Feeling Fancy at the Rose Bowl

 Corps at the Crest - Pasadena
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA

I was told that Bro's ETA would be 3:03pm.  So I texted Dodie and Double N to let them know that Bro would be at my place would be 3:93. I didn't look before I hit send, which gave Dodie a good giggle.  Double N said that he got his times messed up, so he'd need to meet us there.  I guess his plan was to leave at 3:30 to get to my house by 3:00, which doesn't work unless he got a new time machine that I didn't know about.  Then he asked if we could wait until 3:05.  Yes, we can wait 2 more minutes.  Especially because there needed to be logistics with Bro's dog and kids.

Miss O had made chocolate chip cookies, so I was already thinking I would get to have some, and then Dodie arrived and gave me these!

I had convinced her to buy a Doctor Who kitchen set at WonderCon, and she came through with her promise to make me cookies.  Aren't they cool?  Not bad for a first try at decorating sugar cookies!

We all piled in Bro's car, and drove to Lot K at the Rose Bowl.  While we were sitting in the car, who should park next to us, but Tim!  He recognized Bro's license plate and followed us.  So now we had the whole gang together, and walked over to watch some drum warm-ups.  Oh, but wait!  I needed a selfie of us in front of the big sign.

We saw the brand new Pacific Crest trailer, and V did a photo shoot with me because it's so pretty.  I even waited a while for other people to move so that I could get photos of the other side of the trailer.

In back

White Side

Just chillin'

Teal Side

It was finally time to enter the stadium, so I distributed our tickets for the fancy seats.  Yup, I decided that this year, we were going to watch this show in style!  We shopped a little bit and I got a Pacific Crest towel.  The Lone Star Percussion folks were there, and I told them that I live nearby and need to go visit their store.  I asked how much the little shaker things were, and they said $1.00.  I said I wanted 6, so they gave me a deal for $5.00.  Thanks, guys!  We each chose one for ourselves.  I got a little bongo drum shaker.  

Love the welcome mats at the PepWear area!

Then it was fancy time, and we talked to the guard who looked at our tickets and allowed us to go up the series of escalators to the Club Level.  I like all of the signs above us that showed Rose Bowl history, but we were too busy trying to get our selfie for me to take pictures.  Also, I was trying to be cool.  Why, I don't know.  Clearly, I was dorky enough to take these pictures while we were waiting for our wristbands.

We're Here!

Employees also get decorated elevators

We got to our floor, showed them our tickets, and got wristbands so we could go in and out of if we wanted other food.  V was going to get Aguas Frescas after getting her food.  I opted for the ice water.  We thought that the Fiji bottles in the fridge were available for us, but they were locked, so no.

Wristband to Fanciness

Food that was offered at the buffet:  Pulled pork torta, vegetable crudites with sriracha ranch dressing, mac and cheese bites, and mini empanadas with avocado creme dressing.  

My plate

In case you forget you're in T of R Land

Dodie went to the bar to get our ice water, and she said that this water was for Sherry.  So the bartender put a cherry in it and said, "A cherry for Sherry!"  Thanks, bartender!

V and I put two tables together so that we could all enjoy our food and socialize within our own group. Bro and I wanted to see if our former conductor was there, so we walked to the other side of the Club level, but couldn't find him.  We saw a couple of guys with cookies and brownies.  I thought that they had ice cream, but I guess not, because there wasn't any ice cream where they got the baked goods.  Bro helped himself to that, and I wanted to wait for ice cream, thinking it would eventually show up.  

Bro has goodies in his hand.  Ssshhhhh.

It was time for the show to start, so we went to our seats:  Section 107, Rows C & D, Seats 16-18.  Our seats were cushy!  A girl can get used to this!  

The Star-Spangled banner was performed a cappella by soprano Brianna Fennel.  We had heard her warming up earlier, so I knew we would be hearing something special.  WOW.  That was high!  Also, she took a breath after the word "banner" instead of after the word "spangled", like most people do, which makes a lot more sense because she then sings the complete phrase at once.  Add to that the fact that she didn't add a bunch of notes, and I was very happy that she sang our anthem today.

