Bandfest in Heavy Showers

 Bandfest
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Robinson Stadium - Pasadena City College
Pasadena, CA

My alma mater is in the 2022 Tournament of Roses parade!  Bro bought tickets for us to see them at Bandfest, and the event happens rain or shine.   The forecast would not change from "Heavy Showers" for 2:00pm no matter how many times I refreshed my screen in the days leading up to the event.  

Bro and I met outside the stadium.  I parked on the 2nd floor of the structure and tried to get him to to do the same so we could be beside our cars and watch from there in case the rain got bad.  But he didn't, and the rain never came down too hard for us.  It did shower most of the time, but we stayed at our seats, wearing our rain gear, for the whole show.  We don't know why the guys handing out the complimentary REMO drum and stick stared at us before we motioned that we would like one, please.  Boys, wake up!

For some reason we couldn't figure out, the drumline from the Santiago HS Sharks Marching Band was part of the warm-up group.  I think that our collective drumming really was just a rain dance because it just kept pouring down.

First up was the Tournament of Roses Honor Band.  They wore their casual uniforms under their Honor Band rain jackets.  I was jealous.  All we got when I was in that band was t-shirts.  We don't know when this happened, but there is now a rule that they are the only band allowed to play "Everything's Coming Up Roses" during the Rose Parade.  The announcer also said that the band is comprised of musicians from PCC as well as from all over Southern California.  What?  When did that change from just San Gabriel Valley area schools?   The announcer said that there were triplets in the band, from Norco HS.  Hey!  That's where my friend's son plays!  I'm sure she knows them.  They played several songs before going to the track to set up for their final pass in front of the stands.   I still like those herald trumpeter fanfares.  Their snare drummer is tiny compared to them. 

I wondered who the next band was when they were getting ready, because they weren't wearing uniforms.  Oh, it was Arcadia.  Do they not have casual uniforms?  Bro said they wouldn't match anyway because they have shirts for the different sections.  I mean, they weren't even wearing the same length of black pants.  Nor did they all have the same poncho color.  I don't know why they uncovered the banner: the feathers around each letter got all wet and droopy.  They played their competition march from this year, as well as "My Country 'Tis of Thee".  They looked sharp despite their no-uniforms, and sounded great, too.  Since they were supposed to play in the 2021 Rose Parade that didn't happen, they allowed the drum major from that year to march alongside this year's drum major.  Awwww....so sweet.

Next up were the bands from two high schools in Waukee, IA, which comprise the Waukee Schools Combined Band.  When they were invited to be in the Rose Parade, there was only one high school in Waukee, but since then, they've split into two schools, and got together to be in the parade.  I think that the guard skirts are supposed to resemble flowers, because of their pretty flags.  They played "76 Trombones", which, I learned, is because "The Music Man" was set in Iowa.  Their town has a population of 20,000.  Announcer guy said that there would be that many people just standing at the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado.  I think that's an exaggeration.  I thought that maybe the band member uniforms had treble clefs on the front, but I think that's wrong.  When they played their military medley, a guy seated a few rows in front of us got excited when they played his theme.  I think it was Army.  I remember that he was saluting during the National Anthem, so that made sense.  Yes, I took off my hat for the anthem, even though it was raining.  A bunch of people just stood at the left side of the field because they didn't want the woodwinds to play for some reason. IN THE RAIN. I would not have been happy with that if I was one of them, and I would have spent the rest of my school year trying to learn an instrument that would get me into a drum corps.   

Then Mira Mesa's "Sapphire Sound" took the field and I got really jealous on behalf of my school.  They had new uniforms, their TofR emblems, AND fancy ponchos!  Bro and I decided that their band boosters must be very involved and generous.  Also, their band director has won many awards, and Bro and I realized that this must be how Mira Mesa got to be so good.  Sorry, my friend who is an alma mater of the school, but MM wasn't that well known for their band several years ago.  They played their field show music.  I just briefly looked at the video from their performance and got all jealous of their ponchos again.  If I go to a music club meeting, I might start pushing the need for ponchos because climate change is REAL and we might need them.

Downington's marching bands came next, one at a time.  The first one from the West played their field show music, but it was odd because there were long breaks in music because the pit probably would have played during those times.  The four female drum majors wearing Latin-style dresses to fit the theme of their field show.  They had ponchos, too, but I was not jealous of them.  I'm telling you, those MM ones were FANCY.  The second band, from the East, also played their field show, but it was more lively, and the musicians moved a bit more while still marking time.  They had a majorette, whom was wearing a regular majorette uniform, which is practically nothing.  She was COLD.Then the two bands combined to make one big ensemble.  I asked Bro why some of them had hats that almost resembled Carolina Crown's, and he said that was how you could distinguish between the two bands, as their uniforms were the same in order that they could do events like this together.  They only played one song during their pass in front of us.  I hope that they have more songs to play on New Year's Day, because that's a long trek to just play one song.  As it was, we already heard it 3 times just on the track.  Maybe they'll trade off with one school playing their own songs while the other rests.

