(Missed first twenty minutes, came in halfway through…)
Sixteen Tons
That’s the Way
Where Would We Be
Rockin’ Morning
Doorman of My Heart
***Intermission***
Dancing in the Streets
Don’t Do It
Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress
Pretty Woman (Tina)
People Change
Sixty Minute Man
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego
***Encores***
Last Night (off-mic)
Happy Birthday to Colleen
Tempted (by the Fruit of Another)
Blah Blah Blah
Zombie Jamboree
This was Rockapella’s 3rd annual concert to benefit Camp Heartland, a summer camp for children with HIV/AIDS. I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it there. A native resident of Virginia, I was spending the weekend in New York City to see a couple Broadway shows and thought I’d take in a Rockapella concert while I was in the area. Easier said than done. I had been advised to take a train from the City to Long Island and then a cab the rest of the way. So my companion, Liz, and I set out on foot for Penn Station at around five PM. Big mistake; our hotel was on 53rd and 3rd while Penn Station is at 34th and 7th. We should have taken a cab, but we did get our exercise for the day. Of course, we missed the 5:30 train I had been hoping to catch and had to settle for the 6:30 train to Hempstead Station. The train ride went smoothly and we got to Long Island at 7:25. The concert was at 7:30. Needless to say I was anxious to find the University quickly, so we decided to forego trying to get a cab.
If someone would have just pointed us in the right direction we would have started hiking, but the man we asked told us we should take a bus. We did, but were rather alarmed when the bus took us a full block and a half past the University before stopping. We got off and hoofed it back to the main entrance, and then found ourselves on a sprawling campus with no map, no one to ask directions of, and no earthly idea of where the Adams Playhouse was. It was now 7:50 and I was more than a little antsy.
We wandered around and eventually found a map which showed us that we were on the wrong side of the street. Argh! There was a covered walkway that passed over the street, but we had trouble finding the entrance. Finally we got across. It was now eight PM and I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. We had a general idea of where the Playhouse was but were looking for a sign somewhere. Then as we passed a large building, Liz suddenly cried, "I just heard a scream! This must be it!"
I had to laugh. "Yeah, you know what kind of concert we’re seeing, don’t you."
Liz, incidentally, had never seen Rockapella before this, but gamely agreed to come along so I wouldn’t have to go alone. For that I will be forever grateful; without her I probably have fallen to pieces at some point.
We hurried into the building, presented our tickets, and walked into the concert about halfway through Sixteen Tons. All I could think was, Thank God, we’re here! As I sat down to enjoy the concert, the pain in my legs and back slowly disappeared. Amazing how Rockapella has that effect on me.
After Sixteen Tons was That’s the Way from the new CD. Then Kevin came forward and announced that he and Amy had just had a new addition to their family. We all cheered and applauded and he said, "Yes, we just got a new dog." When the giggling died down he amended that to a new daughter, named Hope. Hmm, so they’ve got Gracie and Hope. Will the next one be Faith? Hey, if it is, they could use her birth announcement as an intro for the song Have a Little Faith!
Kevin now started to tell us a story from the road. As he began Barry and Scott suddenly groaned in protest and Barry left the stage. Scott stayed, but his entire body conveyed the message "Don’t, don’t, don’t tell it!" Elliott just laughed; I think Jeff was indifferent.
Kevin hemmed and hawed for a while, wondering if he should tell it or not, as we egged him on. (We had no idea what was coming.) After a while Barry came back asking, "Is it safe? Is it over?" It hadn’t even started.
Finally Kevin stopped pussyfooting and told the story. It was something of a gross-out story and I can’t bear to repeat it, but I will tell you that it involved something Kevin saw a man in another car doing and will hereafter be referred to as The Booger Story. That over with he launched into Where Would We Be, another song from the new CD which he and Elliott wrote together.
