Ron Onesti: Paul, Ringo, Yoko…and me!

"This cannot be happening," I kept saying to myself … over and over and over. I kept singing to myself two songs: the Bad Company hit "Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy," cuz at that moment, that's what I was living; and the Righteous Brothers' "Rock 'N' Roll Heaven" … cuz that's where I was!

My brother Rich and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in its hometown of Cleveland. To say that the experience was surreal would be a gross understatement. What was to happen that night was to go down in the record books as any rock fan's storybook dream night.

But wait … let me start at the beginning because so much more happened that evening!

It all started a few months ago when I visited the Rock Hall & Museum. I am there relatively frequently as a member, and this time I was working out a deal that would allow me to put together a VIP experience there for my friends and customers. The guy from the Hall I was working with told me about this year's inductees, and one of them was going to be Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Ironically, I was producing a corporate show in San Francisco the next week, and I hired Cheap Trick and Joan Jett to perform there. I had worked with her before so when I got there I most excitedly congratulated her and, to my absolute thrill, she invited me to the ceremonies!

So my brother and I got our VIP lanyards (numbers 100 and 101) and made our way to the city where famed disc jockey Alan Freed coined the phrase "rock 'n' roll" in the early '50s. Tickets for this presentation were at a premium ever since the Hall announced Ringo was going to be inducted by Paul McCartney.

We checked in and were given small tickets with a number 4 printed on them. That was JOAN'S table! Being an inductee, her table was the first table in front. There were 10,000 people in attendance, and I was in front! And after I got there, well, that's when the magic started.

I first ran into "Little Stevie" Van Zandt, Silvio on "The Sopranos" and a Rock Hall of Fame inductee member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. We chatted about the reasons the Young Rascals will never do another reunion tour again. At that point, I thought this would be the celebrity experience of the night for me.

Next, I saw "The Killer," Jerry Lee Lewis, sitting with his wife. I said hello and asked him if he had seen Chuck Berry recently, since I did a show with Chuck and Little Richard years ago. He replied, "Chuck doesn't really come to these things like I do; he is a lot older than me!" At that moment, another Hall of Famer, Darlene Love, came to say hello to Jerry. I told her I just had Ronnie Spector at The Arcada and that I would love to do a concert with both of them. "Just call me and I will be there, honey," she said!

I turned around and there were pictures being taken. I moved a bit to see who it was. It was Alice Cooper. I have done several shows with him in the past and he stopped to talk to me. In fact, he remembered the last show we did together. "It was a racetrack in Chicago," I said. He corrected me and said, "No, it was in Cicero." He remembered!

The next group of guys I ran into was Stevie Ray Vaughan's band "Double Trouble," including Stevie's older brother Jimmie Vaughan, who played our Arcada just a few months ago. It was very cool to witness the personal side of these things. As the video of Stevie was played, the family wept and winked at each other. It was a perspective rarely seen by the public. I went over and gave Jimmie a hug.

As I was standing there, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl tapped me on the shoulder to get past me. I kind of belted out, "Dave!" He said "What's up," and we talked about the night a bit and then he took a great picture with me! He was very cool, and quite humble. I reminded him that Mick Jaggar of the Stones said the Foo Fighters was his favorite band! He shook his head, almost humbly embarrassed.

Then, the unimaginable happened! I looked next to Joan Jetts' table and at it was at that moment I realized I was actually standing right next to RINGO STARR! I extended my trembling hand out with no expectations, and he shook it and said, "Hey, how are ya?" We chatted about his manager and a mutual acquaintance of ours. He was so thrilled to be inducted. "I've been waiting by the phone all along," he said. "It's great to join the club!"

What he was referring to was the fact that all four Beatles were inducted as a band, but John, Paul and George were separately inducted as individuals, as well.

Then I bumped into a lady with a stylish white top hat on. She turned around and I nearly dropped to one knee. I said, "Oh my goodness, excuse me … YOKO!" That's right! Yoko Ono! She was quite sweet, smiling and nodding a lot, sporting dark glasses low on her nose, but looking me in the eye. I told her that we at The Arcada Theatre will celebrate John's (Lennon) 75th birthday on Oct. 9. She looked down as the sadness of his tragic demise was still embedded into her expression.

Then John Mayer walked onto the stage to induct Stevie Ray Vaughan. His older brother Jimmie was there on stage with the rest of Double Trouble, Stevie's band. They all jammed performing the Stevie classic "Pride And Joy."

I was standing 10 feet from the performance, just having a great time. Then, people all turned around and starting looking at me. It got crazy! I'm like, "I must be a pretty popular guy, or they must really like my jacket!"

I looked to my left, and it wasn't me they were gawking over. I was standing right next to Sir Paul McCartney! He came from backstage and started clapping and singing to the music … right next to me!

So for the next couple of hours, we exchanged comments about Stevie Wonder, who inducted Bill Withers, and about the performance by the megaband Green Day. "I really love these chaps," he said.

All the while this was happening, my brother Rich and I kept looking at each other like "This is NOT happening!" With my 30 years in the biz, working with so many big names, I never had a "Beatles experience." On that night, I was "Beatled" to the Nth degree, more than I could have ever dreamed.

So this night was long, tiring and loud. It was surreal and it was unbelievable. It was a great show with some heartwarming moments. And, I stood the entire 5½ hours.

In a nutshell, it was a wonderfully stressful night. But I got by with a little help from my friends … THE BEATLES!

• Ron Onesti is president and CEO of The Onesti Entertainment Corp. and The Historic Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. Celebrity questions and comments? Email ron@oshows.com.