Merry Christmas To Me!

Rockapella in Capistrano

Sunday, December 7, 2013

The Coach House

San Juan Capistrano, CA

I was much more relaxed on this day than the previous Pella days, mostly because there was no extra stuff to do.  I was a bit melancholy, though, because I knew that it was the last day of the year for us to see the guys.  Yes, I was melancholy, even though I was giggling about stuff that had happened that weekend, and even about stuff from November.  

I drove to Karla's house to pick up my passengers.  Alicia wasn't there yet, because somebody told her that the nearest Starbucks was nowhere near Karla's house.  So I chatted with KP and watched her be artistic until Alicia arrived with our Starbucks orders.  Thanks, Alicia!  We arrived at The Coach House earlier than the doors opened, because I wanted to make sure to get there in time for Rudy to arrive so that I could give him my free tickets.  (I had received tickets from The Coach House from their e-mail subscription list after I had already bought mine).  

Alicia and KP

Jeff and Wendy were already there, as they were escorting a couple that had won a prize to watch Rockapella during sound check.  Fred saw us and made sure to come down from his perch to tell KP that the Hanukkah card she gave him was funny.  Rudy arrived with his friend Carmen for her Rockapella show.  April, Jeremy and Aura arrived afterward.  After we ordered our dinner, I walked over to Rudy to chat a little bit.  He said, "Sher, did I turn you on to Rockapella, or did you turn me on to them?"  I gave him a classic Sher look of you-are-not-the-center-of-the-universe, and told him that we were both at the same concert for our first times to see them, but we did not arrive together.  For the record, I had liked Rockapella because I had been watching Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?.  Rudy went to the show because our friend Amy was going, and she told him he would like it.  So, anyway, I finished the conversation by saying, "We didn't turn each other on.  That's why we're exes."  Much laughter occurred, and not just from the two of us. His whole table heard.  Yeah, I can come up with some zingers sometimes.

Jeff and Wendy

Who's Clayton

I enjoyed this opening act, which is a trio of guys playing guitar/mandolin, percussion and violin/fiddle.  The percussion and guitar are traded off between two of the guys, and they play the cajon (a drum box like the ones that the Madison Scouts played in a DCI show), as well as an 8-ball shaker.  My favorite song that they performed was "The Smash-Up", which is like a "sexy mash-up".  They posted a video of the song from that night.  Hey, that's me, at center, toward the front, leaning over to talk to KP, at 0:57!  I'm pretty sure I'm telling her at that point that Rockapella needs to do a Barry White medley for George.  They also had free wristbands with their website address for everyone.  

There was a short break, so I went to the restroom, where I almost bumped into Fred as he came downstairs from his sound board perch to set up the stage.

Sun Brothers

Sombrero / Feliz Navidad
I love that it's sung with the Sun Bros sound.  Where are CSL4's sunglasses?  


Rockapella

I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day
Sssshhhhh!  My man is singing!  (This is the problem with this venue, with the food and the servers and the late people ordering....too much other noise).  Geo very noticeably checked his fly as he walked onto the stage.  Much giggling ensued from the Posse.

The Hope We Hold
CSL4 smiled at KP.  Hi!

CSL4:  "What a great planet you have out here in California, too."

Dreidel
So then the crowd was quieter than usual during this song.  That was weird.  Especially when they were so darn noisy when I was trying to hear somebody SING ON STAGE earlier.  

Winter Wonderland
OK, so, people.  I like when there's a reaction from the crowd, but you need to stop singing along with the song unless specifically asked to do so, particularly when you are sitting at a table next to me.  I was so glad when Scott's different lyrics made them stop their singing.  Got a smile from Steven.  Hi!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
JT's sleigh bells got a nice, big "wow!"  CSL4: "Aaah, they're turning around."

Glow Worm
I love CSL4's little gift bow lapel pin.  

CSL4 talked about SD's good looks and voice.  "Yow!" from the audience.  CSL4:  "Yes, I think so, too."  Me three!

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmastime
Geo smiled at me.  I love that bass part.  JT now plays his sleigh bells at the beginning of the song, too.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer
CSL4: "I would sit out there at 3pm, right after my nap...I don't think it's good for (Yukon Cornelius) to be putting a moist, fleshy item onto that metal."  When he said his line about the axe, he looked behind his butt to find JT, whom did his sound effect.  During the song, SD almost ran into Geo.  Hey!  Why did SD look at *me* when he sang "Stinky"?!

Merry Christmas, Darling
The tenors' intro was MUCH better.  Thanks for the smile, Geo.  :)

CSL4 said that JT started with the group when he was 3 years old.

This Christmas Day
SD smiled at Wendy and me.  CSL4 backed up into SD during his line "snuggle up and make new friends", as he does.  SD's face:  priceless.

Don't Be Late
JT's drum solo ROCKED.

Jingle Bell Rock
I did a lot of lip synching along with Geo's real singing.  Oh, those mini megaphones are called "voice changers".

Steve Jingle Bell Rockin'

Calvin has mastered the voice changer

Please Come Home for Christmas
He's gonna fall down one of these days after he spins like that.  CSL4, I mean.

Matunda Ya Kwanzaa
I miss watching Geo and JKB dance during this song.  