The Salvation Army band was small, but mighty.  They used music stands and Bro hoped that their music was laminated.  We think that the announcer called the tambourine players "timberwolves".  Maybe "tambourwolves"?  I don't know.  Anyway, they played hymns that I knew but couldn't remember all of the words, except for, naturally, "The Saints Come Marching In", because that's my family's song.

Last on the field for the day was Tennesseee State University Aristocrat of Bands (NOT The Aristocats).  They ROCKED it!  I liked watching the drum majors do their thang, as well as the drummers.  They did a full field show, complete with formations.  I wanted the Sophisticate dancers' hooded capes.  They were white with silver lettering, and they looked warm.  They're like the ones I covet at marching band awards ceremonies.  They had leggings that were one leg tiger, and the other leg was shorts.  I didn't really care for their uniforms, just the capes.  I did like the tiger flags, though.  The performance made me want to go home and watch "Drumline".  I got up to dance/march along with them at one point because the announcer told us to.  Not a lot of people joined me, though.  I'm such a dork.

That was fun.  Wet, but fun.  I hadn't eaten lunch, so I went to In N Out and discovered that they have hot chocolate!  That was exactly what I wanted to have , after all of that time in the cold rain.  I'm glad that New Year's Day will be the typical beautiful Pasadena weather for these bands.  They deserve it!

Video links above courtesy of Music213.  Thank you for your always awesome videos!  I only took one short video so I could post on Instagram.  Did I tell you that we were WET?!

Crest at the Crest

I remember the first time I saw a Pacific Crest show.  It was "Dracula".  I'm a fan of vampire stuff anyway, but this show made me pay attention, because I really liked the way they interpreted Feeney's "Dracula".  It started with the color guard on their knees, with faces to the ground, and flapping their bat wings (double flags) to the sound of heart beats.  It was soooo cool!  I wish I had photos of that show to include here.

When I heard that this corps was giving its members a chance to concentrate on summer school or summer jobs and would only be doing local shows, I thought this would be a great corps to support.   I've been supporting them ever since, even when they have a year or two in a row where I'm not that thrilled with their shows.  They have since negotiated with DCI to do shortened national tours, and eventually increased their shows, but I still really like this corps and their style.  

For the past several years, Pacific Crest held its home show, Corps at the Crest at the Rose Bowl, and it's even listed now as "Drum Corps at the Rose Bowl", but I still call it Corps at the Crest.  I've always loved going to this show, mostly because I wouldn't have to drive very far to get to it, but also because I feel like it's my home show, too!  I don't really like the seating at RB, though, because it's so tight.  One of these days, I'm getting a suite for us or whatever the VIP section is called, so my friends and I can stretch out a little bit and enjoy the formations from higher up in the stands.

Back to PC, though.  My top five favorite PC shows:

• 1999: "The Dracula Ballet" -- did not travel to DCI Finals
• 2004: "On Dangerous Ground: The Music of Bernard Hermann" -- 19th place
• 2012: "The Spectrum" -- 16th place  
• The video is a look back by corps members
• Blog from Corps at the Crest 2012:
• PACIFIC CREST
• Repertoire: "The Spectrum" -- Butterfly Yellow by L.J. Buckley; Tarantella Red by L.J. Buckley; Yellow  by G. Berryman, J. Buckland, W. Champion, C. Martin; Blue Sapphire by R. Cichy, End Credits (from "The Green Lantern -- First Flight") by R.J. Kral; True Colors by B. Steinberg, T. Kelly
  
  
  The CG starts with white uniforms to show off their flag colors, until the last piece, wherein their uniforms are the whole rainbow.  I like how they kept the PC teal on one of their arms.  Beautiful yellow double flags.  I like the blue sparkly umbrellas, but one got turned inside out.  Nice, big opening sound!  They really sound great.
• 
  
• 2017: "Golden State of Mind" -- 21st place
• This video is of a rehearsal run through at my alma mater
• Blog from Corps at the Crest 2017:
• PACIFIC CREST
  Uh-oh.  Sounds like the adrenaline from the jazzy piece got to the soloists today.  The jazzy piece was well done, though.  They just need to keep up the energy through the end of the show.  I think one of the formations is the continental US.  Bro doesn't.

