter, Emily Rose, 14, to see Ringo. Emily Rose and her mom sang along to most of the songs.
“We loved it,” Mary said. “We wanted to see him, and this was an amazing concert.”
Her husband said they had seen Ringo before, but they said the 2016 version of the All-Starr Band was much better this time,
and they raved about the sound system at the Kirby Center.
“It was everything we hoped for,” he said,
Billy Snee, 74 of Wilkes-Barre Township, was in his seat early
waiting for the concert to begin. Snee said he’s a longtime Beatles’ fan and was anxious to see Ringo live.
“I love everything about The Beatles,” Snee said. “Their music, their look, their style — everything. They changed the world.”
And with only two of the Fab Four still living — Paul McCartney is the other; George Harrison and John Lennon have passed —
Snee said there may not be too many more times to see a Beatle performance.
“This is a special night for sure,” he said.
Dave and Mary Ann Yonki of Wilkes-Barre were celebrating their anniversary at the concert. Mary Ann said she has always been a Ringo fan.
“He always appealed to me,” she said of Ringo, born Richard Starkey. “My parents wouldn’t let me go see The Beatles when they were at Shea Stadium
in 1964, so I had to see Ringo tonight.”
Mary Ann, 67, said the concert was worth the wait.
“Certain legends are worth the effort to see,” she said.
Wearing two Ringo shirts, a Beatles’ watch, and two Beatles’ bracelets, Linda Marquitz, of Wyoming, saw Ringo in Reading Monday night
and couldn’t wait to see him again in Wilkes-Barre.
“I met Ringo in New York City,” she said. “I waited in line, but when I got to meet him, I couldn’t talk. He said,
‘Hi, I’m Ringo. What’s your name.’ From then, I could talk.”
Marquitz said she thanked Ringo for all the music and all the joy it brought her over the years.
“I just loved to watch him play the drums,” she said. “His hair would fly all around. I really liked that. And The Beatles’ music is timeless.”
Later this year, Marquitz said her granddaughter is taking her to England and to Liverpool, the home of The Beatles.
“We’re going to visit the house where he grew up,” she said.
Sitting in the next to last row in the mezzanine, Tim and Maureen Lavelle, of Scranton, and Andrew and Lois Mallick, of Greenfield Township,
said all they wanted was to see Ringo and hear the music.
“We were all teenagers in the sixties,” Tim Lavelle said. “I guess we’re teenagers tonight again.”
When Richard Page of Mr. Mister sang “Broken Wings,” one of the lines goes “learn to fly again.”
The crowd that came out to see Ringo have never forgotten."