VESSEL

Double N: "Is this gonna be another dead drum corps show or what?"

Sher: "No, but they do look like it."

Drum corps like to lay down on the field.  I don't blame them. It's hard work.  

ALISAL COMMUNITY ARTS NETWORK

They only played one song, which Bro wants to be played as he sits outside his house, sipping drinks.  Like right then.  I went to get a drink so I only caught the end.  They didn't have oranges to make a proper Old Fashioned at the bar, so I got a vodka and cranberry juice.  They had cute shot glasses of the Neft vodka that looked like barrels, but they didn't seem to be selling or giving them away.  I enjoyed my drink, though.

FREELANCERS ALUMNI CORPS

Announcer Ryan said that they were from Escondido instead of Sacramento because his notes were incorrect.  They played "Thriller".  I wish they had a color guard so I could see some dancing to that song.  

I saw Brianna and told her she was wonderful.  I also told her that we like her Sleeping Beauty Storybook backpack.  The zipper was along where the pages would be!

IMPULSE

The ! drum major did his salute, to which Ryan T said, "That was cool."  Yes, it was!

Nice "Dear Theodosia" solos.

Formation at show start

V and I went to get dessert because we saw that others had gotten some, yet it wasn't 7:00 yet.  V had inquired about it earlier, and she was told that it was put away because someone got into it early.  BRO!  And those other guys!  So when we went to the dessert bar, there was a gal serving it instead of everyone getting however much they wanted.  I got a big chocolate chip cookie and a strawberry, then chastised Bro about ruining it for everyone else.  There was also no ice cream.  Tim believes that somewhere there are a couple of tubs of ice cream, unserved and lonely.  I mean, there WAS a big wooden bowl next to the other desserts, but it was empty.  I think that had something to do with ice cream.  Comedy.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Very nice sound, GE.  The music was very well done, too.  I like those colorful flags.

Backwards GE flag

GOLD

Very nice soprano solo!  I have issues about people not having a choice right now, so I'm not liking this "life assignment" thing.  Maybe if at the end of the show, they get to break free of these assignments, I'll like the theme more.

There's a piano.
  There's a bicycle.

<Intermission>

Announcer Ryan has waited 1,091 days to say: "ARE YOU READY FOR SOME DRUM CORPS!?!?!?!?"

ACADEMY

Those lamps are going to light up eventually, right?  Oh, the suitcase is the golden ticket!  Lots of "W"s -- I bet those last flags are going to have big Ws on them.

I like those flags

W

Stylized W

Dodie:  "I've missed this."

MANDARINS

Oh, I like when they catch the rifle after their big tosses.  This didn't happen yesterday when that was featured.  I like the slow motion marching that the horn players do after their squat formation.  So, the vocalist sings, then he runs to get his contra, then runs back again to climb the tower and finish singing.  Wow. I love the way he sings.  It's soulful, sonorous and doesn't clash with the sound of the corps.  

These look like horses are about to race

through them.

That squat

The dangerous part of the show:

PACIFIC CREST

V tried to name all of the shows from the props.  "Void" is spelled out a lot during the show, but there is something missing, like the bottom part of the D one of those times. V noticed that the last formation of the word, "void" is spelled out in the white space...or should we call it the "green space"?  Cool. It sounds like they've finished their music, just not their drill.  I need to see the logo before I'm convinced it's done.  That neon yellow chair that is on its side: is that from Blue Stars' "Houdini" show?  If not, I still can't figure it out.

BD mirrors; SCV Phantom mask;
PC cube; Cadets door

PC Everglow triangle

Cavaliers' Chicago Ladder; SCV Ouroborous;
Academy Drum Corpse Bride tombstone 
(A tribute to Velvet Knights' shark);
Some chair

Bluecoats Giant Chair

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD

The build, the build, the build...and then the drum majors bring their arms down.  Ugh.  I like the transparency of the props.  Very good music!  Looking forward to when this show is actuallly complete on the field.

