Pella in Paradise
Day 5: Saturday, October 7, 2023
Rockapella at The Sheraton Coconut Coast
Luau Pavilion, Kapaa, HI
We cleaned up and locked Mona's house, then drove to the airport for the next leg of our journey.
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| Bye, beautiful lanai! |
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| Missing this drive |
We decided to eat breakfast at the airport, and I ordered a Fried Rice Omelet, which was built like a volcano and topped with bacon to look like lava. I don't know if that was on purpose, but it was delicious! My water came in a reusable bottle, so that was cool.
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| Best Airport Breakfast! |
We boarded our beautiful Hawaiian Airlines plane. The seats didn't have a lot of padding, but the flight was under an hour long, so it didn't really matter. Also, we got some yummy juice!
A couple of little kids were seated in the row in front of us, and their mom gave them some little Hot Wheels-type trucks to keep them occupied. At one point, one of the trucks fell onto the floor in our row, and Bro gave it to the kid. He got a little thumbs up as a thank you. It was very cute.
We arrived at the Lihue airport, and picked up our baggage, then walked across the way to get the rental car. We got another Jeep! I told them that now we needed a rubber ducky because we were basically Jeep owners now and need to join the club. It's an insider thing amongst Jeep owners.
We had a few hours before hotel check-in time, so we shopped at ABC Market. Two people thought that V worked there. I guess she looked like she knew what was on the shelves?
We then went to Target (Rockapella Road Trip Complete!) to get stuff to eat. I snuck up behind V and disguised my voice, and asked if she knew where something was. She turned around to explain to me that she didn't work there, and when she realized it was me, we laughed and laughed.
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| They sell orchid leis at this Target! |
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| If only we had a freezer in the hotel room... |
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| Target Dog has a cape! |
We drove to the hotel, but our room wasn't ready yet, so we took our sandwich ingredients to the beach and ate lunch there. We had a nice view, but the water was much colder than at the beach in Oahu. There were also a lot more rocks and driftwood.
Bro got a notification that our room was ready, and we checked in. I saw a few activities that would be fun to do, but Bro didn't feel like learning to play the ukelele. We all enjoyed the complimentary juice in the lobby.
Bro surprised us by getting an upgrade to an Ocean View room, and the view was gorgeous!
Remember when I bought chocolate at the grocery store near the crepe place? It was time to break into that chocolate before getting ready for the show.
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| YUMMMMM |
The Sheraton was just down the road from the Hilton Garden Inn. We spent most of the time just getting out of our hotel parking lot.
We arrived early of course, because the show was General Admission. It was a little bit misty at the time, and I was glad that we'd be in a covered area. But when I saw Cal walking on the hotel path on the way to their green room, I didn't care that I was wet, and neither did he, I guess, because he asked for a hug, saying that he couldn't have a good show without a hug from me. Aw, I love Cal.
Then I saw Manny and got a hug from him, too.
We went inside to check out the hotel lobby, and found signs advertising the show. We also glimpsed that the guys were in the green room, which was basically just a conference room close to the lobby.
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| That's the wrong bass man. |
I just wanted to sit down for a while, and after using the facilities, Bro was telling me that I needed to get outside and go to the Pavilion because the guys were about to do sound check. Ooh, I hadn't been to a Pella sound check in years! We waited in line with a couple of other early birds, and listened to them do their warm ups. They sang bits of "Middle", "L-O-V-E", and "Uptown Funk", none of which they had done the night before, so I was even more excited that we'd get at least one different song.
ROCKAPELLA
We were able to secure front row center seats again. I know you're not surprised. The backdrop of the beach was gorgeous, even with the shades down. It eventually got dark, so we couldn't see much at that time, but it was amusing to watch hotel guests walk around and take photos of each other.
The show organizer told us to give a big ALOHA!! to Rockapella and show them that we had a better crowd in Kauai than they did in Oahu. Not a difficult feat with the amount of people in the crowd, and they all seemed really happy. They had been waiting a long time for Rockapella to get there, and added on to the tour when they found out that Rockapella would be at the Blue Note.
Most of the concert photos are thanks to V.
Rock Around Medley
Hi, Armand!! Yup, he waved at me! So I wrote it down!
CSL4: Mahalo!! They are on fire! Much better than Waikiki
<Huge applause>
CSL4 asked who had seen Rockapella before. It was just Bro, V, and me, and JT pointed at us.
Dancin' in the Streets
Manny almost ate it during "Grab a girl..."
Leroy Brown
JT gets to rest for a bit during this song.
SCOOOOBY DOOO!!!