Next came the obligatory performance of the ever-popular Folgers commercial. But the commercialism was softened afterward when Scott presented Melissa Holland (the concert coordinator and Camp Heartland representative) with a check from Folgers for the sum of $1500. The check was about as tall as Ms. Holland herself and the boys made several quips:
"Don’t try to take that to the bank."
and
"That must be hard to cash at the drive-up window"
They finished the first half with Doorman of My Heart, after Scott explained exactly what a doorman is. This is another song from the new CD and one of my favourites, but I was a little shocked by what Scott did with the first line: "Well, he’s a crotchety, squint-eyed pitbull, don’t give a f*** what you gotta say." I would never dream of dictating what Scott should or shouldn’t put in his lyrics; I love all his songs, this one not excepted. But that particular word is censored on the CD and also on their web page where the lyrics are posted. I think it should also have been censored here as there were quite a few young children in the audience. Granted it went by very quickly and might not have been understood by said children, but I still feel it was inappropriate in this setting.
During the break Liz and I examined our tickets and discovered we were in the wrong seats. Having come in mid-song we had found our row and plopped into the only two empty seats there. But we were at the wrong end of the row, and right next to the speakers, too. Apparently when we didn’t show, the people now in our seats decided to upgrade a little. Not being a confrontational person I didn’t challenge them, but if they had gotten up to go to the bathroom or something I think we would have reclaimed our rightful seats. They didn’t, though. They either have strong bladders or are very intuitive.
Just before the second half started a raffle was held for the benefit of Camp Heartland. The grand prize was a beautiful, hand-crafted bedspread donated by a lady whose name I can’t recall. She said it was a major pain to make and she would never do another one. (Never say never.) Ms. Holland offered to let her read the winning number and she had to squint to do so since she didn’t have her glasses. When the winner jumped up with a yell she stared at him then shoved the ticket under Ms. Holland’s nose and demanded, "Is that right?" The winner turned out to be her son who is about to get married, and she had been thinking about making him another such bedspread for a wedding present. Well, now she doesn’t have to. How fortuitous.
They opened the second half with Dancing in the Streets. At first I was overjoyed because I thought surely I would have missed that one; they usually do it at the beginning of the show. But they didn’t have the individual dance moves that makes it so much fun to watch. Oh, darn.
Now Elliott came forward and told us a story from the road to counter Kevin’s Booger Story. I’ll make it brief: They were driving on the interstate when they came across some road work. They slowed to a stop and were sitting patiently when another car came along at upwards of 50 MPH and plowed into the back of the car next to them. The driver and passengers of this car then jumped out and took off on foot. I don’t remember the details, but Elliott described a complicated chase with Rockapella going after the perpetrators in their van. (Did they think they were still on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? ;~)) They finally caught up with the wrong-doers and turned them in and justice was served. And as the boys were signing papers and such at the police station, Scott commented, "I think this is the first time I’ve ever been on this side of the law." (My goodness!) So that was their Derring-Do Story of the evening, after which Elliott led the group in Don’t Do It.
Next came Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress which I looooove! I was snapping pictures one right after the other. About mid-song Scott was doing some major hip gyrations when he suddenly stopped, grabbed his left hip, and walked very stiffly around behind Kevin and Elliott. Are we getting a little old for this, Scott?
They finished the song, then Scott walked painfully over to his water bottle, saying piteously, "My butt hurts!"
To which Kevin replied, "Poor little butt."
Now it was time to pick the Pretty Woman of the evening. Kevin spotted the lady he wanted in the front row and was all ready to jump the orchestra pit (or whatever that thing was that separated the audience from the edge of the stage), but Melissa Holland was making discouraging noises from her seat and the other guys told him to obey the rules for once. So he went backstage and came around to a side door in the auditorium, clear on the other side from the girl he had hoped to pick. And when he finally got over to her, she begged him not to pick her.
"Pick her!" she said, pointing to her friend.
"I’m not going to let someone tell me who to pick," Kevin said haughtily. "That’s just not my style."
So he went all the way to the back of the theatre and picked a young lady named Tina with long, silky black hair. He brought her up to the stage and introduced her to the other guys. Elliott did his usual "Hi, I’m married" line, and Jeff went down on one knee and said, "Hi, Tina. I like your hair."