Taking the Field

I love those cymbals

Trumpet Trio

That snare feature!

BLUE DEVILS

Repertoire: "Tempus Blue" -- Lapis Lazuli by D. Glyde; Divine Blue by D. Glyde; Carnival of Venice by N. Paganini; Moon River by H. Mancini (arr. by J. Collier); Hands and Feet by M. Camillo; Tank! by Y. Kanno; Home of the Brave by T. Bergersen

GO, COOPER!!!  Cooper is a friend of my college roommate's daughter, and she pretty much taught him to march when he was a freshman and she was a junior.  So I need to remember to yell for him.

They have platforms that have steps that kind of go in a circular pattern.  Wow, that (piccolo?) trumpet solo was awesome.  I do not like that rendition of "Moon River".  That's typical for me and my feeling about Blue Devils' ballads.  I am also spoiled by Pella's Calvin singing this song.  I like the Contra feature, with the rest of the horns adding on.  The running around was kinda cool, but I guess they don't do the formal drill books anyway, so whatevs.  Drum feature was meh.  It just seems like a lot of loud without substance to me.  Sorry, BD.  I respect the heck out of the talent, though.

Together

Separate

How did they all get in there so quickly?

Encore

Several SCV horn players came back onto the track still carrying their horns, and we figured that they were PC alumni.  So PC borrowed their props, and now they're borrowing their horn players?  They did not play with PC.  They must have been too far from their trailer to put them away before attending the encore.  

PC played some of their show music, as well as their corps song, "Ave Maria".  I think that was a new arrangement, because it sounded different at the end.  

Scores

Open Class:

3) 37.50 -- Impulse

2) 46.75 -- Golden Empire

1) 54.60 -- Gold

World Class:

5) 57.35 -- Pacific Crest

4) 62.15 -- Academy

3) 66.45 -- Mandarins

2) 70.90 -- Vanguard

1) 72.30 -- Blue Devils

I think we all pretty much decided that we don't want to go back to sitting in the riff raff seats.  Yeah, we liked it up there because it wasn't crowded, we didn't have to climb those stairs, it was easy access to restrooms, the bar, and the air conditioning was very nice on this very warm day.  Even if that's the only show we can afford in So Cal because of whatever financial things happen, we will likely stay fancy as long as possible.

The Fancy Fans

We took the escalators down, and I still didn't take pictures.  Next time.  :)  Nobody wanted to shop, so we went back to our cars, said goodbye to Tim, and went back to my house.  That was a great drum corps day.

Next up: Western Corps Connection

Void of Endings

 Corps at the Crest - San Diego
Friday, June 24, 2022
Rancho Buena Vista High School Stadium
Vista, CA

It's drum corps season!  Yay!!!!!  A REAL season, not a weird "Celebrate DCI" season.  So let's get to the football fields and march forth, shall we?

Bro got to my house and as we were talking to my dad, he looked at his phone to see our ETA.  Oof.  LOTS of traffic.  So we got going down the 5.  Rudy didn't need to be picked up because he works in San Diego now, so we went a different way than normal, and traffic slowed us while we had a view of the ocean.  I opened my window so that I could enjoy the salt air.  Bro wouldn't change lanes for me to get a better shot.

Here's a barrier and an ocean.

We were so bored that when we saw a Smurfitt Kappa truck, we wondered if it had anything to do with the Smurfs.  I said that I would see if the driver looked like Gargamel, and if so, then yes.  Alas, the guy was completely bald instead of Gargamel bald, but he WAS wearing a blue shirt!  There's no way he was a smurf, though, because they're only 3 apples high and he was clearly taller than that.  I know what you're thinking...it could have been a disguise.  Maybe!