  

  Rays of the Sun
  

• 2018: "Here's to the Ones Who Dream" -- 20th place
• Euphonium Cam!
• Blog from Corps at the Crest 2018:
• PACIFIC CREST
  I do love that mambo, during which they do the tap dancing.  Oh, there's an Esther Williams segment, too, with some of the corps members providing the legs as the color guard soloist rises out of the "water".  Cute.  Are those flags Lakers colors on purpose because it's Los Angeles?  If so, thank you, PC!  If not, don't tell me.  Pretty solos, especially the mellophone.  If this was louder, the show would have much more impact, especially in big stadiums like this.  I hate to say that they need amplification, though.  My no-amplification side is struggling with this a lot right now.  Some people were laughing during the show, and I didn't catch what happened.  Later, V told us that someone lost their plume, and another person placed it back on their shako at the precise moment of the *ding* of the xylophone.
  
  
  

  

  Star

  
  

  

  Tap Segment

  
  

  

  Hollywood
  

PC's corps song is Biebl's "Ave Maria",  and I've posted video of it on this blog before, but here's one from the morning of 2019 Semifinals.

Someday PC will get to play on DCI Finals night, and I will be so very happy for them.  Until then, I'm your fan, PC!

Next up:The Academy

Vive L'Apaches

Les Miserables

Arcadia Stage Theatre Company

Arcadia Performing Arts Center

Arcadia, CA

Thursday, March 14, 2019

A few weeks ago, I saw a banner flying above me as I drove down Huntington Drive, advertising that the theatre students at my alma mater would be performing my favorite musical.  Awesome!  I bought my ticket.  I rushed to the high school after work, got in the very long line of General Admission folks, got my ticket scanned, took a couple of pictures in the lobby, used the facilities, and entered the door to the house of the theatre.  I asked where I could get a program, and one of the ushers walked to the other entrance to get one for me, and another one looked for a seat for me.  What service!  She found a seat for me in the front row!  In the center section!  In seat 19!  I felt like the luckiest alumnus in the building.

Photos of the cast

Props and photos of the set

I liked the French flags hanging from the balcony

Director Steven Volpe made announcements from the stage, and talked about the importance of the show in his own life and how the theme of forgiveness and people standing up for their rights is relevant in today's political landscape.  

The first musical he saw was Les Miz

• Brady Stubbs, playing Valjean, had me in tears already during the first song.  He never failed me throughout the show.  I was amazed at the fact that this person was still in high school.  The acting, the singing, just everything.  He was awesome.  I found myself beaming with pride for him, like I was his mom or something, especially during "Bring Him Home", as he sang beautifully, and tackled that last high note like a pro.
• I saw Brady limping and was, like, is that a Valjean limp, or is he actually limping, because I saw him jump off the stairs and was worried that he fell wrong.  So if that was a character thing, it was brilliantly done.  If that's the actual way he walks, then I'm sorry that he had to climb the stairs so often.
• Brady was evenly matched with Joe Ganley as Javert.  His rage and frustration with Valjean was clear, and I was impressed.  I do think that Javert's low range was a little bit too low for Ganley, but he handled those low notes OK anyway.  I loved when he entered the stage after Fantine's Death with "Val...jean" at the low end of his range.  So cool.
• I would have liked for the confrontation between Valjean and Javert to be the full piece, because I love that vocal battle.  Perhaps some of the lyrics were inappropriate for the high school stage, I don't know.  
• Ah, yes, the virtuous Fantine.  Gabriela de Santiago was wonderful as Fantine, and she made me cry, as she was supposed to do.  I didn't like the makeup around her eyes when she was dying (it seemed too red for me), but her voice outshone that, and I loved seeing how tender Valjean was with her at that moment.
• The couple playing the Thenardiers (Andrea Contreras and Alex Zhao) were very funny.  I'm surprised that they were able to recite some of the lyrics from "Master of the House", but they did edit, like using the word "Mercy" instead of "Jesus", which I felt was awkward, but probably necessary.
• Young Cosette (Charlotte Li) and Gavroche (Joshua DeLuca) were cute as could be.  They are students at the middle and elementary schools, and had good stage presence. The lines they flubbed slightly did not flummox them at all, and they were able to carry on, and I think that's great.  I might have crumbled at that age, but they did not.  My problem is that I know those lines by heart, so I'm pretty sure the rest of the audience didn't even notice because they both handled themselves well.
• And then there's my favorite role, Eponine.  Megan Colton did a wonderful job with this role and I felt her pain along with her when she was watching Marius and Cosette fall in love.  In "On My Own", she beautifully sang and displayed the emotion needed for the role, and that big note followed by the "I love him" were especially heart wrenching.
• Marius and Cosette had a nice chemistry, and the voices of their portrayers, Derrik Griggs and Dominique Stellern.
• I was impressed with the commitment from the actors as they sang from their deepest insides, sometimes growling in anger when they sang, and I thought, "YES!  That's the way to give it your all!"  
• The show was shorter than the professional production, partly because of some of the cut portions, but there weren't many of those.  The music was pre-recorded and was at a faster tempo than is played with a live orchestra in the professional shows.
• The costumes were very well done, and looked like what you would see from a professional Broadway show, even from my view in the front row.  Nice job, costume department!  
• I also liked the set.  Instead of having a turntable stage, which would be really expensive to build, a large circular staircase was rotated on the stage, and the performers walked up and down the stairs while they sang.  I loved the way that the stairs were disconnected in the middle when Javert jumps to his death in his final song.  

