The Book of John

Rockapella in Santa Clarrrrrita

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons

Santa Clarita, CA

Another night of giggling myself to sleep, then giggling myself awake.  I really am impossible to live with these days.  Wendy, Jeff, Ntick and Cindy arrived at my house and I made sure to get their signatures in the goodbye book that I made for John.  Nick followed in his car and we drove to Santa Clarita.  KP was already there with Wanda before we even left the house, so by the time we arrived at the college, the two of them had already spotted 5 of the guys we were there to see.  It was chilly outside, so we hung out in the lobby while I waited for Liz, June, and Dene to arrive so that I could give them their tickets.  One of the ushers kept asking everyone who entered, "Do you like Rockapella?"  Um, no, I'm only here for the cookies, like the Snickerdoodle that I bought.  I think the appropriate question would be, "Have you seen Rockapella before?"  But anyway, someone heard KP saying that this was her 118th show, and talked to her about that a little bit.  Jeff walked into the lobby to take care of some business with the CDs, and he gave us a brief "hi" before going backstage.

Poster in Lobby

Our seats were house left, very left, like past the speaker monitors on stage.  I wondered if the guys would even see us out there.  A woman walked on to the stage, and I said to Cindy, "That's not Jeff."  She asked, "Where are the fan club members?"  I whoo-hooed very loudly, enough for all of my friends.  Sometimes my lung capacity amazes even me.  She then said that someone was there for her 118th show, and her name was Cynthia Medina.  Wait.  That's the same number as KP!  Who the heck is this Cynthia person, and how have we not met her before?  She then told us that we were allowed to take pictures as long as we didn't use flash.  Yay!  Or not.  It was quite dark in there, so most of my pictures sucked.  Sorry, peeps.  

JT took the stage and announced that he had eaten at In-N-Out twice this weekend.  

Sun Brothers

L-O-V-E

I already started tearing up. thinking of John leaving.

CSL4:  "We don't have any canyons in Tampa Bay.  Y'all got canyons....or sinkholes.  We like to keep things happy, mellow, and canyon-y.

CHANGE THE WORLD

ALOTTA LIGHT

Those sunglasses that Steve wears on stage are the same ones he had in his pocket at breakfast the day before.

Rockapella

DRAGGIN' THE LINE

I like this arrangement more every time I hear it.  Got a smile from CSL4 as I took his picture, which, of course, didn't turn out.  But yay!  They can see us!  He is still "Miss California" -- wait!  We didn't give him a sash!

USE TA BE MY GIRL

CSL4:  "I didn't know there was a College of the Canyons.  Do the canyons go here?  Are there any canyons in the audience?  Dyan?  Nick?"  Oh, Scott, those are CANNONs.  JT's mic is used "to rumble the canyons".

PRETTY MUCH YOU

GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE

SD and I smiled at each other as he sang "Every single day of my life".  Hi!

CSL4 talked about discovering John.  Geo said that he knew a guy from the Holy Land Experience.  So CSL4 went to a show, which was a "generic kind of antiseptic Caucasian Gospel.  Out comes this guy who's just tearing it up.  It was a revelation.  I knew then and there that he belonged with us."  I had never heard this story before.  I learn new things every day.

HARD TIME

When SD looked at me during this song, I thought he was mad at me for um, something.  I saw a spot on his pants, which he told us had happened when he spilled soup, and didn't have time to get it dry cleaned.  He was self-conscious about it and would try to cover it up with his hand.  

While CSL4 was talking, the screen behind them showed a post-it note that read, "BLANK".

Steve was a baseball star in college at UMASS, and he was in "The Lion King".

CUPID

SD talked to a guy in the audience named Nick (not Nick of the PellaPosse).  He was a teenager, and SD said, "Hey, you don't know this song, do you?"  He asked the rest of the audience to sing along, then said, "Nick, I'm going to ask you to sing it back after the show, word for word."

CSL4 said that John said that they should do the next song.  "9 years later....then when I did it, he said he was leaving."

MY CHERIE AMOUR

Nice:  John on his "la la" riffing.  This is now Liz's favorite song.  Brought another tear to my eye, partly because I wonder if they'll keep it in the show after JKB leaves.  I wonder that about several songs, actually, and the thought makes me kinda anxious.

As some people arrived, CSL4 said to them, "You are LATE!  Just in time for the second half."  He talked about JT:  "...our vocal percussionist for over 20 years.  We found him when he was 8 years old.  Jeff does this for 2 hours every night.  He must have the jaws that can crack NUTS!  (Liz:  "He did NOT just say that!") ...has many talents, including the multimedia going on here tonight."  (Giggles from the audience).  "It's off.  So....less is more."

John regarding Scott: "Unfortunately, this is the last time I get to say this.  I'm very proud to work with this man, under his wings.  A cappella really started with this man.  A lot of what you see, 'Glee', 'Pitch Perfect', people lose where it started.  I believe Scott Leonard planted that seed through his arrangements and pitching certain voices."  

CSL4 described records as "black frisbees with a hole".

PAPER DOLL

Secrets.  Twice.  Even though we were sitting at a strange angle from what was going on staging-wise, which made certain gestures deliberate and obvious.  So I blew a kiss at someone in thanks.  :)

BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE

"I just can't control his feet." -- CSL4, pointing at SD's shoes.  At the end of the song, they point at JT, as he is the Boogie that they are Blaming.

MALIBU GRAND PRIX

Scott, screaming from the crash

JINGLE MEDLEY

I guess it takes up way too much energy to sing "Bang" after the other two songs when there is no intermission.  I loved seeing this done again, though.  "Milk chocolate".

