Rockapella in Newtown I
Edmond Town Hall
Newtown, CT
Friday, September 13, 2019
Our trip started early Thursday morning. Weff and I met at the Ontario for a 7:00 a.m. flight, and we were able to sit in the emergency row, so we got comfy for our flight. The WiFi wasn't working, which JeffEvs said happens a lot on these new planes for some reason. The flight attendant took our drink orders, and asked us all to please stay out of the aisles and wait to use the lavatories until after the drinks had been served. A short while later, we heard an announcement, asking if any doctors or EMTs were on board so that they could assist at the front of the plane. Hmmm.... Then about 20 minutes later, another announcement came, this time asking for a nurse or medical personnel that could assist in the back of the plane. We wondered if the two announcements were related. Luckily, there was a nurse on board that was available to help. I think there was also a doctor on board that helped out the person in front, but I'm not sure. Since our flight attendant was busy with the emergency, another one came back to take our drink orders and we ordered again. She was able to serve about a tray of drinks before we felt the plane start to descend. Then the flight attendants informed us that they needed to collect the trash and drinks because we were going to land. The pilot announced that we would be landing in Amarillo to deal with the medical issues on the plane. We landed pretty quickly, and when they opened the cabin doors, a lot of us felt our ears pop due to the rapid change in pressure. Ow. They got the people off of the plane (at least one of them; they might have just changed the oxygen tank for the other one, but I'm not sure). We saw two fire engines outside at the other gate.
The pilot let us know that they were not sure if the issues were neurological or cardiovascular in nature, so he decided to land, and asked if he could land in nearby Amarillo. They allowed it but we came in quick because our load was heavy (JeffEvs said it was from the extra fuel that we had not yet burned off), so maintenance needed to take a look at everything before we were allowed to take off again. JeffEvs saw that our ETA at Midway had changed from a little bit after 12:00 to 2:45, which would be after our connecting flight. When we took off, the 3 of us were prepared to order alcohol because it was now afternoon. The flight attendant never asked us to pay, so we made a toast to our free drinks. I had a Rum Rita and it was strong, but the ice eventually watered it down enough for me to finish it.
When we landed in Chicago, we were told that our new connecting flight would be at 9:10 p.m. So we had 6.5 hours to make arrangements with our hotel for our late arrivals, alert the rental car place of our delayed flight, eat, walk around, shop, and check out the dedication to the airport's namesake, the Battle of Midway.
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| One of the displays |
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| B3 Dive Bomber found in Lake Michigan |
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| Tribute Statue |
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| Wing of B3 Dive Bomber |
Dodie had taken a separate flight, so I gave her regular updates on our whereabouts and told her to go to bed, as I had arranged for her to check in to the hotel for us. Then our 9:10 pm flight was delayed!!! Oy vey. It was about a 40-minute delay, and by this time, we were just exhausted. Thank goodness for JeffEvs A-list status, we were all still able to sit together for all of our flights, so that we could go through the misery together. We finally touched ground at 1:04 a.m., and JeffEvs called the car rental agency immediately to see if maybe they would still be open. Nope. So I called a Lyft once we picked up our bags. We had to wait about 15 minutes since our driver was not in the area, but we were happy once we got in his car, and I talked to him to keep him from falling asleep. He wasn't able to see the driveway to our hotel at first due to the darkness, but he was very nice to us, and had even offered to stop for fast food due to our crazy journey in case we were hungry. We just wanted to get to the hotel.
By the time we arrived, it was a few minutes after 3:00 a.m. The front desk clerk had just rebooted the computer for their daily updates, so we had to wait a little bit until the computer was ready, and made ourselves tea as we waited. Our rooms are across the hall from each other, and we said good night. Dodie was still awake, and insisted that I tell her what happened because she couldn't wait until the morning. So I told her about our crazy travel day before drifting off to sleep in my travel clothes, because I didn't even want to deal with finding my pajamas.
The next morning, we woke up and went to breakfast downstairs. I made myself a blueberry waffle, and Dodie made a Vanilla Malt one. Weff eventually made it downstairs, and we made a game plan for the day.
