Rockapella at Montalvo
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Montalvo Arts Center
Saratoga, CA
Ah, Montalvo. My favorite venue because of so many wonderful memories! I always look forward to Rockapella shows, of course, but probably none more so than the ones here. So I eagerly packed and made my way to the Burbank airport to fly up to San Jose and meet up with Weff. The fact that my flight wasn't full was a good sign that I was going to have a wonderful time. When I arrived, though, there was a snafu for Weff, which involved airplanes versus birds. Birds usually lose in these cases. Poor tweeties. Their flight was delayed for a couple of hours, so I picked up the rental car. Luckily for us, I was the one to rent the car, so that we could save some time once they landed. Folks, don't believe the sign that says that you'll get faster service through Hertz by using their kiosk instead of the line, at least not at SJC. All of the agents were pretty slow, at least until mine came back from his lunch break. He was pretty efficient. I don't like that Hertz will do a credit check if you use a debit card. I think he didn't realize that I was already paid up through Priceline (thanks, Priceline!), but still asked for another form of ID to make sure that I am, indeed, the PellaPusher. I picked up the car, a Nissan Sentra, and waited at the cell phone waiting area. It's not a parking lot. It's just a street near the airport where people pull over to the curb. It's weird, and it's only 30 minutes, so if your friend's flight is delayed, you may have to leave and wander around and come back or whatever. I guess it was good that Hertz was hella slow, huh? Anyway, I also figured out where we were going to go for lunch. Not that I had any doubts. I just needed to find a location that was still open.
Weff finally landed, and I drove my limo to pick them up. I need to get a black chauffeur's cap. I wonder where I can get one of those, because that would have been fun to wear while driving a black vehicle to pick up my friends. As I predicted, they were hungry. So was I. I mean, I had some snacks for myself while I waited, but I needed protein, stat! We then made our way to Hobee's. I'd say that we went directly there, but it wasn't so much direct as much as it was going the wrong way on the freeway until I finally relented and turned on my GPS. Then we arrived.
HOBEE'S!!!! Being in Silicon Valley means that we get to have Hobee's. Several of the locations had closed permanently, and some closed for the day at 2:30, but the one in Cupertino was open all day until 9:00 p.m., so yes, of course, we found our way there, come hell, high water or even Helen. It is pumpkin time, so I ordered their delicious pumpkin coffeecake to go with my Almost Joe's Scramble, and my beverage of choice: their wonderfully aromatic and delicious Orange-Cinnamon Tea. Ahhhh....bliss. Wendy ordered waffles with bananas and strawberries, and Jeff ordered a burger. It was all good. We were all happy. We had righted the wrongs of the Ontario flight, and were ready to go to our hotel.
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| Hobee's Happiness |
Yeah, we didn't go directly there, either, because we went the wrong way on the 17, and were halfway to Santa Cruz before I turned around. Maybe I shouldn't have a chauffeur's cap, because I'm not very good at what I do, huh? Somehow we arrived at the Los Gatos Garden Inn Hotel. What a quaint little place! The parking was tight, though, which did not make this particular chauffeur happy, but I managed. While we were checking in, JT walked through the door, and I said, "Hi, Thacher!" Wendy did not turn around because she thought I was kidding. Then she heard his voice. We talked to him for a little bit before he went to his room and probably immediately alerted the guys that we were there and to not venture outside lest they run into us. :)
We settled in to our rooms, and then I realized I needed some ice. I knocked on Weff's door and asked Jeff if he wanted to help me find it. He told Wendy where he was going. She thought he said, "Sherry and I are going to go find the guys." Wendy thought, "That sounds about right." No, no, no! ICE! It ended up being 20 feet away in a little alcove. So that was a short trip. Then I left them alone so I could unpack and get ready for the show. The room was recently remodeled, and the shower was nice and big and had a place to sit down in it, and there were 2 separate shower heads. Had there not been a drought, I would be in there for hours. I'm not telling whether or not I'd invite anyone to join me.
We were ready to go and we wondered which car was Pella's. I jokingly guessed that it was the white KIA that got our attention earlier due to their kick-ass parking job (not). It was gone by the time we left...then we saw it at the Montalvo. Yeah, Sher. I'm not saying that I think somebody can't park, because the parking lot really was tight. Montalvo now charges for parking, which Wendy previously paid online. We still had to walk up that hill, though, and I was wearing high heels. HIGH ones. The things I do for fashion! I decided to buy some wine because I could bring it into the theater if I bought the souvenir sippy cup. OK, it wasn't a sippy cup like for toddlers, but sometimes wine is my comfort, is all I'm going to say about that. It was some kind of white blend. It was tasty. Our seats were in the 2nd row, in the center. Donors were in front of us. Oh, all right.