Satisfaction
Manny went into the audience for "Another Saturday Night", and the woman he chose sang along, which is always fun.
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| S-A-TUR-DAY! Night! |
Moon River
It's so cute how CSL4 watches Cal sing this song.
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| Yes, I know he's not watching Cal at this moment. |
CSL4: "These are the loungiest stools we've had." He said that he felt like Frank Sinatra.
CSL4: "Like it or love it", they were about to sing one of their original songs.
I Am Your Man
Rock the Boat
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| Ooh, I like the silhouettes! |
Commercials
CSL4 to someone in the audience interrupting: "I saw 'The Descendants', have you seen that movie?" He made fun of her train of thought going off the rails. I told you he enjoyed messing with the drunk people.
Manny loves that 3rd "Mounds" jingle.
Preparation H: Manny -- "I thought you said we cut this one out!"
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| "...and it makes me feel so nice." |
CSL4 felt a connection with a woman named "Sea". She was from California, but relocated to Hawaii. When asked what she does, she said, "If it's not obvious by now, I'm doing something wrong." Um....what?
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Sea hilariously left Manny dancing by himself so that she could go to CSL4.
CSL4: "What sea did they name you after?"
Macklemore
Carmen SanDiego
CSL4 asked if we wanted to hear another song. I asked for 5 more.
Encore
Uptown Funk
Yay! Bro and V finally get to see this live!
Apologies for the sound on the video, but I'm glad that we could take photos and video that evening.
Up On The Roof / Wonderful World (off mic)
Coya: "You're Instagram Sherry?!"
Oh, I didn't know that's how she knew me. Cal explained to her that I was the one that would bake special stuff for him. She might not have ever tried it, though, because it doesn't quite make it home. They invited me to come to their house whenever I go to Florida so that I can taste her cooking, and I can also bring more stuff of my own so she could actually taste it. It was Coya's birthday the next day, so they were going to try to go on a helicopter ride. Fun! Knowing how Cal was at Disneyland on the roller coasters, that should be an interesting time.
Then Manny showed up and took pictures with us, too.
I wanted to say bye to the rest of the guys, but they had already gone to the car. So we followed Cal there. I didn't even see Armand in the car, because he was dead tired in the back seat.
I told CSL4 to have fun tonight because Cal said that he was going to an after party. Somehow we got invited to join the party. Somehow phone numbers were exchanged. Somehow I managed to breathe as I privately messaged the posse while Bro drove us on very dark roads until we arrived at CSL4's friend's house, whose husband Jason had arranged for Rockapella to perform that night. It had been a long time coming: CSL4 sang with his friend Phil at WDW in a show called "Totally Minnie". Phil still had his jacket and modeled it for us. Jason told us to go outside to see the rim view, but it was dark already. A drunk guy was unaware of who CSL4 was and asked what he did. CSL4 said he was in a band, and performed tonight. The guy then realized who he was talking to and was very apologetic because he had BEEN AT THE SHOW, and thought they were great. Billy (drunk guy's drunk friend?) almost kissed Bro.
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| Too dark to see the view |
CSL4 told us that he wrote a bunch of songs when he was in Kauai a long time ago, including "Hula Holiday" and "Hold Out for Christmas". Ah, yes, that makes sense!
V and CSL4 had Taco Bell commercials in common. I forgot to remind her at that time that they also shared a birthday. Neil (drunk guy) had a lot of trouble taking our picture by the Dreamland sign. The sign is from the set when they did "Miss Saigon" that Jason did. CSL4 has never seen the show, but he did want to see a Filipino show coming to Broadway called "Here Lies Love". Well, now I want to see it, too. Maybe we can go to New York and watch with CSL4 and the Leonard family. Maybe I've lost my mind.
CSL4 and I talked about the old days when Rockapella would be on the Mark and Brian show, and performing at their Christmas show. He said that he would have loved to have met Mel Torme, but didn't get a chance that day.
The food they served was basically from Rockapella's green room, because they had eaten most of the other food at the house before the show. Phil was perturbed that the other guys didn't come, but CSL4 explained that they were all very jet-lagged. But hey, the "groupies" were there, which is what Phil called us. Phil needs to learn that we are called the "PellaPosse".
We also played with their little dog, making sure that he didn't go out into the front yard.
We were very lucky to have been invited that night, and happily went back to the hotel before overstaying our welcome. We were hungry because we hadn't eaten a proper dinner, but at least I did eat some of the veggies from the green room. Thank goodness we had those snacks from the Target where V works!
Next up: Sightseeing in Kauai
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