While we waited for Weff to finish getting ready, I saw that a movie had just started, and we watched "The Forest", which turned out to be a horror movie, and I was glad we were watching it while it was bright and sunny outside. JeffEvs called Enterprise to rent a car, and we waited outside to be picked up. While we were waiting, we saw a gentleman in a car, and another gentleman outside, waiting. The guy outside answered his telephone, and who was calling him? The guy in the car! They laughed, we laughed, it was silly. Then a guy in a jeep pulled up, and after a little while of seeing nobody get in his car, JeffEvs asked if he was waiting for him. Yes. So I guess people just drive up to the hotel and wait for the patrons to approach them? If JeffEvs hadn't gone to the car, would the guy have called him on the phone?
The guy drove us to the rental agency, and we picked out a car. While we were waiting for it to be cleaned, Wendy saw an agent struggling with a customer, whom spoke Spanish as her first language. Wendy's very good at Spanish, so she helped out. I think we should have gotten a discount on our rental as payment for her interpreter services, but nobody offered.
Dodie and I needed stuff at Target (surprise, surprise!), and then we got a late lunch at Puerto Vallarta, which was located across the street from our hotel, and had been recommended as a good "Spanish" place to eat chips and salsa and drink margaritas. The chips were OK. None of us had a margarita. My crab enchiladas tasted funny, so I asked that they be replaced with a cheese enchilada. The best part of my meal was the side of plantains that I ordered (with no sauce or cheese). They were way yum.
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| Mmmm....Plantains! |
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| Cool Sombrero Mobile over one of the tables |
We then drove through residential areas (due to traffic) to find the venue, which made us a little wary because of the movie we had seen this morning because of all of the trees. We eventually found the venue and checked out where to park.
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| Connecticut Country |
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| YAY!!!!! |
We returned to our hotel for some rest and got ready for our first show of the weekend.
When we arrived in the parking lot of the venue, there weren't many cars there. We wondered if anyone knew that there was a show that night. I thought, "We're back East. I know there will be fans here, but where are they?" We decided to just go into the venue and take pictures.
Edmond Town Hall is an old community center that houses a bunch of events, such as movies, stage shows, and all other kinds of stuff. There are lots of levels in the building, and I went downstairs to use the restroom because the one on the main level was very small. This was after I showed an usher my ticket. She never took it from me, but instead explained that I had an amazing seat in the front row of the pit. When I came back upstairs, my friends were still talking to each other. I tried to buy a CD, but they didn't have change for my payment, so I decided to go after the show. I did already have this CD, but I couldn't remember if the guys had signed it yet. This isn't usually a concern because I eventually see them again, but a Facebook post on Mitch's timeline indicated that he might be leaving soon. :( So I wanted to make sure mine was signed properly.
When we arrived in the parking lot of the venue, there weren't many cars there. We wondered if anyone knew that there was a show that night. I thought, "We're back East. I know there will be fans here, but where are they?" We decided to just go into the venue and take pictures.
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| We're here! |
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| Front of Venue |
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| Those are our guys! |
Edmond Town Hall is an old community center that houses a bunch of events, such as movies, stage shows, and all other kinds of stuff. There are lots of levels in the building, and I went downstairs to use the restroom because the one on the main level was very small. This was after I showed an usher my ticket. She never took it from me, but instead explained that I had an amazing seat in the front row of the pit. When I came back upstairs, my friends were still talking to each other. I tried to buy a CD, but they didn't have change for my payment, so I decided to go after the show. I did already have this CD, but I couldn't remember if the guys had signed it yet. This isn't usually a concern because I eventually see them again, but a Facebook post on Mitch's timeline indicated that he might be leaving soon. :( So I wanted to make sure mine was signed properly.
I told Weff and Dodie that I was going to go back into the theatre, so they finally got in line to check in their tickets. They really could have just come in with me since the tickets weren't even scanned, and we knew where our seats were located, but they still got in on time, so it didn't matter. I wasn't sitting in the correct seat, though, because I couldn't read the numbers, so they had to kick me out of the seat. The guy pointing out the seats to me inside the theatre advised me that the people in the pit got to have free drinks because we paid more. Nice! I took a bottle of water because I'm not a Bud Light person.