I think this was the first Heartland concert in which Kevin actually picked a grown woman for the song as opposed to a young child. It went as usual, and at the end Tina got a gift basket put together by Folgers for her participation.
The next song was People Change, which is rapidly becoming my all-time favourite Rockapella song, tied with Don’t Tell Me You Do. Though I kind of preferred it the way they did it back in November when it was still very new: start with just the melody, add the bass and percussion on the second stanza, then the middle lines. It was so beautiful that way. It’s still beautiful, but I liked it the other way better.
Now Scott began voicing his complaints about how he’s always thought of as the girlie man of Rockapella. Y’know, you’d think with all the female fans he has that scream whenever he sings or dances in a way that is even remotely sexy, he'd figure out that we really don't care that he’s not as masculine-looking as Barry. But it makes a cute routine so I guess they’re gonna stick with it.
Continuing on, Scott stated that he wouldn’t have a problem with this if everyone in the group had their feminine moments. (snort, snicker) But then of course, they have Mr. Carl, the deep chocolate bass, who is in no way feminine, while Scott is a little vanilla Tinkerbell. Then he turned to face his adversary, sized him up, and thought better of the confrontation.
Now Barry came forward and stated he had once tried to be Tinkerbell; not a pretty sight. Then he went into his bass envy speech before singing Sixty Minute Man.
Now for something a little different, an auction. The boys had six wooden hearts, one big and five small, that they were auctioning off for Camp Heartland. The hearts were all autographed, the big one by all of them. Scott played auctioneer and started with Kevin’s heart at $25. Not for me, I thought. I’m neither that crazy nor that rich. And a good thing I didn’t participate. Kevin’s heart was the cheapest at $130. (Kevin acted a little miffed by that.)
Barry’s went for $170. Then Jeff’s was held up. "The only bachelor in the group, ladies," Scott said. "Surely his heart is worth a lot."
Jeff took the heart and kissed it to authenticate it. Then he rubbed it over his chest and across his butt. I’m afraid that was a bit of a turn-off for me. But Jeff’s heart also went for $170.
Next came Scott’s heart. A lady in the front row bid $120 and he told her, "You already have my heart, you don’t have to buy it." Isn’t he sweet?
His heart went for $200, as did Elliott’s. But the big heart went for twice that sum, and the person who bought it was the same lady who made the bedspread for the raffle. The boys each got a hug and kiss from her as they presented her with the heart.
Suddenly Scott said, "There’s one more thing you have to do; you know what it is!"
This wasn’t their usual way of doing it, but we didn’t even miss a beat. "Do it, Rockapella!" we screamed (it’s a conditioned response ;~)) and they launched into Carmen, every Rockapella fan’s favourite song.
Jeff did his drum solo for a bit, then abruptly stopped and asked, "Who bought my heart?"
The lady in question was sitting in the front row and Jeff came over and completed his solo in front of her. A spit serenade, how charming. But she was near us, which meant I had an excellent opportunity for a photo.
They finished the song and left the stage. We were immediately on our feet, clamouring for more. They obliged us, putting down their mics and coming to the edge of the stage. I figured it was a safe bet that they would do Up on the Roof/What a Wonderful World and started to write it in my notepad. But they started to sing something else and it took me a while to recognize the longish intro as I had never heard it in concert before, let alone off-mic. It was Last Night, another beautiful ballad by Scott. They were singing it with five parts, no percussion, and I think Jeff was singing the upper harmony line, since Scott was singing the melody and I could hear Kevin just below him. Jeff sounded very good; they really need to let him have a solo one of these times.
Next they sang a Happy Birthday to one of their veteran fans, Colleen in the front row. I think this was the same lady whom Kevin tried to pick as the Pretty Woman. That would have been a nice birthday present.
