Rockapella in Laguna
Show #2
Saturday, August 20, 2016 -- 2:00
Laguna Playhouse
Laguna, CA
When I arrived in Laguna, Bro and family were at the beach and had already eaten lunch, so I went to Whole Foods and bought a Tuna Avocado sushi roll with brown rice, and walked to the Playhouse to eat my lunch in their courtyard. KP and Nicole were there, getting tickets. I ate my lunch while they did whatever, and waited for Bro and family. We were all in blue! Except Bro. He didn't get the memo and wore brown.
Our seats were in the first row, center section, A106-110. The usher at the door told me that I should go to the other side of the theater so that I wouldn't have to walk in front of ten people. I told her that I knew all of them, so It was OK. Besides, it wasn't 10 people. It was 4, all members of my family. The nephew was in the aisle seat, Bro next to him, then the niece, then V, whom was seated next to me. Bro asked to see last night's set list. I don't know what he was preparing himself for, but I obliged, wishing him luck on reading my messy writing.
Sun Brothers
L-O-V-E
Scott shook hands with KP, Nicole, me, V, and the niece. I had told him the day before that the niece would be at her first show, so it looks like he remembered. Thank you, oh Mighty Blond one! Calvin played his trumpet directly at the niece.
Scott, when introducing themselves as the Sun Brothers: We like to keep things mellow, keep the expectations low.
Across the Alley from the Alamo
V: Scott has the best pants.
Nicole: I agree. Shiniest pants!
We are Scott's Shiny Pants fans.
Rockapella
Rock Around the Clock
Mitchell's facial expressions during the "Deedly Deedly Dee" portion were hilarious.
Jailhouse Rock
Why is JT no longer in jail (behind the mic stands) at the end of this song? Now he escapes or something, but doesn't ever act like he's in jail.
Scott described the area as "Lovely Laguna Beach": I guess you knew that already.
Today when they did the roll up of voice parts, Scott said that JT puts the "Lagoon" in "Laguna". His throat mics really stood out for me this time, I don't know why it was more than the other times I've seen them. Maybe I was actually paying attention?
Dancing in the Streets
Mitchell pointed at the nephew, happy that he was clapping along. My family's got rhythm, you know.
Just My Imagination / Imagine
Scott was humming to himself while doing his steps before Bryant's intro. Does he do that all the time? Nice riff, Calvin!
Scott talked about acquiring Calvin for Rockapella, and said, "One of the guys" instead of Steve's name for credit in finding him. Sigh. I miss that one of the guys.
Satisfaction/ Cupid
Mitchell elaborated a little bit on "paaaaid", and I liked it. During the audience participation, he asked the nephew, "Why aren't you singing? Don't you know the song? Oh."
Scott said that Mitchell likes to take credit for Cleveland ending its losing streak and is here to throw the Cavaliers championship in the face of all of the Warriors fans in California. Ooh, he's lucky he's not in Northern California. We're still aching over Kobe retiring.
Moon River
Ohhh....here are the lyrics that Calvin sings at the end:
"It's the most wonderful moon of the year....it's the hap, happiest river of all."
Scott: Jeff has been with Rockapella for over 20 years. He started when he was five.
Paper Doll
JT was moving his butt sideways on his stool during the rhythm section feature, and I about lost my mind.
Blame It On The Boogie
Uh-oh, those opening chords during "Sunshine! Moonlight!" didn't sound right. Mitchell and Calvin were really close to each other when the tenors were upstage doing their choreography and their mic packs crashed against each other. When they repeated that part in the song, they were really far from each other. I laughed and they were smiling. But then they almost crashed again at the end.
<Intermission>
I overheard ladies talking to each other in the restroom. No, ma'am, Keith Urban is not just "Nicole Kidman's husband". He has his own thriving career. He was mentioned because they thought Scott looked like him. I told Scott about it later, and he said that he gets that a lot. I told him that I think Keith looks like Scott, not the other way around. He appreciated that. I know who's more important!
Used Ta Be My Girl
I think I distracted Calvin because when he smiled at me, he forgot his steps. Sorry! Then he sang to the niece! She was so cute because she seemed to like it and was embarrassed at the same time. Then when Bryant sang to her and pushed Calvin away, it was just cute overload. Awesome.
Commercials
Scott almost spun prematurely during the first Almond Joy jingle. Bro's favorite part was the second AJ jingle "chewy chewy". I think that Bryant loves this part of the show because his facial expressions are priceless.
