Rockin' it a cappella (huh!)

There is no way to go back and explain what this means. The history is ponderous, sad, and, honestly, it's sort of amazing that it's as big a deal as it is. But it is. Some of you know why. If you don't, just trust me that it's a big deal.

"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" started airing on PBS my first year of college. I remember, during the winter 1992 semester, taking early enough classes that if I rushed home, I could be there in time to catch the show every afternoon. In the days before in-house internet was affordable for a college student working 17 hours per week, I would sit up next to the television during the closing credits, trying to write down the words to the theme song. It was brilliant. The game show was educational and cheesy and fun, but the big draw was, of course, the house band, Rockapella.

Then life happened, I got married, moved to Las Vegas, got divorced, got married again, and, just as Daphne's dad suggested that I get a hobby, somehow found that Rockapella was still making music, and had, in fact, just released an album called, of all things, "Rockapella," their third American release.

I bought the album, loved it, and immediately went about the business of acquiring the Japanese-release records. Then, lo and behold, they were actually touring in the US! My first concert was in Redding, California, in 1999. I saw several people for the first time who would soon become friends via a Yahoo! fan board and then from other concerts. (And, actually, there's a whole East Coast contingent of fans I've never met but whom I would certainly consider friends, as well.)

Over the next couple of years, I saw Rockapella perform in Redding; then Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Barbara, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; another Santa Barbara show; and then a final Las Vegas one. Except for the last concert, the line-up for that entire time was Scott Leonard, Kevin Wright, Elliott Kerman, Barry Carl, and Jeff Thacher. I believe that George Baldi III had replaced (in a manner of speaking) Barry the last time I saw Rockapella perform.

My sister went with me to a couple of shows (if I remember correctly, a little bitty Hannah went with us to one of the Vegas performances), but other than that, I went alone, meeting up with my friends before and after. Then a whole lot of stuff happened, and that was that.

Until last night.

When I found out that Rockapella was coming to Austin, James was not working. He'd been laid off, and yet he told me to buy tickets... for all three of us. This is a man who 1) doesn't go out on Sunday nights because he needs to recharge for the work week; 2) is not interested in this style of music in the least; and 3) trusted that I'd managed the money well enough that if I thought we could afford the tickets, we should go for it.

So we did!

First, we waited expectantly for Daphne to get home from her Thanksgiving trip. Then we went to the One World Theater.

First, we had dinner. According to the FAQs on the website, no you cannot just buy concert tickets. Dinner is always included. The dinner was actually pretty good, even though the drinks were extra and my Diet Coke expired in September so was pretty flat and metallic-tasting.

The venue itself is lovely. According to its Facebook page, it's the best place to get married. I'd argue for the Cathedral of Junk, but that's probably just me.

Then we moved into the theater for the show. First of all, I was a little bit sad to learn that they had sold only 100 tickets. Originally there had been two shows scheduled, and they ended up combining them. The good news for us is that their best seats are saved for season ticket-holders, and since some of them didn't show up, we were able to move in to upgraded seats one song in. (Otherwise, James would have seen most of the concert as performed by Jeff, because we were basically on the side of the stage.)

Since my last concert in 2002, Elliott Kerman left and John K. Brown took his place. Then Kevin Wright left and Steve Dorian took his place. I never got to see John K. Brown perform. His last performance was a couple of nights ago. Calvin Jones made his debut at the show we saw. He was focused, but did a great job! It was pretty nearly seamless!

Since this was a Christmas show, we got quite a few holiday songs, including the Dreidel song in honor of the fact that Hanukkah started on Thanksgiving this year. 

The show was so much fun, and they sound as great as always. Jeff is incredible, as usual. Scott kept calling the One World Theater "New World," which sounded very ominous. Since Rockapella's last album was Motown-inspired, there were a lot of those songs, and a couple of originals from the album before that. While Scott's arrangements of covers are unique enough, I really do prefer the originals. Given their uber-respectful-looking suits and the oldies music, I hope hope hope that Rockapella won't become a band catering to the Branson crowd (and no offense to you, if you're the Branson crowd). There are a lot of young a cappella groups gaining national attention, but I think there's still room for these guys to stay in there. They absolutely blazed the trail and made innovations to performance and arrangement and style that have set the bar for newer bands. I think Rockapella is at its best creating: new stuff, arrangements that turn existing songs on their heads (last night, specifically, "Rudolf," "Christmas Don't Be Late," and "Angels We Have Heard on High" were so much fun).

Oh, yeah, and the Dreidel song, which made me laugh out loud.

I can't even.

Mostly, it was a night to remember because my daughter and my husband were sitting on either side of me. I love my sister, and I appreciate my friends. But it was great finally to experience a Rockapella show with my family.

It's funny: About half way through the concert I realized that it was probably the first show I'd attended where I didn't note the set list to "report" later. Being a superfan in the early 2000s came with some (self-imposed) responsibilities. :)

A couple of people asked me if it was as emotional as I was expecting. First, I literally cried when I was buying the tickets. Then, just listening to their Christmas music as I put up the tree this weekend, I got choked up, as well. Last night wasn't any kind of catharsis; it was just a great night with my favorite people and some super talented musicians entertaining us.

I think I know why.

Back in the day, going to a Rockapella concert was like seeing a lighthouse from a lost and battered ship. It was a lifeline, a blinding beacon on an otherwise bleak horizon. Last night, it was like seeing a lighthouse from a cruise ship. It was lovely, and I stared at it for as long as it was visible, but I was watching from a place of intense joy, and I knew that when that light went out, there was still happiness and fun and bright life to experience.

When we got home, James was saying that he felt very under-dressed. I asked him if he meant "under age" because we were one of the very few who didn't appear to be "experienced" season ticket-holders. For the record, James was joking because he doesn't get self-conscious about what he's wearing. And I assured him that, whatever he was wearing, he is still the sexiest guy in the room. James said, "I don't know. That bass singer was pretty sexy." I still think James has him beat. But it was pretty incredible to be in the same room with both of them.