Speaking of Jeff singing solo, the next encore was Tempted, the only cover from the new CD. In this song Jeff and Barry split a solo line. The first time I listened to it I was completely taken by surprise and had to listen to it again. The second verse goes like this: Kevin sings the first line, Elliott sings half of the next line and Scott sings the other half, then Jeff sings. I knew it wasn’t any of the other guys so it had to be him, but I was really startled to hear him. I like his voice; I want to hear more!
Now they sang Blah Blah Blah, yet another song from the new CD. I love this one. It’s so full of energy, and hearing Barry do the blah blah at the end of each chorus is a plus.
Finally they sang Zombie Jamboree, an old favourite. You could tell the audience was mostly made up of die-hard concert-going fans because as soon as we saw the lineup at the back of the stage, we knew what the song would be and started cheering. Barry told us that they had sung it for Penn and Teller’s Syn City Spectacular with the Syn City dancers. "Tonight we have Scott." Hey, I’ll take Scott over them any day! Mid-song Kevin popped out two zombie eyeballs. Dear me. Try not to overdo it, Kevin.
Zombie was the last song. They didn’t do their trademark Keep on Smiling. Oh well.
Concert over, reception time! All I had eaten all day was a Slimfast bar, so I was starving! Liz and I were the first people there and we tore into the buffet. Good food, same as the last one I attended, only this time I was able to finish eating, nerves notwithstanding.
The boys came in as we were lingering over our sodas and sat down at the next table. We respectfully waited what we considered a suitable length of time before we started approaching them. Liz performed the function usually done by Vince, i.e. she took pictures. I had many things that I wanted to say to the boys, but after our harrowing ordeal getting there it was all I could do to speak intelligently, let alone remember everything I wanted to say.
Liz told Barry of our experience and he seemed concerned about how we were going to get back to our hotel. He didn’t offer to take us there himself, though; I guess that was a little too much to hope for.
Kevin got major points this time, not only for remembering me on sight, but for saying, "You’re the girl who wrote those nice poems for us." Awww, he remembered!
Scott I saved for last; everyone knows by now that he’s my favourite, right? He also recognized me on sight. "Oh, there you are," he said. "Hi. I like what you’re doing with your hair now." Wow! He sure knows how to make a girl melt. Though actually, my hair was no different from the last time he saw me, but then it was dramatically shorter. I guess he was just noticing it.
We chatted a bit and I told him about Keith. Keith Wilson plays Plato/Macavity/Rumpus Cat in Cats on Broadway which I had seen the previous night. In talking to Keith after the show, I happened to mention that I would be seeing a Rockapella concert and so discovered that Keith and Scott know each other from when they both worked at Disney World. (It’s a small world…) I told Scott that I had seen Keith who said to say hi. Scott was delighted. "I didn’t know Keith was in Cats!" he exclaimed. "Tell him hi for me, and if he’s ever in Florida again he should look me up." Of course, I promised to do so.
There was a cake to be cut and all the guys gathered round to do so. The cake had a remarkable reproduction of the recent CD cover and while waiting for Jeff and Elliott to join them, Kevin amused himself by poking coffee straws through their faces on the cake. Ah, a voodoo cake. That should go down nicely at the Zombie Jamboree.
The cake was eaten and the party eventually wound down. Liz and I called for a cab and were trying to figure out where he wanted us to meet him. (His directions were rather vague.) In our wanderings we came across a security guard in his van and asked him for help.
"We’re kind of lost," I said with a sheepish grin.
"I could tell," he answered.
I explained that we needed to meet a cab, but weren’t exactly sure where.
"Where do you need to go?" he asked.
"Hempstead Station," I told him.
"Get in," he said.
"What?"
"Get in."
"Oh, okay. Thank you very much!"
So that was one problem solved, but we still had to wait around till 1:15 for the next train. We got back to Penn Station and took a cab this time to our hotel. Walked into the hotel room a little before 2:30 and the first thing our waiting companions said was "What did you do, walk back from Long Island?"
Well, despite the various setbacks we had a good time, and Liz says she wouldn’t mind seeing Rockapella again. I have a convert!