Rockapella, Featuring the Santos Family

Rockapella at the Wigwam

Day 2

Saturday, November 21, 2008

That's our house, on the left.  Isn't it nice?

In the morning before going to Cracker Barrel, Jenn and I had to make a Target run because both of us had forgotten our brushes/combs at home.  Hello, I just friggin’ bought one at Hooters, and I still forgot it!  We got a little teensy bit lost trying to find CB from the Target location, but that made our trip a true Pella one:  Target and Getting Lost are mainstays for the PellaPusher and her Posse. So we got to CB, I got my pancakes, and all was right with the world.  Especially because I was also able to order Sweet Tea to get me all hyper.  We shopped in the store for awhile and Jenn absolutely loved a toy talking bird that mimicked everything that anyone said near it.  We didn’t have room in our luggage, though.  I bought a harmonica for Kevin for his birthday, as well as a couple of Christmas gifts for other people.   After asking strangers for change for my dollar, I bought a local paper and found that Rockapella was indeed listed as one of the events on their calendar.  I also found a hilarious “Dear Abby” type page, which will be posted at a later time. We returned to the hotel and spoke to the desk clerk to arrange for Karla and Wendy to stay in the adjoining room, and also tried to get reservations for seats for the concert, but that was a no go.

We got back to our room in time to prepare for our spa appointments.  It so happened that our room was kitty corner from the spa building, so we took a very short walk over and saw that yes, the door to the spa was actually red.  Jenn was happy with the Lindor truffles that they offered. I was happy to be in a spa after a long time away from them.  We were welcomed and guided past the lap pool, and into the dressing room.  We were given a short tour, but the lady who entered the spa with us didn’t need a tour because she was too snobby and had been there before, I guess.  We changed into our robes and left our belongings in very nice lockers which had programmable unlock codes.  We sat in a waiting area for a little while and drank some of that yummy spa water with the fruit slices in it before our massage therapists took us into our individual rooms.  When I walked into the bath room, I was in awe of the size of it.  The tub itself was HUGE, a fireplace had been turned on, and there were 2 lounge chairs as well as a separate shower.  Jenn later told me that it was a rain shower, so I regretted not using it, but will do so next time.  The MT, Kaki, advised me of the timer, showed me the complimentary candied nuts and water, as well as the iced washcloths to get relief from the bath’s hot water, and then prepared the tub for my Hydrating Milk Bath.  She left the room, I climbed into the tub, and wavered from relaxation to sliding all over the tub.  It was too large for me, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to fill the tub all the way with the water, and didn’t really want to for fear that I might fall asleep and drown.  The milk powder had made the bath really silky, and I did enjoy it, and thought to myself how Jenn and I used to play in the tub when we were little girls and pretend that we were mermaids.  We would have just loved playing mermaid in these bathtubs!  Once my time was up, I dried myself off and when I opened the door, Kaki was waiting for me.  She brought me into a different room that had 2 massage tables, and we proceeded with the Red Door Signature Massage,  which included aromatherapy, an herbal eye pillow, and a full body massage, including the face.  I didn’t want it to end, but when it did, and I arose from the massage table, my legs were a little wobbly from all of the relaxation.  I wanted to go into the sauna, but there was already a lady lying down in there, not leaving much room for another person.  When Jenn was done with her massage, we went to the steam room, and it surprisingly did not choke me like some steam rooms.  We talked about our baths and massages, and she said that she thought of us being mermaids, too!  We saw that the lady had left the sauna and went in there afterward.  Then Jenn got more truffles and we sat outside with our feet in the Jacuzzi.  The lady must have been annoyed by us and left eventually, so we were then free to talk and plan out the day.  Bro called while we were getting dressed, and we met them outside the spa.

Brady wouldn’t hug or kiss me, so I was annoyed for quite awhile.  We went back to the room, and showed them our living room, where’d they be staying after the concert.  Wendy had already started getting ready, and was startled by my brother’s knock on the adjoining door.  We were all happy to have a house all to ourselves!

We got pretty for the concert, and my companions were hungry, so they went ahead to Red’s Steakhouse for dinner while I finished getting ready.  In the meantime, Karla arrived and met up with all of us later at the restaurant.  The food was quite tasty, and I would definitely return.  I just had a little house salad, which was very good, and was able to taste some of the others’ entrees.  We all signed a birthday card for Kevin, and so did a couple of celebrities.  I was antsy because I wanted to make sure that we would get in line early.  Bro had left with Brady ahead of us and called to tell us that the line had already started forming, which irritated me because I got all competitive about the seating.  We ended up being about 10th in line.  I was also concerned because they started allowing people to line up at another door, and didn’t want those latecomers to obtain the seats that I wanted.  When they opened the door, we quickly grabbed seats in the front row, near the center, on the rhythm section side.  I was no longer irritated or concerned.  I was just happy that we’d be able to see the guys.  The lady introducing them to us advised that they were the season opening act for the West Valley Arts Council.  

