Rockapella in Reno
Day One
Friday, January 16, 2015
Sammy's Showroom at Harrah's
Reno, NV
I met up with Wendy at the Ontario airport in the morning, and we had a pleasant flight to Sacramento. The guy next to me was watching "Archer". At times, he was clearly stifling a lot of laughter because he was shaking and smiling. We waited a little while for Dodie's plane to land, and then I was happy to see her set her eyes on Spider-Bunny for the first time. When we got to the rental car area, I got in line at Hertz, where I had a reservation through Priceline. The line moved very slowly. Well, since my driver's license expires on Monday, their system wouldn't allow me to rent the car through that date, even though it doesn't actually expire until midnight that night (I'm waiting for my license to arrive). Since the reservation was through a 3rd party, I couldn't just have one of my friends use their license. So lame. So the guy suggested that I call Priceline to let them know that Hertz wouldn't honor my reservation, and work out something else or get a refund. So I was worried that we wouldn't have a car. Dodie came to the rescue and offered to get a car at another agency. Danial at Budget was wonderful, and agreed that my license should be OK until midnight. He got a great rate for Dodie for a Kia Sorrento, along with a Garmin GPS. Thank you for being so awesome, Danial! He has turned my loyalty to Budget.
Since I'm a little bit familiar with driving around the Sacramento area, I offered to drive us around while we made our inevitable stop at Target to pick up various necessities. We got birthday cards for JKB (his birthday was earlier this month) and RC, whose birthday is on Tuesday. I also found the perfect card for SD, even though his is not until November. Since we were getting 3 birthday cards, I got a free plush doggie. Dodie preferred the cat and Wendy liked the bear, but I just went ahead and chose the dog. We had lunch at Panda Express, and my fortune was really just fact, which annoyed me. "Your versatility is one of your outstanding traits." In bed.
I was OK with driving some more, so I drove us to Reno, which was a nice scenic trip. Snow! I was glad that no snow was falling on us, but we did have a little bit of rain. Danial said that there would be a storm tonight but it would be gone by Sunday. That's why he said that we should have an SUV as it would be safer for us, plus it was less expensive than the full-size car. I don't know why the music from my iPod wasn't playing through the speakers, even though it was hooked into the car's system. We kept trying to figure it out, but could still only hear through the iPod itself. Maybe I was using the wrong kind of cable, I don't know. At least we could still hear the music. At one point, I wondered aloud why there was what looked to be a tumble weed in the back of a truck.
Wendy: "It's part of the Tumbleweed Relocation Program".
Sherry: "Isn't that all that a tumbleweed does? Relocate?"
Wendy: "That's the problem. It can't do it on its own."
Have I told you how much I love Wendy's sense of humor? She's hilarious.
We finally arrived in Reno, which I have given a new nickname. Earlier in the day, Wendy and I were talking about the city.
S: "It's the City of Lovers".
W: (perplexed) "I thought it was the Biggest Little City in the World".
S: "Oh, yeah...so it's not for lovers?"
W: "I think it's Paris that's the City of Love."
So by the time we arrived, I had renamed it "The Biggest Little City in the World for Lovers".
I want Wendy to know that I'm giggling as I type this, while she and Dodie are asleep.
We parked and checked in with a guy named Al. Al was trying to get me to sign for the room on the electronic pad, but it just wouldn't click when I touched it with the stylus or my finger. So I figured that technology just frickin' hates me today. Gremlins. Must be gremlins. Wendy said it's an evil elf. Shouldn't they be hibernating at this time of year? While we were waiting for Al to manually process the reservation, I spotted a card advertising Rockapella, and got audibly excited. "That's why we're here!" I asked Al if he was going to see them. He said that he would because he has 4 free passes as an employee. I told him that he'll want to save them all for himself so that he can keep going to shows. I also made him promise me that he would go to a show. He assured me that he would. Since we were all together, Al gave us adjoining rooms, which made us happy.
We put our stuff down and then scoped out the hotel to see where we needed to go. Wendy and I did not see the huge SAMMY'S SHOWROOM sign for a while because we're blind or whatever. We saw 3 signs for lines: Diamond, Platinum and General. So where's VIP? We talked to the lady at the ticket counter and she told us to get into the General line, and also informed us that they serve cocktails, but no food. Wendy and I were hungry, so we got some food at Quizno's before meeting Dodie upstairs to get ready.