When we finally got away from the traffic, we needed to figure out where to park.  I remembered that last time we were at this venue, we parked on the street and walked a lot to get to the stadium, and that our trek back to the car was an uphill one.  We parked in a lot thanks to a fundraiser, and Bro talked to the lady taking the money even though he said he didn't want to talk to anyone.  This lot was right next to the stadium, and we happily showed our tickets to get inside and use the restrooms.  

We wanted to look at the corps merchandise, but couldn't figure out how to get there.  Some lady was coming back via the track, so we went out the gate, onto the track, past the corps entrance, and on to the marketplace.  I got a Vanguard shirt because I really like the pattern and the purple.  We went back to the regular entrance to go back in, and we were chastised for going out onto the track.  But there weren't any signs on how to get to the marketplace!  We also didn't have hand stamps, but nobody offered them to us when we had our tickets scanned.  They scanned our tickets again and made sure we got hand stamps.  I guess the guy knew that I'd be washing my hands, so I got an arm stamp instead.

We decided to get some food, and Bro made trouble again by asking for something that wasn't on the outside menu.  He was rewarded by receiving a not-so-cold Powerade. I'm glad that they had their burgers prepared ahead of time and in warmers, even though there wasn't a line when we were there.  When Rudy arrived, he parked a long way away and he tried to wave at us from the street where we parked last time.  We saw him, but he couldn't see us because he was too far away.  He got to his seat in time for the show to start, and we were happy to be together like the old days, reminiscing about Rudy knocking over drinks while dancing like a marionette.  Good times.

Hi, Ryan Turner!  It's so good to hear your voice again!  

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung a capella by Bianca De Long.  Very nice and simple!  Thank you, Bianca.

I know it's been awhile, so here's a reminder:  I only post the entire repertoire of a corps' show on the day that I see it live for the first time.  All other posts will just have the corps name before my notes.  

VESSEL

Repertoire: "The Power of One" -- Movement 1: The Individual; Movement 2: Divided;  and Movement 3: -- For The Common Good.  All original compositions by Fred Smith.

They were lying down on the field before the show started.  They're tired already.  I started to count how many percussion players they had (28), then realized I should have just counted the horns (5).  They had 2 color guard members.

One.  One song.  That's all they played.  Also, one stick left on the field.

Ryan finally decided to introduce the judges.  We're all a little bit rusty at this.

IMPULSE

Repertoire: "Anew" -- The Jetsons (Main Theme) by J. Barbera, W. Hanna, and H. Curtin; New World Symphony by A. Dvorak; Dear Theodosia (from "Hamilton"), by L-M Miranda; Assassin's Creed Theme by L. Balfe

The drum major's hair looks like an exclamation point!  The lady sitting in the row in front of us said to me, "Once you see it, you can't unsee it."  

Now you can't unsee it either.

I thought I heard The Simpsons theme, and said, "but they don't have a saxophone".  Bro just shook his head and told me later that it was the Jetsons.  Ohhhhh.   A HA!  "A NEW World Symphony"!  That one I knew for sure.  Nice solos during "Dear Theodosia".  There is too much narration, and it's weird to have that at the end of the unfinished show.  I'm also trying to figure out the storyline, if there is one.  

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Repertoire: "The Curse of the 9th" -- Movement 1: The Work Begins: Symphony No. 9 by L. van Beethoven; Purple Haze by J. Hendrix; Movement II: From Despair to Love: Back to Black  by A. Winehouse; Symphony No. 2 by J. Sibelius; Movement III: The Final Stanza: All Along the Watchtower by J. Hendrix; Symphony No. 9 by L. van Beethoven

Pretty good horn solos.  They need to play better as an ensemble though, which will come in time.  Their uniforms had a pretty gold.  There's a stick on the ground again.

My Big Arm and the 3 of us.
It was not the one with the arm stamp.

Fun fact from Rudy:  There is a town called "Big Arm" in Montana.   And now whenever he goes to see his mother-in-law and sees the signs, he'll think of me. 