Rockapella was wearing dark-colored outfits as they started the show with “Tonight.”  Scott introduced all of the guys after the song and introduced himself as John McCain.  The man sure knows what territory he was in.  They then sang “For You.”

Scott said that when he heard that they were playing at the Wigwam, he didn’t know what to expect.  He said that they rarely go to Arizona, but on their way to AZ, they passed through New Mexico and realized that they had never done a show in that state.  Scott asked that if anyone at the concert was from NM, they needed to “get us out there to play at the Denny’s or something.”  

The stage was a small one, as evidenced by the guys running into each other as they tried to walk around during “Zip.”  John did a great job in that song.  Go, John, Go!  I informed Karla and Jenn that the pitch pipe wasn’t the only outline that I could see in Scott’s pants.  

They then sang “Got to Get You Into My Life,” and Kevin jumped down from the stage to go out into the audience.  When he came back up to the front, he looked at our group and took my hand, so I got up and danced with him.  That was fun!  I was wearing a 60’s type cut in my dress with ankle boots, so I felt like my outfit fit the period of the song, and I was a happy camper.  Jenn told me after the song that she wanted to reach for her camera, but then she’d have to put her head down right where Kevin’s private area was, so she decided against doing that in the inevitable event that I’d punch her.  In the middle of the song, the lights dimmed, which made Scott react because they had just done a pelvic thrust kind of move before it happened.  At the end of the song, when they sing “I love you more/ you more/ you more,” Scott was gesturing to me, and I was even happier.  That song was just way cool that night. 

They then sang “Stand By Me,” and John had to sing with the right-side speakers having some kind of problem.  I could see the sound techs approaching the speakers and they tried to fix them, but the sound kept wavering all night long.  Annoying.  

Scott lost his mind during “Use Me”:  he sang “Scottsdale People,” which is not where we were.  Oops.  Later, though, he redeemed himself and said, “They got the beat in Phoenix."  Scott was in rare form during his dorky part of the dance segment.  He was, like, Dorkorama.  

Kevin said that they had had a really long travel day.  They stopped in Charlotte, and thanked some woman named Joanne for picking them up today in style with a big yellow Hummer.  They had to stop for gas twice, though. :)  He acknowledged a group of kids from a local high school.  He talked about his 8- and 10-year-old girls when they came home on election day.  One of them said, “Daddy, daddy, we got to vote!”  Grace, when asked who she voted for, said, “That’s my own personal business.”  She’s growing up, and now has her own personal i-phone at 10 years old.  (I don’t even have an i-phone).  Kevin talked about how dry it is in AZ, saying that he always has to drink water, and he forgot his chapstick.  Somehow this discussion about the dry weather led to Kevin saying “All men here at the Wigwam and beach vicinity wear Speedos.”  So they sang “Under the Boardwalk.”  During the lyrics “on the carousel/we’re turning round and round,” George made a circle for a ferris wheel instead of a carousel.  Knowing that this has already been pointed out to him as incorrect, he looked over at us and smiled.  At least I THINK he knows that was wrong.  Maybe he was smiling at us because we were cracking up at his wrong-ness, and thought we were just enjoying ourselves for no reason.  

They then sang “Tell Me What You Want.”  Afterward, they walked over to bring their stools upstage.  The stools were quite big and fancy.  Scott: “Man, that’s the best stool we’ve ever had.”  Kevin: “That’s a Paul Bunyan stool.”  Scott: “That’s a Pecos Bill stool: we’re in the Wild, Wild West!”  They sat down and the ballroom was hushed as Scott started to talk about the next song.  So there we are, at the quietest part of the show, and a child’s voice from the front row says quite loudly for all to hear: “NOOOO!  DRINK!!!”  Laughter ensued.  All of Rockapella looked into the front row to find Brady arguing with his parents, and  Veronica taking him out of the room.  Scott responded by saying, “I need to go potty, too.“  Kevin mimicked a toddler and said, “Get me out of here!  I hate these guys!“  That’s my nephew, everyone!  Presenting Rockapella, featuring the Santos family!  I was mortified, but could not stop giggling.  Leave it to my family to be the center of attention during a Rockapella concert.  