CSL4 nodded when SD said that we should go to Rudolph.com.   JT is 1/4 Fnnish.  SD asked if anyone thought they were on the Naughty or Nice list.  "Who thinks they're on the 'nice' list?"  JT & Geo:  "Ehhhh...."

Danny was chosen to sit on stage.  He wanted a LEGO fire station and $100.00 from Santa.  Yes, folks, we are in South Orange County.  

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
I love it when the kid participates!  Thanks, Danny!

Awww....Geo said it was Rockapella's last day in California.  "That's OK.  We'll be back someday...I"m going to do something that I don't normally do in front of people.....No, I'm gonna keep my clothes on....Sometimes I feel like climbing one of those hills and sing like a woman....You guys love to laugh...."  Then he suggested that we all sing Handel's "Messiah", and talked about people starting to take out their iPhone to get the lyrics. He then continued, "I'm about sick of y'all laughing at me."

Silent Night (audience and Geo)

Geo:  "Betcha y'all thought I was going for that high note, didn't you?  My butt cheeks can't get that tight."

Grinch
Stink, Stank, Stunk.  That's us again.  Hey, wait a minute!  I know I smell nice!
Toward the end of the song, Geo stood in front of me, looked me straight in the eye, and said, "No cookies for you!!!"  I heart him.

CSL4 talked about driving through Hollywood and Pasadena, which reminded him of the movie "Waterloo Ridge", and his inspiration for the next song.  Every verse would get quieter, and they would douse the candles on music stands.

Auld Lang Syne
Geo smiled at Wendy.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Angels We Have Heard on High
Major jamming, Geo!

I got a wink from SD before they left the stage, so I waved at him and swooned.  Then Wendy winked at me.  So I winked back at her.  

Encore

Silver Bells
JT stood in front of Geo so that he couldn't do his choreography.
"Soon it will be Christmas Day" JT:  "Oh, CRAP!"

Carmen/Billie Jean

Hold Out For Christmas
Gosh, I love CSL4's voice.  So strong.

"Merry Christmas, Everybody."  -- Sigh.

Meet and Greet

I told Scott to have a Merry Christmas and a safe flight.  He thanked me for the delicious cookies.  I knew he was in a hurry and had a lot of people to greet, so I kept it short, but made sure to get a picture with him.

With The Blond One

I saw Calvin and caught his eye across a table, so I called his name.  He saw that I was trapped and came all the way around to talk to me and the posse.  He thanked me for all of the cookies and I said, "You haven't eaten all of them yet, have you?  Because that's a lot!"  He said no, but he will.  KP gave him her Welcome sign.  I told him to enjoy the rest of the tour.  

With Calvin

I saw that Steve wasn't busy, but JT was right there and KP thought we should get to him while we could.  I was trying to be strategic because JT would be able to stay later, but he was soon ready to talk to us, so it worked out fine.

JT said that we were leading the laughter for the whole show and that they should have us sitting at the front of every show.  OKAY!!!  I asked if we needed to audition for that, and he said no.  Oh, JT, if we could even BE at every show, you know we would.  LOVE YOU!

I'll sit in the front row for you FOREVER.

I ran over to Steve and we gave each other HUGE HUGS.  Like, VERY TIGHT and DON'T LET GO hugs.  No, it wasn't just me.  Shut up.  OK, maybe only I wanted to not let go, but I didn't hear any complaining.  He thanked me for the cookies, and I told him that I hoped I didn't ruin his diet, but he could freeze them.  He said that he would be taking them home to share with his brothers and sisters.  He told me his favorite again and he asked, "so I got the most of them because they're my favorite?"  I said yes.  He hugged me again.  I think we hugged, like, 5 times.  Because we also took a couple of pictures (JT photobombed the first one with rabbit ears).  I told him to have a Merry Christmas, he said the same to me, hugged me tightly AGAIN and then....O. M. G.  FFE kissed me on the cheek!  I tried not to die.  I tried to be calm.  I beamed a major smile, and goofily walked toward Geo after watching Wendy give Steve a Tide On The Go spot remover pen.  

I hear that Crystals song every time I look at this

Geo said that he was being himself on stage and that people seemed to like it.  I told him that we like that part of him and he should share himself because people are very receptive when you're being genuine.  He said that he's going to do more of that, and we all encouraged it.  I told him that CSL4 needs to arrange a Barry White medley for him.  He talked about being busy with his group and that they were bugging him about schedules while he's on tour, and he'll straighten them out when he returns.  I told him Merry Christmas, and to say hi to Sandra for me.  He said he would.  He said it would probably be another long while before they're back in California again, and we all got sad.  We asked what we could do.  He said that they expected to come to California more because their management is here, but no.  My New Year's resolution is to start a letter writing campaign to venues (after I'm done with the Spaghetti Dinner that I'd been ignoring for a few days).  

Come back soon, George!

We watched the guys hurriedly leave, and talked to Fred a little bit.

Stealing Fred's Soul

We said bye to JT again before saying goodbye to the Jeff and Wendy.  I drove KP and Alicia back to KP's house, and giggled and swooned all the way home.  He kissed me!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!  OK, I need to go breathe now.

Merry Christmas, Rockapella!

My favorite reindeer