When we returned to Sammy's, I was happy to see that we weren't the only ones there, because I really want people to experience the phenomenon that is Rockapella. The maitre'd sat us at the 3rd row of tables, which was tiered higher than the 1st two rows. I guess they think those are better seats than the ones in the front. Wendy and I decided to find out how they decide where to seat people, for future reference. We couldn't find Fred. He wasn't one of the people in the booth. What's happening???
Rockapella took the stage, and even though I knew he'd be there, the smile on my face went very wide: JOHN!!!!!
Draggin' the Line
I need to get over the fact that they sound different without George. Just like I had to adjust to Geo when Barry left.
Scott is Phyllis Diller. Later, we found out that they had posted a video before the show wherein Scott said that he was finally going to do his Phyllis Diller impression, and had been driving the guys crazy with it on the way to Reno.
Use Ta Be My Girl
Oops. That beginning was rough, but Scott blew on his pitch pipe a few times to get them on track, and they were good. Phew! It's so nice to hear John sing "My Girl" again.
Scott asked if anyone had seen Rockapella before. Big WHOO HOO! from our table. He looked over and smiled, saying, "Mom's here!" (Later, we would learn that Scott probably didn't know that it was us, because they couldn't see us. That would explain why he didn't play to us like he normally does when we're there. Or he was too tired to do anything extra).
Pretty Much You
I love to see Steve smile in our general direction.
Got To Get You Into My Life
People in back of us, please stop talking!
Just My Imagination / Imagine
I just realized that I've never seen Calvin in a non-holiday show. Weird. He's been in the group for over a year now, but they haven't been out West much since then.
Scott said, "John reminds me of Sammy Davis, Jr. We need to do a Sammy Davis, Jr. show." That would be cool to see in Sammy's Showroom.
Hard Time
Scott said that Ryan was making his "The Hits" show debut, so if we see him looking like his spinning his wheels, he's thinking of all of the stuff he's learned. Welcome, Ryan!
Cupid
Steve walked down into the audience, and saw me, pointed and waved. APPARENTLY, he didn't even know we were there until that moment. I said, "HI!" I'm a dork.
Scott: "We've got a Motown album...it's got a lot of Motown on it, but there's more."
My Cherie Amour
John added a trumpet solo to the La La part at the end. Nice!
John called Scott "Monkey Legs Malone".
Scott said that the Mills Brothers have played here in Sammy's Showroom. Neato.
Paper Doll
Hello, Steve! Thank you for singing to me! Go, Ryan, with that wicked bass part. It sounds like they rearranged that a bit at the end so that the rhythm section duet isn't as long, but maybe I was just focusing on them more before, and wasn't paying attention to the tenors. But I had to look at the tenors!
Blame It On The Boogie
I like their live arrangement of this song, as they do a medley of a few things. Wait. Is that new? Seriously, I haven't seen a regular show in so long that I've lost my mind. Oh, I see. They took some of the "Rock the Boat" medley and incorporated it here without actually singing "Rock the Boat". Or something. Great solo, Ryan--got a cute fist bump from Scott.
Scott talked about selling their souls to the corporate world, and some lady in the audience said, "Haven't we all?" Hmmm...hecklers.
Jingle Medley
After they sang about Dr. Pepper, Scott said, "Is that a great jingle or what? I did not make a dime off that!" He really should have, because I love that one. I like the "POP!" sound at the end of Folger's.
John walked out into the audience to ask some trivia. At first, he said that the casino was going to give the winner a million dollars and a car, but he was kidding. One of the guys in the row above us answered the question correctly.
Q: There is a dance move called the "shim sham". Who started this dance?
A: Sammy Davis, Jr., of course. He would take sand and put it on the ground, and do tap rhythms on the sand.
So the guy at the table told John that the other guy said it, then John took the guy's wife, Belen, on to the stage after much coercing. She is very shy and wanted John to take her husband with him. "We can't sing to men, it's only the ladies." Scott got her to sing some "Stand By Me", again after much encouragement, although she did point the microphone into he audience so that we would sing instead.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Ooh, Ryan can go up high! Yay! She danced! None of them said her name right.
Ryan said that we've heard hits from the 50s, 20s, 10s, and 1830s, now it's time to hear something from the 2000s.
Thrift Shop / Celebrate
Very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing this evolve even more.
Basically, only our table knew what to do when Scott asked about the one more thing we have to do.
Scott said that they sang this next song every day for 55 years.
Where In The World is Carmen SanDiego
Lots of "wow" in the audience during JT's solo. Surprisingly, he did not stop his solo to ask us, "Where's Karla?"
A*Punk
AY AY AY!!!! Love this song.
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World
The crazy woman in the audience yelled Steve's name, which prompted him to look the other way, in our direction, for the rest of the song.