Can you tell that I loved this performance?  I'm really glad that I was able to go so I could cheer on these young folks.  I wouldn't be surprised if any of the principals became Broadway stars.  I'm still reeling at their amazing talent.  Congratulations on an outstanding opening night, AHS, and thank you for doing justice to my favorite show.

A closer look at some of the cast:
Top: B Stubbs as Valjean & J. Ganley as Javert
2nd row: D. Griggs, D. Stellern, M. Colton, G. DeSantiago
3rd row: D. Ro (Enjolras), A. Contreras, A. Zhao
4th row: C. Li, J. DeLuca, N. Stone (Young Eponine)

Sightseeing with Bob

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went on the Waltland Bus Tour.  I heard about the tour from tour guide Bob Gurr, whose panel discussion I attended at LA Comic Con last year.  Bob Gurr is a Disney Legend and Imagineer whom designed the vehicles at Disneyland for Haunted Mansion, Autopia, and Monorail.  Having worked alongside Walt Disney, he has plenty of stories about his time with the company and willingly shares them.

The meeting area for the bus tour is in the parking lot in Griffith Park adjacent to the LA Zoo.  We checked in and bought souvenir pins, and Bob was there already, signing whatever we bought.  He happily agreed to take a picture with us and asked a guy to use my phone instead of us doing it selfie style.  Thanks, guy!

Posing with Mr. Gurr

Our bus arrived, and we ended up standing in line in back of the guy who took our picture, as we had arrived right after his group, and we boarded the bus by time of arrival.  Some folks had reserved seats, for which they paid extra and received VIP status.  We also sat in back of that guy's group.  No, we were not stalking them.  

Selfie Time!

Our first stop was to see Walt's and Roy's first homes in California, built out of kits in the Los Feliz area.  They lived next door to each other.

Walt's house is on the right, Roy's on the left

Bob didn't want to pass up the chance on showing us the nearby John Marshall High School, as it has been used as backdrops in various productions, most notably to me:  Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

They were recording Bob for this tour

They are continually refurbishing the school.
Seen in the left bottom corner is a sheltered entrance
covered in a scenic wrap.

Another view as we drove by

We then stopped at the site of the original Hyperion studios, where "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" was produced.  It is now a Gelson's.  

Bob telling us about the area, and the
animator who quit while drunk in a saloon
that used to be across the street.
Walt wouldn't let him leave the company.

We then traveled back to Griffith Park after making a quick drive-by to the original Hyperion Studios bungalows.  What a cute little community!

At Griffith Park, we stopped at the Merry-Go-Round.  Yup, the very one where Walt used to take his daughters, and first had the concept of Disneyland, where people could bring their kids and the parents could have fun, too.

Bob said that he gets to ride as much as he wants for free.  We rode for a nominal fee, and it goes pretty fast!   The proprietor ask riders over a certain weight not to ride the horses and either sit on a bench or stand.  It is still being refurbished, and there is an area paying tribute to Walt.  The ride also takes a while, and I think we went through three songs from "Mary Poppins" on our one ride.  That made me happy, especially when they played "Jolly Holiday".  Practically perfect in every way!  

A marching band was practicing in the parking lot.
You know I'm not going to resist taking a picture of them.

The Merry-Go-Round

Bob riding the Merry-Go-Round

For the littler ones.
I like the old ticket booth.
Tickets are available at concessions.

See?  Nominal.

Very cool (and very loud) organ

There were three new benches by the merry-go-round which had been recently dedicated.  One is dedicated to Bob!  This one is my favorite.  I think it is directly opposite of where the original bench was located.

Linda and I stood on the very spot where the bench
was located when Walt first dreamed up Disneyland.
Cue me almost crying at the thought of this.

After a good amount of time there, it was time for lunch.  The VIPs were offered champagne and soda.  Those that wanted to purchase drinks could do so as well.  We had lunch at the plaza of the Gene Autry museum, and had pre-ordered sandwiches and water.  The sandwiches were big, so I mostly ate the filling.  