Dodie had planned on taking some pictures to show her friend's kids, but the announcer advised that no photography or video was allowed. Bummer. We had such great seats that I was hoping to borrow some from Dodie or JeffEvs. Oh, well.
Dodie had not yet seen the comic book / Avengers introduction of the show, so she was pleasantly surprised.
Rock Around the Clock
Scott still wears his paper heart from Napa!! Totes Adorbs. I told him later on that I noticed it. He had forgotten where he got it, and then remembered when I reminded him. Ah, Valentine's Night with the Pella. Sigh. Oh, back to the more recent past.
Jailhouse Rock
Scott said they were "happy to be in Newtown, but this is not a New Town is it? It was incorporated in 1711 or something like that."
He asked how many people had seen Rockapella before. He saw Tonya on house right and said to her, "you've seen us many, many times." Then he looked at me, and I said, "HI!" He said, "And you! You're from California! For a $30 ticket." I got applause, how nice, and Tonya shouted out my name. I mean, I was with 3 other people from California, but it was nice to get the shout-out. Also, the ticket cost more than $30, but I got free water, so who cares. Or maybe the water was the extra stuff I paid for.
Scott talked about Jeff's vocal percussion sound, saying to him, "My goodness, you have a nuclear neck!"
Dancing in the Moonlight
I whispered to Dodie "Pella Butts" when Scott shook his toward the audience.
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
JT doesn't participate until right before the junkyard dogs start barking. Mitch pretended to pee on Calvin's leg, then wiped down Calvin's pant leg. Calvin's staring at him is priceless.
Scott started talking about Calvin's career, but got distracted by the buckets of drinks for the people in the front row.
Satisfaction / Cupid
Mitch chose Emma from the crowd, and she sang with a little bit of coaxing. Scott posed for Wendy. No, she wasn't taking pictures.
Moon River
I love seeing Mitch praise Cal afterward about his melismas. I don't know if he actually says "melismas", but I could tell that he was talking about it.
Scott started talking about their bass and forgot his name. His name is BRYANT. Scott talked about Bryant celebrating his first year of marriage by riding jet skis. That was a really cool instagram picture. Scott said that JT was so cute when he joined Rockapella at the age of 3.
When Scott mentioned the Mills Bros, JeffEvs gave a little "whoo!" and Scott pointed to him and said, "Jeff knows about the Mills Brothers."
Paper Doll
Calvin couldn't sing at first. Scott: "He got all choked up." Once it started, though, they performed this song the best I've heard this particular group.
Rock the Boat
Dodie came in too early for "Do the Hustle", and Mitch blamed me for it. Hmph. Bryant uses The Force. Uh-oh: a Scott and Calvin collision. They giggled at each other.
L-O-V-E
It's Pella Drum Corps! There are people acting like trumpet players, there's that one guy being a drummer, there's Sherry in the audience...it's DRUM CORPS.
Middle
Mitch slapped Calvin on the back and it was pretty forceful. Scott pulled on his own pant pocket to lead himself to the middle to squish Mitch.
Commercials
A guy yelled out "Folgers" before they even started singing the first song. Scott: "All right now, it may seem like the interactive part of the show. It is not."
When Bryant sang "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?", JT hid behind the curtain in shame.
Scott mentioned that they got "zero dolla" for the Dr. Pepper jingle, and Mitch showed his empty pocket.
Scott went into the audience and and said, "You see, we were singing about coffee. Have you heard about coffee?" He was speaking to Emma, whom Mitch had chosen to sing "Cupid" with them. She brought her pocketbook to the stage with her, to which Scott said, "I'm glad you brought your money with you." (We found out later that Emma had attended the concert alone, so nobody would watch it for her. He asked where she was from, and he thought she said "New Mumford". A guy in the audience corrected him, and he said, "New Medford! All right, touchy!" Emma is a retired nurse.
Stand By Me
Emma sang along again!
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Dance, Emma, Dance! She was really fun.
Macklemore
JT waved around his towel when Bryant talked about the new CD, and knocked over the mic stand, then kept on waving it.
Bryant: "Jeff is very excited about it."
