With a Little Help From My Friends

Several months ago, Meg called to tell me that she and Mallory got tickets to see Ringo Starr in Clearwater in June.  They were both excited about the trip and I was happy that Meg would finally get to see a Beatle in concert.  The more I thought about them going, the more I wanted to go.  I had been a Beatles fan since middle school, and they had been a large part of the Heinisch family music world especially these past few years.  I also knew that I would never get another chance to see Brett's favorite "Thomas conductor" if I didn't go now.  Ringo would soon turn eighty-five and I realized that he wouldn't tour forever.  Doug wasn't as excited about going to a concert when I first mentioned it, but once he heard how much I wanted to go, he told me to buy the tickets.

Last night was the concert and I had so much fun.  Doug and I met Mallory and Meg for dinner a few blocks from BayCare Sound in downtown Clearwater.  It was a beautiful area with a lot of restaurants and hotels.  The streets were blocked with tables lined up for diners and concertgoers.  We even found free parking in a garage only 0.3 miles from the concert making an easy walk to our event.

The four of us had bought lawn seats and found the perfect spot to lay out our blankets with a great view of the stage.  Mallory and Meg were definitely two of the youngest people in attendance with most guests older than Doug and I, but they didn't seem to mind.  The concert started promptly at 7:30 as Ringo opened the setlist singing Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't."  He not only sang tonight but also played the drums on several songs as musicians from the groups Toto and Average White Band were part of the "All Starr Band" traveling with him.  I absolutely loved it and sang along to every song.  I was impressed that Meg and Mallory knew almost all of them as well.  Photograph was by far my favorite, but Ringo's rendition of Jonny Russell's "Act Naturally" was awesome as well.  Ringo didn't talk about his time with The Beatles very much but did reference the group and John Lennon several times.  As an added bonus to tonight's music guests, he even pulled John Travolta out of the crowd to sing "With a Little Help from My Friends" with him.  Overall, it was a fantastic evening, and I was extremely thankful for the great memories, pictures and concert t-shirt that I got to take home with me.