Preparation H

MY GIRL

Raoul had the correct answer in the audience, and JKB chose his wife, Teresa, to join them on stage.  

STAND BY ME

Sung very softly, and just a little bit, by Teresa. Scott still mouthed "Darlin' Darlin" as if she was belting it out.

AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG

Teresa pats John's head

Geo:  "I got the worst vocabulary.  Doing all these dmm dmmms, I don't know what's going on with these songs.  Then afterward, I have to be really articulate, like with songs like this."

OLD MAN RIVER

Big cheers.  Geo:  "Let's keep this going!"

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

Geo:  "It's a cool thing, watching you guys enjoy what we do...  A man like me, he gets an opportunity once in a while to sing a song with words."

BABYGIRL

I'm really going to miss JKB doing that jam.  I could see that Geo was feeling the same way as he and JKB riffed together.  I just kinda didn't want it to end.

Does JT have a spot on his pants, too?

CSL4: "We did this song every day for 59 years."

"DO IT ROCKAPELLA!"  Got a smile from Steve.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO

JT interrupted his solo: "Must have In-N-Out."  Then again with "There goes the last fry."

Encore

PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE

I'm also going to miss hearing JKB's vocal percussion style during this one.  Geo looked at him before the VP drumline and said something inaudible, but it looked like he said, "Let's do this one more time."  

One of my favorite views

UP ON THE ROOF / WONDERFUL WORLD

Off mic

Got a thumbs up, a smile, and wave from SD.  See you later!

Meet and Greet/Post Show

Wendy had to get another CD because her "Motown & More" got eaten by the CD player in their car, and this was her last chance to get John's signature. 

Last Meet and Greet Table with JKB

Scott asked Cindy for her Chinese name, and presumed that she was not Cynthia Medina.  He told me that they'd be flying out on a red eye that night out of LAX.  Ick.

While in line, I told John that I had something special for him later.  He gave me a copy of his new Christmas CD.  

Steve asked Cindy if she was Cynthia Medina, and she told him that she was nowhere near being at 118 shows.  I said, "More like 18.  Or 8."  She told John that her first show was the first time he was in So Cal, so her Rockapella timeline starts with him.  

I thanked Steve for whatever, and he thanked me for being there, as he held my hands.  Let's just say that I'm now allowed to write down a certain song in a certain way now, because he gave me permission.  Except that I think it's still a secret.  Maybe.  I'm confused!  He said that they had BBQ to eat backstage, and asked if there was a Lucille's nearby because the menu looked familiar.  He told Nick that he was going to have trip tip that night.  Before he went backstage, I made sure to hug him and thank him for a fantastic weekend.

I asked Jeff which In-N-Out they went to today went George posted on Facebook.  They said, "On Foothill, right over there."  I told JT that I saw that his bro, Andrew, was there, and he said, "Yeah, I'd love to hang out with him, but we have to leave."  

JT: "Will I see you in Pas-A-de-NA?

S:  "Of course, it's my town!  Well, close to my town."  

JT:  "Have you seen 'LA Story'?

S:  "Yes."

JT: "That what he reference is from.  I've heard people say it like that, but I don't think they know the reference and they think that's how to say it."

I laughed.  Really?  After over 100 years of showing the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl game on TV at New Year, people still don't know how to say "PASaDEna"?  Idiots.

While this was happening, there was also some video recording happening for the college.  I make a little cameo appearance at 1:00.  :)

George told me that today's meal was his first time having In-N-Out.  I asked him how it compares to Five Guys, and he said that he's only had that a couple of times.  Later, he said that what he really liked about his burger was the toasted bun.  I told him about Liz's mom calling it "Five Brothers and Sisters" and he laughed.  After the line diminished, he got up and talked to Liz, saying that she was thinking, "You're going to come to me anyway, so I'm not getting in line."   He talked to the posse about feeling bad for the guy replacing him because there is so much music to learn.  Crickets.  We said that we're too upset to even joke about him leaving, too.  I said that he shouldn't say stuff that makes people hysterical and worry that the band is breaking up.  He said that the band's not breaking up.  Just that there is "stuff happening.  A lot of stuff."  Thanks for the vague trauma, George.  If anything, maybe he just means that someone will need to sub for him during the busy holiday performance season, but I don't know.  Let's just say that I've been irritated by something that others (not him) have posted lately on Facebook, and I just can't go there when I'm already upset about the change due to John's leaving.

The Book

Speaking of which....I gave John his photo book, and asked him to sign my copy of it, as well as the CD he gave me.  I totally love that he said, "How CUTE!" about the hippo on the back of the book.  :)  We wished him many blessings on his full-time ministry career, and took one last PellaPosse picture with him.  WE LOVE YOU, JOHN!

JKB and the Posse
Seriously, that guy in the background photo-bombed half my pictures!

I didn't full-on cry.  I was OK.  But yes, it was difficult to leave.  We walked to our cars, talking about Geo pissing us off.  Sorry, Geo, but it's true.  That night was not the time to even hint about leaving Rockapella, even in jest, even for a moment.

We picked up some dinner from the Jack In The Box drive-through, and focused on the positive stuff that happened that night.  Like, "the flirty flirty guys with their flirty flirty eyes".  :)

I'm really glad that we'll see the new incarnation of Rockapella very soon.  Very.  I hope that it will help the sadness about John's leaving go away quickly.  The guys have already raved about Calvin, but to me, JKB will always be our Dancing Rockapella Man.

John and Sherry...and JT...and SD...and that guy again