Vocal Percussion Duet / Rhythm Section
This made the floor thump and my feet shook from the thumping.
Carmen SanDiego
Rockapella sang this song for 59 years.
Encore
Rapper's Delight
Mitch pointed to me after he danced and said, "She likes it!" I do!
Up on the Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
I like being able to hear JT sing. Now, if only they would sing their "How Deep Is Your Love/ Say You Won't Let Go" mashup with his singing solo, that would be even better. A girl can dream.
Meet and Greet
I bought my CD and asked the guys to sign it. Bryant said, "Don't you already have 5 of these?" Maybe, but they're not signed, B!
I was happy to get a picture with all of the guys, with Mitch singing "Sherry" to me and others singing along. That makes me sooo happy!
The meet was pretty much "fend for yourself" most of the time. I talked a little bit to Tonya and we made sure to get a picture together with the guys because we never did that when we were on the Rockapella cruise, which is where I met her. Scott said to (someone), "We did a cruise." I said aloud that it was time for another one. A couple of the guys said it would be fun. I don't know who, because this conversation was all going on while Tonya and I were getting ready for our picture.
I met Bryant's parents. APPARENTLY, I had met them already in Laguna, but forgot. They were very gracious about it, though. I also said hi to Hannah and told all of them how much I love Bryant because he did a special favor for me in Napa, and Hannah said, "Are you kidding? He LOVES you!" Aw, so sweet.
Wendy gave Mitch the birthday card that we bought at Midway, which also had a Helen Grace chocolate inside. When he saw that it wasn't flat, Calvin asked if it was a fish taco because he thinks of Wahoo's when he sees us and wants to go back there. I said it wasn't a taco. Later on, I was concerned that the chocolate would melt before Mitch could eat it, especially because it was in his pants pocket. I contemplated telling him, "You know that thing in your pants? It's going to melt." Dodie said she would pay me cash if I did, but he left at that moment. It was either that, or I ask if he was leaving the band, but Wendy felt weird about asking him that, so I refrained.
During most of this conversation, JeffEvs talked to Fred about a bunch of stuff, like Fred's trip to Hawaii. We patiently waited as most of Rockapella left and JeffEvs and Fred continued to talk to each other.
I was hungry and so was JeffEvs, so we went to Chili's, which was closer to our hotel than I thought it was. JeffEvs parked in the hotel lot and we walked to the restaurant. I enjoyed my turkey club sandwich and onion blossoms, but I especially enjoyed my Presidente Mango Margarita.
Dancing in the Moonlight
I whispered to Dodie "Pella Butts" when Scott shook his toward the audience.
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
JT doesn't participate until right before the junkyard dogs start barking. Mitch pretended to pee on Calvin's leg, then wiped down Calvin's pant leg. Calvin's staring at him is priceless.
Scott started talking about Calvin's career, but got distracted by the buckets of drinks for the people in the front row.
Satisfaction / Cupid
Mitch chose Emma from the crowd, and she sang with a little bit of coaxing. Scott posed for Wendy. No, she wasn't taking pictures.
Moon River
I love seeing Mitch praise Cal afterward about his melismas. I don't know if he actually says "melismas", but I could tell that he was talking about it.
Scott started talking about their bass and forgot his name. His name is BRYANT. Scott talked about Bryant celebrating his first year of marriage by riding jet skis. That was a really cool instagram picture. Scott said that JT was so cute when he joined Rockapella at the age of 3.
When Scott mentioned the Mills Bros, JeffEvs gave a little "whoo!" and Scott pointed to him and said, "Jeff knows about the Mills Brothers."
Paper Doll
Calvin couldn't sing at first. Scott: "He got all choked up." Once it started, though, they performed this song the best I've heard this particular group.
Rock the Boat
Dodie came in too early for "Do the Hustle", and Mitch blamed me for it. Hmph. Bryant uses The Force. Uh-oh: a Scott and Calvin collision. They giggled at each other.
L-O-V-E
It's Pella Drum Corps! There are people acting like trumpet players, there's that one guy being a drummer, there's Sherry in the audience...it's DRUM CORPS.
Middle
Mitch slapped Calvin on the back and it was pretty forceful. Scott pulled on his own pant pocket to lead himself to the middle to squish Mitch.