We sat next to the Apache!

We then went to Walt's Barn.  Bob suggested we get in line for the barn before walking around in case it took a long time.  This was a wise suggestion because there were also folks there to talk to Americana enthusiast Charles Phoenix and get his new book signed.  We got in line, and the gentleman who got in line after us wondered aloud if it was always this crowded at the barn.  I told him that the last time I was here, it was crowded, probably because it's only open once a month.  He told us that he was the architect that brought the barn here from its original location in Holmby Hills, CA.  Wow!  What are the odds of that?!  He was there to show Charles Phoenix that his hometown grocery store was pictured in Phoenix's other book, and to tell him that one of his clients now owns the property.  Neato.

Miguel Fernandez and Walt's Barn

The wait in line takes a lot of time, which was good for us this time around, because Miguel kindly indulged us and told us a LOT of background about the barn.  The barn was in Walt's backyard, and when they brought it over from the house, some refurbishing needed to be done.  The roof is new, but the parapet at the top is original.  The toilet and other random things from the original barn are now owned by various people whom worked on the project.  The outside of the barn was made to look weathered by set designers.  

When we got to the inside of the barn, Miguel continued to tell us stuff and I asked if his name was on the certificate inside.  He pointed it out to us.  So cool!  He thanked us for listening to him, and we were amazed that HE thanked US.  It was well worth our trip that day to have him there and I'm still in awe of our serendipitous moment of the day.  Thank you, Miguel!!!

Not the original celing

Ward Kimball's Firehouse 5 Plus 2 hat that
he wore in the Rose Parade

Originally the bathroom, this part of
the structure now has the control board.

Control board

We spent a little bit of time looking at the rest of the area, including the Retlaw1, one of the original cars of the Disneyland Railroad.

Interior of Retlaw1

Exterior

Bob Gurr has his own tile at Ollie's station

We were among the last people to return to the bus because we didn't realize that everyone had already left.  We were too busy looking at the cute ghost town.

Ghost Town

There are zombies in the cemetery

Our bus driver then took us to Burbank, and we stood outside the Walt Disney Imagineering building.  Bob told us that they tested a bunch of ride vehicles there, including the monorail.

Even the buildings have name tags!
Bob's office was about two windows to
the right of this one.

The complex was across the street from an old airport terminal.  Bob said this was the place of the original LAX as it was the site where the commercial airlines landed before the LAX Terminal was built up in Westchester.  The street used to be the airport runway, and the sidewalk has big letters spelling "TERMINAL". Bob said that he grew up in the area and still remembers riding his bike around the airport, and then he ends up working across the street.

Bob actually lived just a couple of blocks away from Walt in Los Feliz, but never met him until he started working for the company.  On the day he met him, Walt came up to him while he was working on one of the vehicles (Autopia?) and Walt talked to him for a bit. After the conversation ended, he walked away, and someone said, "Bye, Walt", and that's when Bob Gurr realized that he had been talking to Walt Disney that entire time.  He said that Walt did that a lot.

We then drove by more of the Imagineering complex, before stopping at Disney Studios.  We didn't go onto the campus, though.  On the way there, we saw a couple of other studios.

Dreamworks entrance

ABC

WD Studios Entrance

I see Walt!

We had a great time on this tour.  Thank you, Bob, for being so personable and for being such a character.  Thank you to our driver and Bob's assistant, too!  Special thanks to Linda and Jeff for accompanying me!

One more pic from the merry-go-round

PusherPix 12/31/16

PusherPix
Saturday, December 31, 2016

Diehards Bro and Ate repping Arcadia Apache Marching Band at Bandfest III.  

I think this is the perfect end to PusherPix 2016, don't you?  

I'm Gettin' Pella for Christmas

Rockapella at Pepperdine

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts - Smothers Theatre

Malibu, CA

After a morning of baking and preparing goody bags for the guys, I still had time to get pretty before Wendy and Jeff arrived.  Well, I was mostly pretty, just putting on some finishing touches.  I had received a text from Rudy 20 minutes earlier, saying that he was in Chino Hills.   Wendy said, "He's not going to make it."  I don't know why she thought that when we had 6 hours before the show.  He was there about 10 minutes after she had given up on him.  We were still at my house, and all was good, so they helped me carry the goody bags to the car and we made our way to Malibu.

I told the guard at the entrance that we were dropping off something at Smothers Theatre, and she gave me a token for the parking lot.  We briefly contemplated just finding a place to eat on campus and leaving the car in the lot, but we didn't.  I asked the folks at the box office if I could give them or the house manager the bags, and they said I could leave them there and they would get delivered.   I also picked up my will call tickets.  They had trouble finding my tickets but were able to print them on the spot.  Technology worked!  Yay!  JT arrived as we left the theater.  HI!