GOLD

Repertoire: "The Gift" -- Movement #1: The Sound of Silence; Movement #2: Ceremony of the Twelve; Movement #3: Hearing Beyond; Movement #4: The Escape; Movement #5: Discovering Beyond.  Original music by S. Director.

But...they're wearing silver.   There is a piano and a bike on the field.  I thought I heard "True Colors", then "Sound of Silence", then I heard the creepy whisper, and thought, well, maybe it's a tribute to the Mandarins.  So he's riding the bike, but doesn't play the piano?  Not even pretend?  I hope the bike doesn't mess up the field. "Welcome to your lifetime assignment."  Nice solos.  

<Intermission>

THE ACADEMY

Repertoire: "A World of Creation" -- Prelude by S. Vento; Alice's Theme by D. Elfman; Barber of Seville by G. Rossini; Oompa-Loompa-Doopa-Dee-Do by A Newley & L. Bricuse; Anthem by B. K. Ulvaeus, B. Goran, B. Andersson, & T. Rice; Metropolitan Theme by L. R. Fast; Pure Imagination by A Newley & L. Bricuse

I love all of that purple.  Is that ramp left over from their Bridges show?  Nice Art Deco lamps.  It's a gate.  It's the Great Gate of Kiev, and it looks like a big Metal Earth model, which come in a really big kit.  Very cool drum wrpas that match their awesome purple uniforms.  The uniforms with the tails are back!  YAY!  I thought that this could be a tribute show, because the hat reminded me of the "By A Hare" show, the flags reminded me of the (RE) show, and the uniforms were there, too.  It wasn't until I heard the little bits of "Pure Imagination" that I figured out, "Oh, it's Willy Wonka!"  That's an awesome arrangement of Oompa Loompa!   Chess' "Anthem"!  Oh, I love that show.  One of the guard members fell down.  

Rudy:  "That was some kick ass brass, man!"

MANDARINS

Repertoire: "The Otherside" -- 1. The Wall: Another Brick in the Wall by R. Waters; The Wall by K. Poulan, B. Harmsen, B. Pyles, & A. Filipiak; 2. The Revolution by K. Poulan, B. Harmsen, B. Pyles, & A. Filipiak; Another Brick in the Wall by R. Waters; 3. The Disintegration by K. Poulan, B. Harmsen, B. Pyles, & A. Filipiak; 4. The Otherside: Otherside by A. Kapland & J. Lardieri; 5. The Triumph: Triumphant (Brass Feature) by K. Poulan; The Triumph by K. Poulan, B. Harmsen, B. Pyles, & A. Filipiak

Their props can stop tanks.  WHAT IS HAPPENING?!  That rotating prop was awesome!   Then it went faster! I was worried that the corps members would get hit by it.  I'll probably be worrying until the middle of August.  

Rudy: "That one guard girl is having a rough night."

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD

Repertoire: "Finding Nirvana" -- String Quartet No. 1 (Metamorphoses Nocturnes) - Presto by G. Ligeti; Breakfast in Baghdad by U. Wakenius; Mata Hari by A. DiMeola; Smells Like Teen Spirit by K. Cobain, D. Grohl, C. Novoselic, arr. by E. VanDoren, P. Rennick, S. Rennick

They're wearing white all over.  I don't think those are the final uniforms.  Or are they?  Because later on I saw them from a closer view, and the collar has silver adornment like on Indian outfits.  The color guard is wearing a pretty purple and they look to be the official ones, so maybe so.  That's a LOT of white.  Oh, that snare feature!  My goodness!   Then all 3 of those sopranos doing those high notes.  Wow.  Very nice solos.  I wonder if they're going to use those tall props more when they finish the last part of the show.  

Bro: "They sure can march!"

Poor Rudy can't get the resolve to all that dissonance because they didn't play their whole show, and he knows it won't be ready by Sunday.  