Scott got coffee vibes from Christine, an Internal Medicine doctor from Long Beach.
Scott: Calvin's been having some issues. It's that apple cider vinegar.
Cal nodded his head in agreement.
Stand By Me
Christine sang very very softly. Thank you for the effort!
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
As Mitchell pulled Christine back to center stage, Bryant pointed at the stool for her to sit down. Mitchell had his back to Bryant and straight up ran into the stool, causing everyone to gasp. The stool was OK, though. Afterward, he said to Christine while handing her the CD, "This if for putting up with all our foolishness because it's a lot up here today." Pretty sure he was mostly talking about himself. He's hilarious.
Macklemore
There IS a thrift shop down the road! Bryant even points in the direction of the shop. I wonder if he actually knows that.
DO IT ROCKAPELLA!!!!
Our front row is awesome. Scott: "That's what I'm talking about!"
Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego
Jeff's solo was spot on. Not that I ever really think that it's not, but I told you that I was paying attention today. We were amazed at how fast he drums. We love you, JT!
We don't start the standing ovations normally, because we like to see how the rest of the audience responds first. They stood at this show, and I told the others, so we stood up, too. Heck, we'd stand up every time, you know.
Encore
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
I smiled at V when they started the song and whispered to her, "It's your song!" This song is what Bro chose for their first dance at their wedding, and I always picture the two of them on that day when I hear it, especially this one picture that I have where Bro has this look of pure contentment on his face. Yeah, I'm crying now. Shut up. So anyway, it means even more to me when I hear it live and the two of them are there with me. I smiled and smiled, then started the standing ovation.
Meet and Greet
While waiting for Rockapella to get to the lobby, we took pictures of each other.
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| Nicole & KP |
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| KP with Bro |
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| My Loves |
I told Scott that "Wonderful World" was Bro and V's first dance, which is why I was smiling so much. Bro thanked him for singing it. V told him that the nephew has hair like him, and he smiled.
Jeff had not remembered meeting Bro before, and I told him that he first met Bro and V back when I called her "my brothers' girlfriend, Veronica". Jeff: "Glad that worked out!" I said that they met at Great American Music Hall. He was amazed because it was so long ago, and said that the venue folks did not like the fact that the fans didn't drink enough. They wanted us to be more raucous. Bro said that had he known that, he would have drank more. Jeff: "Well, one person wouldn't have been enough, but thanks."
Calvin told the niece that she was pretty and when he saw her, he said to himself, "I have to go sing to her!" She's so cute.
Mitchell and Calvin talked about being out of control while dancing on stage. Bro asked if it was on purpose. No. Mitchell said that he will make sure that Calvin calms down for the next show. I said to him, "Mirror? Look in one?" He laughed. I enjoy it, though. It reminds Liz, KP and me of the old days when Kevin and Elliott would crack each other up with whatever they said to each other off mic, unbeknownst to the rest of the guys on stage. Liz and KP had mentioned it to Scott, and he hadn't know about Kev's and El's antics. Aw, I miss them.
Bryant asked the nephew if he sings. He said that he does a little in school. Bryant's advice to him: "Keep doing it as long as you like it." Bryant's parents were there, but we didn't talk to them.
The family was hungry, so we looked for a place to eat, and decided on Hapi Sushi, where we were told before we sat down, "We don't have chicken or beef." I think the guy wanted to make sure the kids were OK with not having standard kid meal fare. Yeah, they're good.
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| Sign above the sushi bar |
I asked them about their favorites of today's show.
Bro's favorite was Wonderful World, as was V's. No surprise. Bro thought that the most well done portion, though, was the commercials in Almond Joy II. He said that they sound much better when they stand closer to each other and can hear better. This is the difference when Fred is not there. Fred can play with the levels and he knows when someone needs to be toned down more or brought up for the balance. They're also dancing around, so they can't concentrate as much on the tuning. Not that they're horribly out of tune, but it's also the case of not blending as tightly as when it's the regular group, whom have worked together for a long time and made the harmonies gel into seamless chords.
The kids' favorite was Carmen SanDiego.
As far as the guys go, everyone's favorite was Calvin, save one person; the niece's favorite was Scott.
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| Somehow herded all the cats for the family photo (Hi, KP!) |
I walked them to their car and we said our goodbyes, then I was ready for the evening portion of Rockapella Day.
Next up: Jennifer's first show
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