Then it was over, and nobody came out to meet or greet us. Nor did they have any merchandise. Wendy and I decided to just ask the maitre'ds what was up. Vic was very nice and told us that was because they didn't have merchandise with them yet, and probably wouldn't have them the next day. Sunday was also iffy. I said that this couldn't happen, because we need to have a meet and greet on Sunday. We told him that it would be my 100th show, and also my birthday the next day. Vic seemed pleased that we would be returning and that their new act had such loyal fans. He said that he would let the guys know about all of this, and wrote down my name. I asked how the seating is arranged, and he said that we could ask for certain seats if they're available. Then he went above and beyond and reserved us tables for Saturday and Sunday, exactly where we should be seated, in the front, next to the stage steps. We thanked Vic very very much and left.
As we were going back to our room, Wendy stopped and suggested that we figure out what we were going to do in the morning for breakfast. So we talked to the gal at Hash Hash A Go Go and she took this picture of us.
We were checking out our pictures on the camera, and Wendy spotted The Blond One. So we hurriedly said goodbye to the gal at Hash Hash and briskly, but nonchalantly made our way to the lobby. Oh. By the time we got to the elevators, we saw that the guys were in the lobby, talking. John was about to go back up the elevators as we were approaching the bottom. He saw us and I almost ran to him to give him a HUGE hug, and told him how good it was to see him because I had missed him. John didn't even know that we were here because he couldn't see the people from the stage, plus he needs glasses now and couldn't see well anyway. I asked him how he felt, and he said that it was dry because of the mountain air, and they're tired because they're still on East Coast time.
Steve also gave me a big hug, and said that he first saw me when he walked down into the audience, then he saw Wendy and Dodie. He was jet-lagged, but is going skiing on Saturday. I told him that Dodie and I were still ready to play before we go to bed. Dodie told him not to hit the trees, and he said that he'd go around them like slalom. He and Ryan are working on their abs for their Chippendale's crossover. Wendy told him that she's working on getting them bow ties and cuffs.
Ryan came up from behind me and said to me, "Hey, good looking." Swooon! Also, he smells really good. I asked him how he felt in his first non-Christmas show. He said that was nervous, but felt good about it. I told him that he must be happy that he didn't have to dance as much as the tenors, and could stay on Thacher Island. (I did not tell him that we call it Thacher Island). When he asked Dodie her name, he was about to ask Wendy her name, too, but then realized that he was just tired, and of course he had met her before.
Jeff also came up from behind me and said to me, "Hi, Sweetie!" Swooning again! As I was hugging him, I told him, "We were, like, no meet and greet, what the F?" He said, "I know, we don't have our merch yet." JT told Wendy that her eyes are red and asked if she was jet-lagged. JT, we're in the same time zone as home. Her eyes were red because of the smoke in the casino. As we were saying goodbye, he told us not to get stuck on the Wheel of Fortune like he did, unless we played the penny and nickel ones. He got stuck playing the quarter machines.
I talked to Fred for awhile. He said that the showroom is an intimate venue, so we'll hear all of the nuances and would notice everything. I agreed, and said that we could tell that Ryan is still learning the show, but he's doing well. I asked where he was sitting and APPARENTLY, he was sitting at a lower level in the middle of the audience, but could see the show from his vantage point.
After we said our "See you tomorrow"s to the guys, Wendy and I were on our way back to our room when I suddenly had a craving for dessert. I asked if she would walk down with me because I didn't want to run into any of the guys by myself. She said, "Like it would be so horrible to see them." I get shy sometimes. I know what you're thinking. Shut up. We took the elevator back down and Ryan was there, on his cell phone. We waved, and I said, "See?"
We got some chocolate covered pretzels at the market, and then got on the elevator. A couple of people also got on the elevator, and didn't push the button. I said, "Is everyone on 12?" They said yes. I asked if they checked in today. They said yes. "So, everyone that checked in today is on 12. Hmmm." Wendy and I gave each other knowing looks.
We had a great day after kind of a rugged start. It was just really nice to have our own private meet and greet, even though the Blond One wasn't part of the fun.