PACIFIC CREST

Repertoire: "Welcome to the Void" -- Finale (from "Swiss Army Man") by A. Hull & R. McDowell; The Void by B. Green, E. Lanser, & J. Zuniga; Enjoy the Silence by M. Gore; Intruder by P. Gabriel; Where Is My Mind by B. Francis

The props from other corps' shows are so cool!  Half the SCV Ouroboros circle; Ladders from Cavaliers' Chicago show(?); PC's Everglow triangle; PC's cube; SCV's Phantom mask; Bluecoats' huge chair from 2018; the Cadets' door from 2005, and Academy's tombstone from Drum Corpse Bride. The color guard doesn't have their uniforms or flags yet.

Bro: "Did they spell 'VOID'?"

Sher: "I think they will, eventually."

Lots of silent laughter ensued.  

What is wrong with their lines??!!?!!  ACK!  Show is not done yet.

Scores

Vessel was not scored.

Open Class:

3) 33.95 -- Impulse

2) 46.75 -- Golden Empire

1) 53.00 -- Gold

World Class:

4) 57.75 -- Pacific Crest

3) 61.45 -- The Academy

2) 65.30 -- Mandarins

1) 69.95 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

Afterward, I went to the restroom and when I exited, Bro said he needed to show me something.  OMG, they added a makeshift barrier consisting of a twisted trash bag, and a sign at the gate to the track saying No Entry.  Maybe they should have put those there before we rebels went through the gate so we wouldn't have gotten in trouble!

Rudy said it was nice of Bro to offer him a ride to his car.  I don't remember that happening.  Neither did Bro.  But he did anyway.  While trying to get out of the parking lot, we saw PC moving their props.  Ouroboros!  I tried to get Rudy to take a pic of the Phantom mask in back of us, but he ignored me.  Sigh.

Can I have that, please?

Whoa, he parked REALLY far.  We bid our farewells until Sunday, and it took a much shorter time for Bro to drive us back to my house.  He still needed to load some tiles into his car, but it didn't take long for him to finish and go home.

That was a fun day.  Drum corps is BACK!

Next up:  Corps at the Crest - Rose Bowl

Crushing Walnuts

 Rockapella in TO
Friday, February 11, 2022
Scherr Forum Theatre
Thousand Oaks, CA

Dad and I went to Bro's house early so that we could avoid Friday afternoon traffic.  We tried to be quiet while V finished up all of her Zoom work meetings, and waited for the kids to come home from school.  Once everybody was ready to go, Bro drove us to Moqueca for dinner.

We got lots of food and drinks, and enjoyed our dinner.  Look at the happy people with their drinks!

Cheers!

I ordered plantains.

I also ordered empanadas.

I think this is a capirinha.  Maybe.

The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts plaza was a very short drive from there, and we showed our proof of vaccination before getting our tickets scanned.  Our seats were in the front row!  Thank you to Bro for buying the tickets so quickly when they went on sale!

D'Saints with Dodie and Karla

I didn't tell my posse who was performing in the group today, because I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

I'm going to title each song here today as it is printed on the setlist I photographed before the show.

ROCK AROUND

Hi, guys!   Guys:  Calvin, Scott, Mitch, Jeff, and Armand.

JAILHOUSEROCK 

Yes, that's how it was typed.    

Cal:  "WHOO!!"

I like those train whistle sounds.

The water was safe from CSL4 tonight, due to the cap staying on the bottle.  

DANCING IN THE STREET

CSL4 called out JT for his dancing.

LEROY BROWN MEDLEY

SATISFACTION / SATNIGHT / CUPID

Mitch came so close to the edge of the stage that I could touch his shoes.  I did not, though.

Cal started singing with Men of Note at the age of 13.  Wow.

MOON RIVER

CSL4 talked about not doing a show in 2 years.  We're happy to host you, CSL4!  He asked JT how his embouchure feels after 2 years off.

JT:  "I can crush a walnut."  JT's been walking around in his PJs, just practicing his technique.  Maybe he crushed walnuts.  Maybe he tried almonds.  I don't know.