They sang the beautiful “California Sad-Eyed Girl,” but the inconsistency of the speakers was driving me crazy.  Scott talked about the individual talents of the guys, and, during the discussion about George, there was one lonely clap for him being from Philly.  One clap.  Not one person clapping.  One. Clap.  He got more of an ovation when Scott said that George was the sexiest Frankenstein ever, to which Scott responded, “Was that for the ‘sexy’ part, or the ‘Frankenstein’ part?”  I’m hoping that it’s the sexy part, Scott.   Scott then said (mostly to the group of high school students), “Thank you for coming here instead of going to see ‘Twilight’ tonight.”  Hmmm…vampires or Pella?  Or is it vampires vs. zombies?  I really need to get that Zombie thing I’ve been wanting.  Back to Pella:  Something happened which made Scott asked Jeff, “Is there going to be any long-term damage?”  Jeff said, “I can crack walnuts with my tongue.”  Rrrrrrr.  No, I don’t remember if the question to Jeff and what Jeff said were related.  I’ve forgotten.  All I know is that Jeff can crack walnuts with an apparently very strong tongue.  Oh, my mind is going to places....Anyway, during all of this, I could see that one of the sound dudes was again trying to fix the speakers.  

They sang “Paper Doll,” which, for us, is Rhythm Section Wonderfulness, especially that wicked bass part.  Jeff saw our faces of awe and wonder and smiled at us.  Yeah.  Jeff actually SMILED at us from the stage!  Whoa.  They closed the first part of the show with “Rock the Boat.”

During intermission, we giggled at the bits and pieces of the show, especially Brady’s part in it.  He was just cranky and tired, and the speakers were too loud for him, so when Bro and V were asking what he wanted, they couldn’t hear/understand what he said, which resulted in the big outburst earlier.  V decided to watch the rest of the show from the side, standing up so that Brady could still see.  Wendy told me that she wants to scratch my eyes out (for dancing with Kevin).  Karla and Wendy asked me if they could give Kevin a hard time for looking at them before seeing me and dancing with me.  Well, of course you can! I would do the same thing!  

The second part of the show opened with “It’s A Small World.”  Ooh!  George changed his shirt to a black one.  I like costume changes, because that means that they had to take off something at some point.  Scott informed us that he had a Power Bar and a Diet Mountain Dew during the break, so he was ready to go.  Diet Dew always reminds me of Scott, so I cheered for him.

They proceeded with the Jingle Medley.  I like John’s little leg lift during the final “coconut” in their first Mounds/Almond Joy version.  Scott talked about singing anything for any occasion, including corporate functions.  In fact, one of those corporate functions was right there at the Wigwam a really long time ago.  Ooh, I like the interaction between Scott and JT during the rejected Dr. Pepper song: Scott mimes pulling the tab on a soda can, and JT does the sound of the carbonation.  Very cool!  

They sang “Long Cool Woman” REALLY quickly.  My goodness, is Scott going for the record of fastness?  Or is it just him challenging JT to see if he can keep up?  He, of course, is stellar at it, so no problem, but wow.

John picked a gal in the front row named Mimi to be serenaded to by the guys.  They sang “My Girl.”  Kevin introduced her to the guys, and after George interrupted Kevin with his sexy walk and voice, he went back to his place on the stage, smiled at Kevin, and waved to him.  Cute.  Mimi is a Music Education major from Puerto Rico.  This prompted Kev to sing lyrics from West Side Story (which I also do when I hear the name of the city): “Puerto Rico…” and Scott responded with “My heart’s devotion…” and I was happy as a clam to hear my Pella singing something from my favorite movie musical.  Oh, and that’s my favorite song in the musical, to boot.  (Where does that “to boot” thing come from, anyway?)  Kevin then began to sing, “Mimi, Mimi, Mimi, Mimi, Mimi, Do Re Mimi!”  Loved it.  They sang “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” and we all liked the look of surprise on her face.  I also liked her black patent leather shoes, which I pointed out to Jenn at the same time she pointed them out to me.  

They began “People Change,” and we heard an “Awww…” from the back of the room, which caused Scott to make a pouty face.  During the song, a moment of darkness occurred when the lights inexplicably dimmed again.  They kept singing, and Scott paused before the phrase “clear for you to see.”  So it was another funny rendition of “People Change.”  At least there weren’t any crickets!

When the other guys walked off stage, George said, “I used to sing high like those girls.”  John stuck his head out from the curtain to react.  Funny.  George talked about filming “The Bodyguard” with Whitney Houston.  Not.  He said that his college major was in Vocal Performance, and his teacher told him, “If you want to sing high, squeeze your butt cheeks together, face forward to the audience, and make sure you’re wearing black.”  Ah, so THAT’s why he changed his shirt!  He listed his musical influences including--Britney Spears.  George has lost it.  He started to sing “Papa” and we enjoyed the Geo Butt Action that could be seen from our seats.  NICE.  Jenn asked if we were saying that because he did new stuff.  I said, “No, we were enjoying the butt action.”  Sometimes my mind goes to places other than the wonderful music I’m hearing.  I was not alone in that, by the way.  Right, Karla?

They sang Carmen and JT did his amazing drum solo.  I love hearing the audience’s “wow”s during that part.  Yes, folks, that is the appropriate reaction to the LEGEND.  