Next up: Show #99
 |
| We get to see this sign all over the place! |
We put our stuff down and then scoped out the hotel to see where we needed to go. Wendy and I did not see the huge SAMMY'S SHOWROOM sign for a while because we're blind or whatever. We saw 3 signs for lines: Diamond, Platinum and General. So where's VIP? We talked to the lady at the ticket counter and she told us to get into the General line, and also informed us that they serve cocktails, but no food. Wendy and I were hungry, so we got some food at Quizno's before meeting Dodie upstairs to get ready.
 |
| Oh, THIS sign? |
When we returned to Sammy's, I was happy to see that we weren't the only ones there, because I really want people to experience the phenomenon that is Rockapella. The maitre'd sat us at the 3rd row of tables, which was tiered higher than the 1st two rows. I guess they think those are better seats than the ones in the front. Wendy and I decided to find out how they decide where to seat people, for future reference. We couldn't find Fred. He wasn't one of the people in the booth. What's happening???
 |
| Bananaman is ready for his VIP treatment |
Rockapella took the stage, and even though I knew he'd be there, the smile on my face went very wide: JOHN!!!!!
Draggin' the Line
I need to get over the fact that they sound different without George. Just like I had to adjust to Geo when Barry left.
Scott is Phyllis Diller. Later, we found out that they had posted a video before the show wherein Scott said that he was finally going to do his Phyllis Diller impression, and had been driving the guys crazy with it on the way to Reno.
Use Ta Be My Girl
Oops. That beginning was rough, but Scott blew on his pitch pipe a few times to get them on track, and they were good. Phew! It's so nice to hear John sing "My Girl" again.
Scott asked if anyone had seen Rockapella before. Big WHOO HOO! from our table. He looked over and smiled, saying, "Mom's here!" (Later, we would learn that Scott probably didn't know that it was us, because they couldn't see us. That would explain why he didn't play to us like he normally does when we're there. Or he was too tired to do anything extra).
Pretty Much You
I love to see Steve smile in our general direction.
Got To Get You Into My Life
People in back of us, please stop talking!
Just My Imagination / Imagine
I just realized that I've never seen Calvin in a non-holiday show. Weird. He's been in the group for over a year now, but they haven't been out West much since then.
Scott said, "John reminds me of Sammy Davis, Jr. We need to do a Sammy Davis, Jr. show." That would be cool to see in Sammy's Showroom.
Hard Time
Scott said that Ryan was making his "The Hits" show debut, so if we see him looking like his spinning his wheels, he's thinking of all of the stuff he's learned. Welcome, Ryan!
Cupid
Steve walked down into the audience, and saw me, pointed and waved. APPARENTLY, he didn't even know we were there until that moment. I said, "HI!" I'm a dork.
Scott: "We've got a Motown album...it's got a lot of Motown on it, but there's more."
My Cherie Amour
John added a trumpet solo to the La La part at the end. Nice!
John called Scott "Monkey Legs Malone".
Scott said that the Mills Brothers have played here in Sammy's Showroom. Neato.
Paper Doll
Hello, Steve! Thank you for singing to me! Go, Ryan, with that wicked bass part. It sounds like they rearranged that a bit at the end so that the rhythm section duet isn't as long, but maybe I was just focusing on them more before, and wasn't paying attention to the tenors. But I had to look at the tenors!
Blame It On The Boogie
I like their live arrangement of this song, as they do a medley of a few things. Wait. Is that new? Seriously, I haven't seen a regular show in so long that I've lost my mind. Oh, I see. They took some of the "Rock the Boat" medley and incorporated it here without actually singing "Rock the Boat". Or something. Great solo, Ryan--got a cute fist bump from Scott.
Scott talked about selling their souls to the corporate world, and some lady in the audience said, "Haven't we all?" Hmmm...hecklers.
Jingle Medley
After they sang about Dr. Pepper, Scott said, "Is that a great jingle or what? I did not make a dime off that!" He really should have, because I love that one. I like the "POP!" sound at the end of Folger's.
John walked out into the audience to ask some trivia. At first, he said that the casino was going to give the winner a million dollars and a car, but he was kidding. One of the guys in the row above us answered the question correctly.
Q: There is a dance move called the "shim sham". Who started this dance?
A: Sammy Davis, Jr., of course. He would take sand and put it on the ground, and do tap rhythms on the sand.
So the guy at the table told John that the other guy said it, then John took the guy's wife, Belen, on to the stage after much coercing. She is very shy and wanted John to take her husband with him. "We can't sing to men, it's only the ladies." Scott got her to sing some "Stand By Me", again after much encouragement, although she did point the microphone into he audience so that we would sing instead.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Ooh, Ryan can go up high! Yay! She danced! None of them said her name right.
Ryan said that we've heard hits from the 50s, 20s, 10s, and 1830s, now it's time to hear something from the 2000s.
Thrift Shop / Celebrate
Very cool. I'm looking forward to seeing this evolve even more.