I AM YOUR MAN

The woman sitting next to me was excited.  I tried to tell her how excited I was, too, but she didn't care.  I decided that she is definitely not welcome to join my PellaPosse.  Yes, I will shun you if you try later on.  You only get one chance.

Anyway, Mitch didn't know the words.  What happened the other day? Did I not notice?

I like how CSL4 shakes his whole body when he sings "Body shaking like crazy".

ROCK THE BOAT

CSL4 frogot some words, too!  Uh oh.  Armand did the 007 theme during his bass solo.  Go, Armand!

<Intermission>

V shared that she is loving the arrangements.

Usher: "These guys are fun to watch."

Other usher: "They're really good, too."

I complimented a guy in his Gumshoe outfit but he didn't seem to want to have a long conversation with me.  I wrote down his name, but I'm not going to write it here because I'm nice.

Maybe I'm just being sensitive because I was so excited to see the guys and talk about their marvelousness, and when people don't talk to me about it, I feel unworthy of their presence somehow.  Or maybe COVID isolation still has people stuck in their shells.  Whatever it is, I was glad that my family and the true posse were there to share in my joy.  Because ROCKAPELLA!!!!

L.O.V.E. / SAY SAY SAY

My notes say "CJ Choreography".  I do not know if that means he was extra good or if he messed up a little.  

MIDDLE MEDLEY

Hey, hey, hey!

Mitch slapped Cal on the back and I think Cal had forgotten how heavy Mitch slaps him.

COMMERCIALS

Armand remember to sing "Budweiser" and "Milk Chocolate".  Yay!  

CSL4 before jumping off the stage: "I am maskless.  Save yourselves!"  

He talked to Misty, who said that she is naturally peppy.  They sang "Stand By Me".  It was not on the setlist.

AIN'T TOO PROUD

They called Armand "A-Man".  

Hmmm...they're not giving CDs to the girls.  

Scott started to sing some "Misty".  Nice!

MACKLEMORE

CARMEN SANDIEGO

Encore

UPTOWN FUNK

I just plain love this.  LOVE.  Don't believe me?  Just watch.

UP ON THE ROOF

Sigh.  I love sitting next to Bro and V when Rockapella sings this.

Afterward, when I got out of the restroom, the blond one was having a not-really-meet-and-greet!

Hello, Blond Man!

He was out there because a family friend was in attendance.  He was kind of enough to stay and talk to fans, too!  Aw, sweet.  We got hugs from him, and I tried not to cry.  I re-introduced him to my dad.

Dad told him how much he enjoyed the show, and he patted CSL4 on the shoulder, saying, "You're so GOOD!"

CSL4: Laughed, saying, "Thank you.  I try my best."  

V thanked him for singing "Up On The Roof", telling him that Rockapella's rendition was the song for their first dance (technically "Wonderful World").  CSL4 was touched and thanked her.

I asked him if they received gifts when they were in Livermore.  He said, "The cookies!  Yes!  Thank you."  Phew!  I was worried when he paused to think about it.  

We didn't want to monopolize his time as there were others that had stayed to talk to him, like Gumshoe guy, bu at least the posse got to take this picture with him first.

Wishing this was a full Posse & Pella pic

D'Saints left, and I took this photo before we got to the car.

Got 4 out of 5

As we were driving away, KP was walking to her car and she said that JT came out to the lobby and was looking for me.  Darn.  Sorry, JT!  Thanks for noticing I was there!

I asked the family their favorite songs of the show, and it was difficult for them to decide because they loved all of it.  I mean, I can't decide, so how dare I ask others?  Most of them loved Calvin's voice the most.  Dad asked when the next concert was going to be, because he wants to go again.  I hope they come back soon, too, Dad.

I don't know when I'll get to see the guys again, but I hope that we'll all be safe from dangerous viruses soon so that we can see all of them, have a proper meet and greet at that time.  But even if it's still with masks, at least we got to see them live and in person again!

Thanks for coming to California, guys!  We love you!