We walked around campus for a little bit and talked about the Battle of the Network Stars and its role in helping me choose Pepperdine as my school when I pursued my Masters degree.  We enjoyed the view of the Pacific Ocean until we got hungry and decided to go to dinner.  We saw that some students were setting up the plaza around the Christmas Tree, and they said that there was a social function taking place there later that evening.  We figured maybe we could check it out if we got back early for the show.  

Weff chilling in Malibu

Sher and Roo chilling, too

While walking to my car, the guys pointed out to me that there were spots reserved for Rockapella cast and crew.  Hey, that could be us!  Kinda.  Well, I figured I should at least take a picture with the sign.  So I moved my car and JeffEvs took this picture.  Yes, I'm well aware that the school colors are my least favorite combination of colors EVER.  There is a reason you don't see me wearing Waves gear very often.

I usually like to go to Coogie's before a show at Pepperdine, but the restaurant is now called Ollo, even though it is still owned by the same people that own Coogie's.  Whoa, it looks really different.  First of all, there's a bar.  They had closed for 6 months to remodel the place, and it looks swanky now, instead of the homey, beachy feel of Coogie's.  The menu is Farm to Table fresh.  I changed my mind about my order about 5 times before I finally chose the Seared Sea Scallops with cumin, basil oil, bacon mashed potatoes, and spinach.  It was delicious!  I wish that I had some bread to sop up the oil, and somehow refrained from just picking up the plate and licking it off.

Rudy and JeffEvs ordered drinks, which made a nice backdrop for GingerGeorge and Scotcherbreadman to pose for a photo.  Rudy liked his drink, but later ordered the Spice Cabinet Margarita, which he really enjoyed.  JeffEvs ordered the Watermelon Lust, which he also enjoyed. I think everyone really liked their meals, so I'm glad we went there instead of some place on campus.

We had fun with our server, whom decided that whatever we ordered, he would just say that we ordered margaritas.  I don't know why because I was still changing my mind about my order at the time.  When it came time for dessert, Rudy told him that he was allergic to kiwi and asked if it could be taken out of the panna cotta.  The server checked with the chef and told Rudy that it was mixed in with the other fruit.  Rudy ordered it anyway and told him that he's not actually allergic, just doesn't like it.  The server threatened to have the chef double the kiwi.  When the dessert came, Rudy took one bite of his, then tried mine, and asked if he could change his.  I don't know why he just didn't avoid the panna cotta in the first place.  The server was appropriately snarky with Rudy while I was mortified. This whole exchange inspired a new band name, though, which is always a plus: Sarcastic Kiwis.  Anyway, here's a picture of my yummy dessert, the butterscotch creme de pot.

When we had finally taken up as much time as possible without being totally irritating to the restaurant staff, we returned to campus for the show.  We still had a little bit of time and checked out the plaza, but some of us didn't feel right about crashing the student party even though the folks setting it up had told us to return.  So we sat on very heavy wooden chairs and chatted until Bro informed me that he had arrived.  Bro and V were able to bring the kids because Jenn and Katie had both dropped out due to illness.  As I was saying hi to all of them, who should come up to me but my dear friend Gordon!  Gordon was the first friend that Angela and I made while standing in line for a Rockapella show.   I don't know what show it was, but it was very early on in PellaPusher years.  He was even wearing his Rockapella varsity jacket that I love.  He said that he was hanging out with the band before the show.  I asked him later where they went to lunch, and he said Wahoo's.  How am I NOT surprised?  

GORDON!!!!!

We did some ticket exchanging so that the family could all sit together, and I sat by Rudy in row G.  Thank you, Dodie, for allowing for this to happen!  Let me tell you right now that I don't like being so far away from the stage when Rockapella is there, even though our seats weren't bad.  It didn't help that my original seat in row B was still a little bit farther than I would have liked because there was so much space between the stage and row A.  But I was happy to sit by Rudy because we hadn't sat together at a Pella show for a very long time.  Besides, I knew that I'd be in the front row later in the week, so it was all good.  Linda arrived and introduced us to her sister, Diane, whom was attending her first Rockapella show.  They sat behind me and Rudy.  Dodie was on the other side of the theater, sitting by KP and Nicole, in Jenn's seat.  We all finally settled down to watch the show.

Wait. I need a picture of the stage first.