Commercials
A guy yelled out "Folgers" before they even started singing the first song. Scott: "All right now, it may seem like the interactive part of the show. It is not."
When Bryant sang "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?", JT hid behind the curtain in shame.
Scott mentioned that they got "zero dolla" for the Dr. Pepper jingle, and Mitch showed his empty pocket.
Scott went into the audience and and said, "You see, we were singing about coffee. Have you heard about coffee?" He was speaking to Emma, whom Mitch had chosen to sing "Cupid" with them. She brought her pocketbook to the stage with her, to which Scott said, "I'm glad you brought your money with you." (We found out later that Emma had attended the concert alone, so nobody would watch it for her. He asked where she was from, and he thought she said "New Mumford". A guy in the audience corrected him, and he said, "New Medford! All right, touchy!" Emma is a retired nurse.
Stand By Me
Emma sang along again!
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Dance, Emma, Dance! She was really fun.
Macklemore
JT waved around his towel when Bryant talked about the new CD, and knocked over the mic stand, then kept on waving it.
Bryant: "Jeff is very excited about it."
Vocal Percussion Duet / Rhythm Section
This made the floor thump and my feet shook from the thumping.
Carmen SanDiego
Rockapella sang this song for 59 years.
Encore
Rapper's Delight
Mitch pointed to me after he danced and said, "She likes it!" I do!
Up on the Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
I like being able to hear JT sing. Now, if only they would sing their "How Deep Is Your Love/ Say You Won't Let Go" mashup with his singing solo, that would be even better. A girl can dream.
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| You're welcome! |
Meet and Greet
I bought my CD and asked the guys to sign it. Bryant said, "Don't you already have 5 of these?" Maybe, but they're not signed, B!
I was happy to get a picture with all of the guys, with Mitch singing "Sherry" to me and others singing along. That makes me sooo happy!
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| I love my guys. |
The meet was pretty much "fend for yourself" most of the time. I talked a little bit to Tonya and we made sure to get a picture together with the guys because we never did that when we were on the Rockapella cruise, which is where I met her. Scott said to (someone), "We did a cruise." I said aloud that it was time for another one. A couple of the guys said it would be fun. I don't know who, because this conversation was all going on while Tonya and I were getting ready for our picture.
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| My guys and me with Tonya |
I met Bryant's parents. APPARENTLY, I had met them already in Laguna, but forgot. They were very gracious about it, though. I also said hi to Hannah and told all of them how much I love Bryant because he did a special favor for me in Napa, and Hannah said, "Are you kidding? He LOVES you!" Aw, so sweet.
Wendy gave Mitch the birthday card that we bought at Midway, which also had a Helen Grace chocolate inside. When he saw that it wasn't flat, Calvin asked if it was a fish taco because he thinks of Wahoo's when he sees us and wants to go back there. I said it wasn't a taco. Later on, I was concerned that the chocolate would melt before Mitch could eat it, especially because it was in his pants pocket. I contemplated telling him, "You know that thing in your pants? It's going to melt." Dodie said she would pay me cash if I did, but he left at that moment. It was either that, or I ask if he was leaving the band, but Wendy felt weird about asking him that, so I refrained.
During most of this conversation, JeffEvs talked to Fred about a bunch of stuff, like Fred's trip to Hawaii. We patiently waited as most of Rockapella left and JeffEvs and Fred continued to talk to each other.
I was hungry and so was JeffEvs, so we went to Chili's, which was closer to our hotel than I thought it was. JeffEvs parked in the hotel lot and we walked to the restaurant. I enjoyed my turkey club sandwich and onion blossoms, but I especially enjoyed my Presidente Mango Margarita.
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| Mmmm.. |
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| Happy Margarita Time! |
We were still kind of on West Coast time, so we stayed up for a little while before finally falling asleep. Yes, I wore my jammy jams this time, so I could drift off to sleep, dreaming of the guys whom are worth much more than a $30 ticket.
Next up: Newtown Show #2
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| Pella and the Posse |
Next up: Newtown Show #2
Boo on the detour and delays but yay for the rest of it. I actually LOLed for real a few times.
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