Basically, only our table knew what to do when Scott asked about the one more thing we have to do.
Scott said that they sang this next song every day for 55 years.
Where In The World is Carmen SanDiego
Lots of "wow" in the audience during JT's solo. Surprisingly, he did not stop his solo to ask us, "Where's Karla?"
A*Punk
AY AY AY!!!! Love this song.
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World
The crazy woman in the audience yelled Steve's name, which prompted him to look the other way, in our direction, for the rest of the song.
Then it was over, and nobody came out to meet or greet us. Nor did they have any merchandise. Wendy and I decided to just ask the maitre'ds what was up. Vic was very nice and told us that was because they didn't have merchandise with them yet, and probably wouldn't have them the next day. Sunday was also iffy. I said that this couldn't happen, because we need to have a meet and greet on Sunday. We told him that it would be my 100th show, and also my birthday the next day. Vic seemed pleased that we would be returning and that their new act had such loyal fans. He said that he would let the guys know about all of this, and wrote down my name. I asked how the seating is arranged, and he said that we could ask for certain seats if they're available. Then he went above and beyond and reserved us tables for Saturday and Sunday, exactly where we should be seated, in the front, next to the stage steps. We thanked Vic very very much and left.
As we were going back to our room, Wendy stopped and suggested that we figure out what we were going to do in the morning for breakfast. So we talked to the gal at Hash Hash A Go Go and she took this picture of us.
We were checking out our pictures on the camera, and Wendy spotted The Blond One. So we hurriedly said goodbye to the gal at Hash Hash and briskly, but nonchalantly made our way to the lobby. Oh. By the time we got to the elevators, we saw that the guys were in the lobby, talking. John was about to go back up the elevators as we were approaching the bottom. He saw us and I almost ran to him to give him a HUGE hug, and told him how good it was to see him because I had missed him. John didn't even know that we were here because he couldn't see the people from the stage, plus he needs glasses now and couldn't see well anyway. I asked him how he felt, and he said that it was dry because of the mountain air, and they're tired because they're still on East Coast time.
Steve also gave me a big hug, and said that he first saw me when he walked down into the audience, then he saw Wendy and Dodie. He was jet-lagged, but is going skiing on Saturday. I told him that Dodie and I were still ready to play before we go to bed. Dodie told him not to hit the trees, and he said that he'd go around them like slalom. He and Ryan are working on their abs for their Chippendale's crossover. Wendy told him that she's working on getting them bow ties and cuffs.
Ryan came up from behind me and said to me, "Hey, good looking." Swooon! Also, he smells really good. I asked him how he felt in his first non-Christmas show. He said that was nervous, but felt good about it. I told him that he must be happy that he didn't have to dance as much as the tenors, and could stay on Thacher Island. (I did not tell him that we call it Thacher Island). When he asked Dodie her name, he was about to ask Wendy her name, too, but then realized that he was just tired, and of course he had met her before.
Jeff also came up from behind me and said to me, "Hi, Sweetie!" Swooning again! As I was hugging him, I told him, "We were, like, no meet and greet, what the F?" He said, "I know, we don't have our merch yet." JT told Wendy that her eyes are red and asked if she was jet-lagged. JT, we're in the same time zone as home. Her eyes were red because of the smoke in the casino. As we were saying goodbye, he told us not to get stuck on the Wheel of Fortune like he did, unless we played the penny and nickel ones. He got stuck playing the quarter machines.
I talked to Fred for awhile. He said that the showroom is an intimate venue, so we'll hear all of the nuances and would notice everything. I agreed, and said that we could tell that Ryan is still learning the show, but he's doing well. I asked where he was sitting and APPARENTLY, he was sitting at a lower level in the middle of the audience, but could see the show from his vantage point.
After we said our "See you tomorrow"s to the guys, Wendy and I were on our way back to our room when I suddenly had a craving for dessert. I asked if she would walk down with me because I didn't want to run into any of the guys by myself. She said, "Like it would be so horrible to see them." I get shy sometimes. I know what you're thinking. Shut up. We took the elevator back down and Ryan was there, on his cell phone. We waved, and I said, "See?"
We got some chocolate covered pretzels at the market, and then got on the elevator. A couple of people also got on the elevator, and didn't push the button. I said, "Is everyone on 12?" They said yes. I asked if they checked in today. They said yes. "So, everyone that checked in today is on 12. Hmmm." Wendy and I gave each other knowing looks.
We had a great day after kind of a rugged start. It was just really nice to have our own private meet and greet, even though the Blond One wasn't part of the fun.
Next up: Show #99
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