SUN BROTHERS

I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas

Here we are, sitting in our seats, all mellow, listening to the dulcet tunes of the Sun Bros, and lo and behold, the lyrics to the new song turn out to be based on this year's presidential election. "I said Obama's from elsewhere...(Somebody snitched on me) / I said a ferret was my hair...I wrote in Gary Johnson's name...I know that Hill will win the same..." Scott forgot a line somewhere in there, I think because he was laughing. Something something "authenticity".  The line "now I'm Mister President" had a reaction of silence, then boos.  The song was mashed up with Michael Jackson's "Bad", and I laughed at the background lyrics of "Can I get a tic tac?"  Oh, Scott Leonard, I love you and your wit.

Rudy's reaction to Bryant:  DANG!

ROCKAPELLA

I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day

I miss you, Steve.  I was like this when I first heard Steve sing because I missed Kevin, too.  It's just that the first notes I want to hear at the start of a Rockapella Holiday concert are the ones from the lead's voice, you know?  The one that I last heard, at least.  I actually still miss Kevin's voice on this song because it's the one on the CD.  

BTW, Steve is now listed as "Guests" on the official site.  That's just a whole other blog post and I need to hash that all out in my head first, so....yeah.

Scott introduced himself as Hermie the Dentist.

Hope We Hold

The harmonies were a little off.  Oh, Hi, Mitch!  Nice to see him smile over at me.  Maybe.  Well, at least in my general direction.

Scott loves California.  We love you, too!  

Scott: How many are celebrating Hanukkah this year?

(Response from several people)

Scott:  That's about ten times more than we had in Texas for three days.

Dreidel

Mitch was all crazy.

Scott (spontaneously after the song was done):  HANUKKAH!

Silver Bells

Bryant tried to get in on the action, and the tenors finally let him join.  I don't think they ever let George join.  Scott stopped the music with some hip action.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

There's my whistle!  

Glow Worm

Jeff tapped Scott's butt during his face drumming solo.  

Scott: Thank you, Jeff, for your sound effects.  It's a good thing you have a beard.  Of course, when you have a beard, it gets hard on those hands.

Walkin' in A Winter Wonderland

I love that when the guys copy Scott's steps at the end, they also slapped their own butts then walked funny.

Scott:  We have a brand new group of guys.  Mitch was filling in for us in Branson and Laguna.  He was subbing then, but then we said, "you be sounding good, you look so fine, will you join the group?" 

Scott then introduced the next song as a mix of McCartney and Tchaikovsky.

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time

Nice.  The next time I'm in this theater, I'll be hearing Tchaikovsky again, watching the niece in "The Nutcracker"!

Scott started to talk about growing up watching "Rudolph" on TV.  Somebody cheered.

Scott: You grew up, too, I love it.  We all grew up.  

Scott:  If you missed that thing, you missed it.  I would sit there and wait from 3:00, no bathroom break, that's it....I now have Rudolph.com.  Nothing's been happening for about 40 years. (Talks about the scientific possibility of a red-nosed reindeer).  So there, all you naysayers, all you haters.  Don't throw that at me, I'll take you down.

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer

Mitch showed off his stanky leg.  Bryant was getting down during the V formation.

Calvin: (Yes, Calvin talked!!!)  I came from a really large family.  Christmas would be like American Idol. We'd all sing, and my uncle would be like Simon Cowell (thumbs down).

Cal dedicated the next song to his wife.

Merry Christmas, Darling

Scott introduced their new bass, Bryant:  That truly basso profundo voice doesn't come every day.  He's in high demand, singing with Vocalosity and VocaPeople, but we snagged him for California.

Scott, about Jeff doing everything that requires intelligence: He holds all the money.  We're always short.  What's the deal?

JT: Your shortness is not my problem.

Scott:  Ouch.  I've let you abuse my bottom, and now to my face.  We'll see where it goes from there.

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

I like this song, but I miss my favorite original Rockapella song that they used to do in this part of the show.

Christmas, Don't Be Late

Calvin did the hula hoop motion for Bryant.

Scott:  Me, I want a recount, please.  (Big laughs and cheers from the audience)

<Intermission>

Bro asked me if the sound was bass-heavy or was it due to his being near the speakers.  I didn't think it sounded like that from my seat.  He also asked me if Mitch was looking at me or him, but I only paid attention when MR looked at me, so I don't know.

Sibs

Jingle Bell Rock

HO!  Bryant: "Get your ding dong".  Did they always sing that?

Scott:  Oh my goodness.  That was a little...a little stupid.

Calvin really knows his steps now (I'm thinking of when he first joined the group and was concentrating on the notes so much that he hardly danced).

Please Come Home For Christmas

Nice catch, Scott!

Scott: Malibu is ready for Kwanzaa.

Matunda Ya Kwanzaa

Nice bass performance, Bryant!