For their first encore song, they sang “Shambala,” and I was annoyed by the audience’s clapping on beats 1 & 3.  People, please get some soul.  Since it was so close to the holidays, they sang “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  Scott did a sign to the others that we use in church: whenever we need to end the music, the leader holds up his/her fist to show that it should be the last verse or last repeat of the chorus (as in, let's close this thing out).  I got all choir-geek happy when I noticed him doing that.  Yeah, I’m wacky.

Brady OUT after the show

The meet and greet was a scattered one, and again, most of the guys were taking a red-eye home in order to rest up before the onslaught of holiday shows.  We were still able to talk to all of them, though.

I first talked to Scott, and introduced him to Brady, he who interrupted the show with his outburst.  Scott said, “Oh, that was your nephew?”  I explained to him about Brady being antsy and wanting a drink.  Karla gave him a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes baseball shirt, which he really liked.  He really, really liked it, because he was raving about the color, along with the fact that it had the name of his favorite city to pronounce, which he did for us a couple of times to make us laugh.  He said that he went to the World Series and had tickets for two more games, but they didn’t happen because Tampa lost.  Wendy asked Scott to go to her house after the RC concerts, so that he could sing “Angels We Have Heard on High” on their answering machine.  He said OK. Karla was happy because Scott actually did the math when she told him that she was excited because this was her 91st show, and her room number was 91x3.  I asked her if she thought JT did the math so that he could join us later on as a surprise, but she doubted it.  I suggested that we just walk around the hotel grounds and call out his name.

Wendy told John that he’d been working out.  He signed my program on the black portion with a black pen, so I voiced my annoyance, and advised him where the autograph would show up better.  Then he proceeded to sign Karla’s program on the same page of hers, but on the white portion.  You see? They do listen sometimes.

I said hi to George and he told me that he saw me trying to upstage everyone.  I told him that Kevin CHOSE me!  What was I supposed to do, just sit there?  He said that he did see that I was grooving. Wendy asked him what mood he was in according to his mood ring.  He said that he was green, which means calm.

We said hi to Kevin and he said to me, “You were rockin’!”  He met Brady, who high-fived and pounded fists with him.  Cuteness.  I gave him his birthday card, and noted certain signatures from celebrities, thanks to Jenn.

“Thanks for your vote!” -- Obama and Michelle

“Thanks for nothin'.” -- J. McCain

“I can see Florida from my house!” -- Sarah Pallin, complete with hearts in places where dots should be.

Kevin laughed at each one, and when he hugged me, he said that he was glad that Obama won.  Apparently, his entire family was rooting for Obama, except for Grace.  She had kept her vote secret because she voted for McCain and everyone else voted for Obama.  Kevin said that it wasn’t actually a secret until everyone had already told her their preferences.  I mentioned Kevin’s statement that Grace has an I-Phone.  He said that she was given an I-phone because she was able to walk around a whole year without losing a fake one, so she earned it.  Kevin was happy to receive a harmonica for his birthday, because he didn’t already have one.

I told him that if he had been able to stay overnight, he would have been invited to the after-party in our huge suite-house.  Wendy told him that we were scheduling a pillow fight for 12:30 a.m.  Kevin invited us to sleep in his room.  Yes, he did.  He meant that if we wanted to get sleep while others partied, we could use his room since he wouldn’t be there, but all I focused on was that KEVIN INVITED US TO SLEEP IN HIS ROOM.  He said that his harmonica is now very handy, because he can play the blues in the airport, singing, “I got 3 girls in my bedroom…and 2 in the bathroom…but I’m not there…”  He also told me what it was like to live at home with all of the girls in his house.  He said that no matter how grown up they get, they still want to get in bed with Mommy and Daddy, and then he proceeded to demonstrate by snuggling up to me.  So at that point, all I could think of was that KEVIN IS SNUGGLING WITH ME.  

I waited patiently for JT as he handled the business matters, and when he saw me, he said, “You looked like you were having fun out there!  That’s the first time I’ve ever been able to watch you from the stage.”  Yes, if you are following along carefully, you know that all I could think of was that JT WAS WATCHING US FROM THE STAGE.  I pointed out to him the fact that all of the signs posted spelled his band’s name R-O-C-K-A-K-P-E-L-L-A.   He responded, “That’s fantastic.”  

People, there is only supposed to be ONE “K” in Rockapella.  So JT agreed to have his picture taken with the sign.  

After saying our final goodbyes to JT (unless he was going to join us after doing the math from Karla in his head), we headed off to the Kachina Lounge in the hotel, where we enjoyed our delicious dessert and drinks.  

One of the desserts we ordered was not available, so they gave us a replacement dessert -- on the house.  NICE!  Oh, and yummy, too.  I enjoyed my quesadilla, but not as much as I truly enjoyed my chocolate martini.

  Ummy Yummy.  

Next up:  After Party antics