SUN BROTHERS
L-O-V-E
Nice recovery from that little snafu during the trumpet portion.
Scott, regarding Rockapella: We love those kids, they're fantastic.
Scott again: You have a beautiful town by the name of "The Kitties". Los Gatos.
Ryan: Meow.
Scott: I can't hear what you said, your voice is so low.
Ryan: I said, "MEOW".
Change The World
I love these kids, too.
During the break, we heard "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and I couldn't help but make some train motions.
Wendy: "That Fred is playing some boss tunes."
ROCKAPELLA
Rock Around the Clock / Tell Me Something Good
I love Scott's Elvis moves at the beginning of the song. OK, I love his Elvis moves ALWAYS. Hi, Steve!
Jailhouse Rock / Folsom Prison Blues / Chain Gang
Ryan does a mime of the slide trombone. Nice low note, Ryan! My hair was buzzing from that! Scott is very shiny.
Scott: Jeff has two microphones on his throat for Los Gatos to hear.
Dancing In The Streets
Calvin has some James Brown moves in him.
Just My Imagination / Imagine
Ryan likes to tease and make his break in the intro really long.
Satisfaction
Scott received a great reaction to his Mick Jagger moves.
Cupid
Steve talked to the guy in front of me: I see you with yours arms crossed in front of you, thinking, "Sing to me, Boy." I love his longer hair. Steve has family here tonight. "The Dorians are here!" What? That's not your actual name. Turns out that somebody actually did change their name to Dorian when they moved out West, so I was kinda wrong. He pronounced "Los Gatos" wrong, and Scott asked him to repeat it. Steve found his Bostonian accent and said, "Las Gattas".
Scott, regarding their album title: We know that's a pretty creative title...some Motown, some more.
My Cherie Amour
I love the way that Calvin does that "La la" jam.
Ryan: Gracias por Los Gatos!
Scott: My little girl ears can't make out his voice, because it's so low.
Ryan, regarding his dog: Her name is Lola. Lola was a showgirl for Hallowee'en. We couldn't help it.
Scott, regarding Jeff: Anything that requires intelligence, we send his way.
Scott: Normally, at this point, we sing a Mills Brothers song. But this time we're going to see what would happen if the Mills Brothers did Prince.
Little Red Wild Thing
Steve sings about eyes, but they're not flirty. Awww....
Blame It On The Boogie
Ryan was having us repeat some stuff, which started out fine, until he went way crazy with his bass-ness, and none of us could repeat it.
<INTERMISSION>
Do you know what it's like when there's a long line to use the restroom, and the toilet doesn't flush when you use it? I do. After that moment of embarrassment, and telling the theater folks about it, I walked over to two ladies in the front row and said hi. It was Em and Cathy from the Napa show. Em asked if I was Steve's friend, because we have so many pictures together. I said, "Yeah, now we are. We follow them A LOT, so it just happened that way." I did not tell them details. I guess I do have a lot of pictures with Steve, huh?
Used Ta Be My Girl
Commercials
Taco Bell has Doritos taco shells. I'm just saying. I love Jeff's peacock flourish and the accompanying sound effect. "Keep them in the can". I JUST got that tonight. I've heard him say it many times about the Dr. Pepper jingle. Yeah, I'm slow.
Scott felt a connection with Cathy. Cathy talked a LOT. Scott has Waze on his phone and Apple Maps. He said that Apple Maps works better. The audience did not agree. I am with the audience on this one, because it's part of why we had a lot of turn-arounds today.
Stand By Me
This song brings back such special memories when I'm in this theater. Now it's not as special when they bring someone on stage and she sings (Cathy's not a very good singer, but at least she worked it)...but back in the old days, it didn't happen very much at all. It's also easier for the girl to get up on and get off of the stage. There were no steps there before. My reminiscing got all jarred up by the craziness of this evening at that moment, but now as I write about it, I remember just how sweet that moment was. Tears!
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Cathy kissed Steve, Calvin and Ryan. Girl, who told you that you could do that?! Certainly not me.
Thrift Shop
Carmen
There were many "WOW!"s in the audience during Jeff's solo, as it should be. He was really on tonight. Not that it seems like he's ever off.
Encore
A*Punk
Scott willed that back to the right key, man. Phew!
Scott asked us if we knew what holiday originated in Portland. It is Father's Day. He learned that today, and felt like he had to share. Well, thank you!
Scott said that they learned a new song today. "This is absolutely new to us and it could be truly bad." This would be their first time performing in front of people.