Scott said to a woman in the front row, Samantha: You are tickled by me.  I hate it when we get a shy one.

Samantha said that she's from California.

Scott: I could tell.  What do you do?

Samantha: I rock and roll.

Samantha said that she doesn't sing, but she does dance.  Oh, boy, and she did.  So much so that Mitch clearly didn't know what to do.  Calvin motioned for him to go over and sing to her, but as soon as he sang his line, he went back downstage.  They looked frightened.  I was frightened. Jeff did some hip checks with her.  There was a lot of confusion, especially from me because I'm not used to JT dancing with the girl on stage during this part.  Or perhaps because I thought to myself, "Should have picked my niece.  WHAT was he thinking?"

Bryant: My favorite part of singing with these gentlemen is looking out and seeing all of the smiling faces.

Grinch

Go, BV!!!

Scott:  I didn't know you had that much aggression in you, Bryant.

Auld Lang Syne

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Go, Mitch!  That was nice.

Scott and Cal pointed to each other during the slide show.

Angels We Have Heard On High

Bryant needs to conduct the audience more for the participation portion.  

Scott said that they were going to Tracy, and we cheered:  Road trip to Tracy!

Encore

All I Want for Christmas Is You

Samantha stood up and danced.  Girl, there are people behind you that would like to watch the show.  Did she not think we had watched enough of her before?

Rockapella sang on the Carmen show for 59 years, according to Scott.

Carmen / Billie Jean

Go, Mitch, with your MJ kick!  

Hold Out for Christmas (off mic)

Meet and Greet

Jeff walked through the lobby door, came up to me, hugged me, and said, "I could hear you cackling out there."

Sher: Somewhere out there.  Sorry I'm so loud.

JT: No, You're perfect, you're perfect!  It kept me going!

Aw, thanks, JT.  When did this become a thing?  I didn't have to hunt him down to greet him.  He found me.  What?!

With the newbie

Calvin told JeffEvs that they went to Wahoo's for lunch.  JeffEvs informed him that it is a local chain.  I love getting hugs from all of the guys, but Cal's seem to be the tightest. He's such a sweetie.

His hugs make me smile this way

Mitch gave me a bunch of hugs and I told him I was glad to see him (last time I saw him I wondered if I'd ever see him again, and he hopefully said, "I'm going to say yes.  Yes.  I WILL see you again").  I introduced him to Rudy and Rudy mentioned Steve.  I said that Mitch and I have already talked about that, he knows I love seeing him, and we're good.  Mitch nodded in agreement.  Rudy asked if I went to Disneyland with Mitch and MR gave Cal a hard time again, especially about Tower of Terror.  Cal: Why did you have to mention that again?  They're so darn funny.

Mitch and Sher

Yay!  She took a picture with the guys!

I said hi to Bryant, and he said, "I saw the writing on the bag and said, 'Dammit!  I know who that's from!  And I bet there are 90 cookies in that bag.  DAMMIT!"  You're welcome, BV.  Bryant said that he had three weeks to learn the music.  Yeah, but you're a pro!

I waved to Scott as he talked to other people.  KP said that once Fred arrived and started talking to her, Scott looked at the two of them and said, "I'm going to go say hi to Sherry."  Aw, sweet.  His first words to me as he hugged me: "Thank you for the cookies."  I told him that their videos have been getting me through the last couple of months.  "Because I don't love you enough already, you go and make those videos and make me love you more.  Because (I mouthed the actual words) WTF?!?"  He laughed and said, "Yeah, I knew it would go over well in California, but didn't know about Texas.  They were OK with it, but probably only because he won.  If he had lost, they probably wouldn't have liked it at all."  I told him that I got a promotion and he congratulated me.  He kept yawning and I asked if he was tired.  He said it was 2 AM for him.  I told him I"m not used to them coming over the day before the show, but maybe they just wanted to get adjusted to the time.  Or leave Texas.  He smiled.  Gordon came over to talk to us and I told Scott that Gordon was my first friend in line at a Rockapella show, 19 years ago.  Wow.  That was a long time ago.  

I love the color of his shirt

As we were saying our good nights, JT asked, "Are you coming to the San Francisco show?"   Um, yeah, if he means "Tracy".  We told them all to travel safely and would see them on Friday.

We took a different route home than we did on our way there because I don't like driving winding roads at night.  On the way, Rudy learned that Rockapella had made a third Christmas CD.  I told him I'd get one for him in Tracy.  But I forgot.  Sorry, Rudy.

You know what I don't like?  Having to go to work the day after a Rockapella show.  Because, like, I'm tired, and I can't blog before I go to bed, and this had to wait several days.  Sorry for the delay, Posse.

Next up:  Pella at Tracy, CA