Ringo

  When you have a chance to see a Beatle in concert, you have to take it.  Even if it is in an outdoor pavilion in Charlotte in June.  Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, 1992.  I had a cold, but I wasn't going to miss it.  I drove up there with my friends Chris and Del.  

 The band consisted of Ringo, Burton Cummings from The Guess Who, Dave Edmunds from Rockpile, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit from The Eagles, Nils Lofgren from the E Street Band, Todd Rundgren, Tim Cappello, and Zak Starkey.  It was a great collection of artists.  Even though most people came to see Ringo (like us), Joe Walsh and Todd Rundgren stole the show.  Everybody knew how to play to the crowd.  We were sitting kind of far back, but it was so worth it.  I have to admit that I didn't know who a few of the artists were.  I sure found out.  

 Toward the end of the concert, some of my cold medicine started to kick in.  I started to feel a little yucky, but I was driving home.  I was feeling very sleepy, but I didn't tell the others.  All of a sudden, I went to sleep at the wheel and found the car had gone up some steps.  The others woke me up screaming, and I said I was okay.  I drove out of Charlotte and went to sleep again at the wheel.  They screamed again, and my car had run off of the road and almost hit a road sign.  Chris told me he was driving us home.  I really didn't like anyone driving my car, but this was an emergency.  I slept all the way back.  

 The concert was great.  The ride home--not so much.  That was okay.  It was a memorable show.