Sherry's brain: New song! New song! YESSSSS!
Get Happy
This song is a mash-up of "Get Happy" (sung by Judy Garland), "Happy" by Pharell, and "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. Yeah, you read that right. I was VERY excited when I realized what the song was, because I had heard the Sun Bros version through Scott's subscription site. They weren't getting it at first, so Scott had them stop. He said, "This is the magic. The magic is happening right here." Ryan wasn't singing on Jeff's beat, and Steve was helping him along by singing the bass part, and then finally, they got it together, and it went quite well. The rap during "Blurred Lines" went really well between Scott and Steve (they sing instead of rap), which was amazing because those are a LOT of words, and they did a great job with it. I like Jeff's beat. Ryan was having fun with his part, "Yeah, you do. Right?" Steve told us that they didn't want it to sound misogynistic like in the original song, so that's why Ryan acts like that. I like it. Oh, and then Jeff twerked at Ryan. What is going on in this place?! Ahhh, y'all need to hear this! They will be working on choreography for it, and I'm wondering if more twerking will be involved. I need to get that image out of my head now.
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
I do not enjoy it when people sing behind me during a Rockapella concert, especially when the guys are not using their microphones. People, STOP IT. I almost said that loud enough for the guys to hear. Remember how I drank wine earlier? Yeah.
Meet and Greet
We talked for Fred while he cleaned up the sound board. Wendy told him about City Winery closing its doors later this year. We asked him how he liked the acoustics at CW. He said that he really didn't like it because the sound was really hard to control with all of the hardwood floors. It's such a shame that they gutted that beautiful theater and now it's going to be closed. I really hope that they somehow can bring it back to the way it was. If I had the money, I'd definitely help rebuild the inside.
Scott asked what we thought of the new song. I told him that I loved it. We told him that they should always debut songs when we're there, especially in California. I mentioned his arrangement of "Candyman", and asked if they'd be doing that. He said that yes, they could. I asked him not to debut it until Vegas, then realized that Vegas would be a holiday show. He said, "Well, it's kind of holiday. There's candy!" OK, deal!
Calvin gave me a hug across the table, and said he'd give me a real hug later, and he delivered on his promise. He's such a sweetie.
We gave Ryan a hard time for using our pictures for his Facebook cover and not giving us any credit. He said that maybe he wouldn't use them anymore, then said he was kidding, and that he'd give credit next time. Credit or not, we know that they're our photos, so it's not a big deal, RC. While I was telling Steve that I liked his hair, he said that when it gets longer, it goes flat. Ryan said that he's been chasing Steve around with volumizing hair stuff, and Steve said that he just didn't want anything called "volumizing" near him.
I gave Steve his birthday card. It was of a Rottweiler dressed as Darth Vader, bidding him to come to the Bark Side. Ha ha. We also wrote little Star-Wars themed greetings when we signed our names. I then gave him my birthday gift to him: a photo book of his house concert. He signed my copy of the book for me after helping me pick up the contents of my purse when it fell down, Sharpies, sippy cup and all.
Jeff said, "I need to see this book!" He was jealous that we ate Filipino food. See,JT, this is why you need to come over and spend time with us! He told us that the hotel where we were staying was the place where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married, and that there's a frame in the lobby showing such. Neato!
A bunch of us went to Applebee's afterward, which was fun. My favorite part of the conversation: Steve asking me, "How's Bro? I really like that guy." Aw, he likes you, too, FFE. We just need to get him to a Rockapella show with Steve in it!
When we said our goodbyes, Steve thanked me for everything and gave me a kiss on the cheek, so I gave him one, too. Swooon! Sigh.
Good night, Pella. Wish you didn't have to fly out so early in the morning. Well, most of you. Safe travels, and thank you for a great show!
Next up: Los Gatos and Santa Cruz
We settled in to our rooms, and then I realized I needed some ice. I knocked on Weff's door and asked Jeff if he wanted to help me find it. He told Wendy where he was going. She thought he said, "Sherry and I are going to go find the guys." Wendy thought, "That sounds about right." No, no, no! ICE! It ended up being 20 feet away in a little alcove. So that was a short trip. Then I left them alone so I could unpack and get ready for the show. The room was recently remodeled, and the shower was nice and big and had a place to sit down in it, and there were 2 separate shower heads. Had there not been a drought, I would be in there for hours. I'm not telling whether or not I'd invite anyone to join me.
