Ringo Uncasville 2/19 (Friday Night)

This is more an addendum to what others have written, than an actual review. Living a mere 5 minutes from the casino, (The middle of nowhere as others have observed. The middle of SE Connecticut, a pretty cool place to live for the initiated.) we were lucky enough to be clued in on the first day of ticket sales and landed 3rd row directly in front of OH. Also have to confess that the highlight of the experience for me was the opportunity to take my 5 year old son Nicholas to his first concert. It was a double dip for him, he has always loved Ringo, (both for songs like Yellow Submarine, but predominantly because he used to be Mr. Conductor on "Shining Time Station!" Dont know if that's a compliment or not.) But like his dad, the real focus of his evening was a chance to see Todd. When the band took the stage Nicholas shouted out "Hi Todd" and when Todd looked down with a smile and a "hang loose" hand sign Nicholas was hooked. Just imagine his face when the band hit that first chord of "It Don't Come Easy." I wouldn't trade the experience of sitting there with my son on my lap watching him watch the show for anything. Enough personal crapola. As has been stated elsewhere, I want to kind of emphasize the point that it really seemed that a large portion of the crowd was keyed in on Todd this night. Don't know what it was like at other venues, but between Nicholas and the guy 6 or 8 rows behind me bellowing TODD, (or Utah as noted) Todd finally resorted to putting his finger to his lips (Shhhhh) and saying "You guys are gonna get me fired!" While admitting that personal bias could have colored my perception, it did seem that Todd received the lionshare of the crowds appreciation. Another tidbit for Lin is that he is right on as far as amplification, but it was not "naked." Todd did indeed have some sort of effects processor and foot controls (which his sunglasses made it impossible for him to see.) He kinda laughed when I shouted that he could have seen the pedals if he woulda given the shades to Conan O'Brien as requested. It was indeed great being able to watch Todd focus on his guitar playing (from 12 feet away) but have to admit that my son was the star of the show for me. He even scored a pick!
Greg Hamby