We were ready to go and we wondered which car was Pella's. I jokingly guessed that it was the white KIA that got our attention earlier due to their kick-ass parking job (not). It was gone by the time we left...then we saw it at the Montalvo. Yeah, Sher. I'm not saying that I think somebody can't park, because the parking lot really was tight. Montalvo now charges for parking, which Wendy previously paid online. We still had to walk up that hill, though, and I was wearing high heels. HIGH ones. The things I do for fashion! I decided to buy some wine because I could bring it into the theater if I bought the souvenir sippy cup. OK, it wasn't a sippy cup like for toddlers, but sometimes wine is my comfort, is all I'm going to say about that. It was some kind of white blend. It was tasty. Our seats were in the 2nd row, in the center. Donors were in front of us. Oh, all right.
 |
| Happy Girls with Sippy Cup of Goodness |
SUN BROTHERS
L-O-V-E
Nice recovery from that little snafu during the trumpet portion.
Scott, regarding Rockapella: We love those kids, they're fantastic.
Scott again: You have a beautiful town by the name of "The Kitties". Los Gatos.
Ryan: Meow.
Scott: I can't hear what you said, your voice is so low.
Ryan: I said, "MEOW".
Change The World
I love these kids, too.
During the break, we heard "Chattanooga Choo Choo" and I couldn't help but make some train motions.
Wendy: "That Fred is playing some boss tunes."
ROCKAPELLA
Rock Around the Clock / Tell Me Something Good
I love Scott's Elvis moves at the beginning of the song. OK, I love his Elvis moves ALWAYS. Hi, Steve!
Jailhouse Rock / Folsom Prison Blues / Chain Gang
Ryan does a mime of the slide trombone. Nice low note, Ryan! My hair was buzzing from that! Scott is very shiny.
Scott: Jeff has two microphones on his throat for Los Gatos to hear.
Dancing In The Streets
Calvin has some James Brown moves in him.
Just My Imagination / Imagine
Ryan likes to tease and make his break in the intro really long.
Satisfaction
Scott received a great reaction to his Mick Jagger moves.
Cupid
Steve talked to the guy in front of me: I see you with yours arms crossed in front of you, thinking, "Sing to me, Boy." I love his longer hair. Steve has family here tonight. "The Dorians are here!" What? That's not your actual name. Turns out that somebody actually did change their name to Dorian when they moved out West, so I was kinda wrong. He pronounced "Los Gatos" wrong, and Scott asked him to repeat it. Steve found his Bostonian accent and said, "Las Gattas".
Scott, regarding their album title: We know that's a pretty creative title...some Motown, some more.
My Cherie Amour
I love the way that Calvin does that "La la" jam.
Ryan: Gracias por Los Gatos!
Scott: My little girl ears can't make out his voice, because it's so low.
Ryan, regarding his dog: Her name is Lola. Lola was a showgirl for Hallowee'en. We couldn't help it.
Scott, regarding Jeff: Anything that requires intelligence, we send his way.
Scott: Normally, at this point, we sing a Mills Brothers song. But this time we're going to see what would happen if the Mills Brothers did Prince.
Little Red Wild Thing
Steve sings about eyes, but they're not flirty. Awww....
Blame It On The Boogie
Ryan was having us repeat some stuff, which started out fine, until he went way crazy with his bass-ness, and none of us could repeat it.
<INTERMISSION>
Do you know what it's like when there's a long line to use the restroom, and the toilet doesn't flush when you use it? I do. After that moment of embarrassment, and telling the theater folks about it, I walked over to two ladies in the front row and said hi. It was Em and Cathy from the Napa show. Em asked if I was Steve's friend, because we have so many pictures together. I said, "Yeah, now we are. We follow them A LOT, so it just happened that way." I did not tell them details. I guess I do have a lot of pictures with Steve, huh?
Used Ta Be My Girl
Commercials
Taco Bell has Doritos taco shells. I'm just saying. I love Jeff's peacock flourish and the accompanying sound effect. "Keep them in the can". I JUST got that tonight. I've heard him say it many times about the Dr. Pepper jingle. Yeah, I'm slow.
Scott felt a connection with Cathy. Cathy talked a LOT. Scott has Waze on his phone and Apple Maps. He said that Apple Maps works better. The audience did not agree. I am with the audience on this one, because it's part of why we had a lot of turn-arounds today.
Stand By Me
This song brings back such special memories when I'm in this theater. Now it's not as special when they bring someone on stage and she sings (Cathy's not a very good singer, but at least she worked it)...but back in the old days, it didn't happen very much at all. It's also easier for the girl to get up on and get off of the stage. There were no steps there before. My reminiscing got all jarred up by the craziness of this evening at that moment, but now as I write about it, I remember just how sweet that moment was. Tears!
Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Cathy kissed Steve, Calvin and Ryan. Girl, who told you that you could do that?! Certainly not me.
Thrift Shop
Carmen
There were many "WOW!"s in the audience during Jeff's solo, as it should be. He was really on tonight. Not that it seems like he's ever off.
Encore
A*Punk
Scott willed that back to the right key, man. Phew!
Scott asked us if we knew what holiday originated in Portland. It is Father's Day. He learned that today, and felt like he had to share. Well, thank you!
Scott said that they learned a new song today. "This is absolutely new to us and it could be truly bad." This would be their first time performing in front of people.
Sherry's brain: New song! New song! YESSSSS!
Get Happy
This song is a mash-up of "Get Happy" (sung by Judy Garland), "Happy" by Pharell, and "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. Yeah, you read that right. I was VERY excited when I realized what the song was, because I had heard the Sun Bros version through Scott's subscription site. They weren't getting it at first, so Scott had them stop. He said, "This is the magic. The magic is happening right here." Ryan wasn't singing on Jeff's beat, and Steve was helping him along by singing the bass part, and then finally, they got it together, and it went quite well. The rap during "Blurred Lines" went really well between Scott and Steve (they sing instead of rap), which was amazing because those are a LOT of words, and they did a great job with it. I like Jeff's beat. Ryan was having fun with his part, "Yeah, you do. Right?" Steve told us that they didn't want it to sound misogynistic like in the original song, so that's why Ryan acts like that. I like it. Oh, and then Jeff twerked at Ryan. What is going on in this place?! Ahhh, y'all need to hear this! They will be working on choreography for it, and I'm wondering if more twerking will be involved. I need to get that image out of my head now.
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
I do not enjoy it when people sing behind me during a Rockapella concert, especially when the guys are not using their microphones. People, STOP IT. I almost said that loud enough for the guys to hear. Remember how I drank wine earlier? Yeah.
Meet and Greet
We talked for Fred while he cleaned up the sound board. Wendy told him about City Winery closing its doors later this year. We asked him how he liked the acoustics at CW. He said that he really didn't like it because the sound was really hard to control with all of the hardwood floors. It's such a shame that they gutted that beautiful theater and now it's going to be closed. I really hope that they somehow can bring it back to the way it was. If I had the money, I'd definitely help rebuild the inside.
Scott asked what we thought of the new song. I told him that I loved it. We told him that they should always debut songs when we're there, especially in California. I mentioned his arrangement of "Candyman", and asked if they'd be doing that. He said that yes, they could. I asked him not to debut it until Vegas, then realized that Vegas would be a holiday show. He said, "Well, it's kind of holiday. There's candy!" OK, deal!
Calvin gave me a hug across the table, and said he'd give me a real hug later, and he delivered on his promise. He's such a sweetie.
We gave Ryan a hard time for using our pictures for his Facebook cover and not giving us any credit. He said that maybe he wouldn't use them anymore, then said he was kidding, and that he'd give credit next time. Credit or not, we know that they're our photos, so it's not a big deal, RC. While I was telling Steve that I liked his hair, he said that when it gets longer, it goes flat. Ryan said that he's been chasing Steve around with volumizing hair stuff, and Steve said that he just didn't want anything called "volumizing" near him.
I gave Steve his birthday card. It was of a Rottweiler dressed as Darth Vader, bidding him to come to the Bark Side. Ha ha. We also wrote little Star-Wars themed greetings when we signed our names. I then gave him my birthday gift to him: a photo book of his house concert. He signed my copy of the book for me after helping me pick up the contents of my purse when it fell down, Sharpies, sippy cup and all.
 |
| I didn't pinch him, I swear. |
 |
| Ryan pretending not to photobomb as Steve signs my book |
Jeff said, "I need to see this book!" He was jealous that we ate Filipino food. See,JT, this is why you need to come over and spend time with us! He told us that the hotel where we were staying was the place where Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio got married, and that there's a frame in the lobby showing such. Neato!
A bunch of us went to Applebee's afterward, which was fun. My favorite part of the conversation: Steve asking me, "How's Bro? I really like that guy." Aw, he likes you, too, FFE. We just need to get him to a Rockapella show with Steve in it!
 |
| Late night smiles |
 |
| Thanks for the picture, Steve and Wendy! |
When we said our goodbyes, Steve thanked me for everything and gave me a kiss on the cheek, so I gave him one, too. Swooon! Sigh.
Good night, Pella. Wish you didn't have to fly out so early in the morning. Well, most of you. Safe travels, and thank you for a great show!
Next up: Los Gatos and Santa Cruz
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