Pella poseur

So for quite some time, a friend who loves Rockapella had tried to get me to go to one of Rockapella's concerts. She gave me a couple of their CDs, which I listened to and liked, so I was interested in seeing them, but the timing never seemed to work out. Finally, I managed to make it to a Rockapella concert on October 15, 2004 at Saint Joseph High School. It was actually a great place to see them for the first time, because they performed in the auditorium of the high school, so it wasn't a very big venue, and I managed to get a seat in the second row when the doors opened for general admission entrance, so we were *really* close. I discovered that night that while I like their studio albums, I really LOVE their live performances. I don't think the studio albums capture the entire flavor of their style and personalities, and I love seeing them on stage and listening to them and watching them interact with each other and the audience. Here's my friend's trip report of the concert that night.

I have seen Rockapella in concert multiple times since that first time, both their regular show and their holiday show.

Doing a cursory count based on emails and unless I'm missing something, I believe I've been to 10 shows at this point:

1. Saint Joseph's - October 15, 2004
2. Saint Joseph's - September 7, 2006
3. Rancho Cucamonga - November 11, 2006
4. Reno - May 4, 2007
5. Caltech - October 19, 2007
6. Rancho Cucamonga - December 1, 2007
7. Las Vegas - September 13, 2008
8. House of Blues (L.A.) - December 22, 2008
9. and 10. Rancho Cucamonga - June 14, 2009

I was supposed to have seen them twice on December 21, 2008 in Rancho Cucamonga, but weather conditions rendered that EPIC FAIL Day, and those concerts were rescheduled for June 14.

So, I have done the milestone of traveling out of state to see them, though the trips to Reno and Las Vegas didn't involve going very far, and in both instances, while the husband didn't go to the concerts themselves, he did come with me to the cities, and we stayed an extra night or two and did other things while we were there, so it wasn't just about going to the concerts. I've also done the milestone of seeing more than one show a day, postponed from last December to this June, and that actually turned out to be a lot of fun.


But, even given those details, I'm not a die-hard fan by any means, and I certainly don't claim anything close to that. I might take the occasional day off work to see them, but otherwise, I will generally try to see their shows locally if it's convenient.


And then, last week, I saw a notice come through from them on Facebook - Kevin is leaving Rockapella at the end of the year. No, that's not possible. Kevin is one of my two favorites (the other being John) from the group, and Kevin is also the one who came up and sang to me during my very first concert, and I also know a lot of funny stories about Kevin thanks to my friend. I only know his voice singing "Under the Boardwalk" and "California Sad-Eyed Girl", and now, I'm never going to have a recording of him singing the latter song.

I'm already going to see Rockapella at Pepperdine on December 6, but that's going to be a holiday show, and while I like that version as well, I really love their regular show. And I wanted to see Kevin one more time in a regular show, but when I looked at the tour dates on their site, there was nothing out this way.

And then my friend mentioned wanting to see them in a regular show as well and where she was considering going. And one of the places was where I had vaguely thought about as well.

And now, it's turning out that in four weeks' time, I will be in Boston with my friend watching Rockapella perform at the Berklee College of Music, which my friend informed me is Jeff's alma mater. He's the wonderful vocal percussionist of the group. The really great seats we had been wanting were unfortunately already sold out, but we found some seats that I think are going to work out pretty well.


And since these plans have been arranged, I've been feeling a bit odd about this whole thing. I mean yes, I like Rockapella, but I'm not nearly as dedicated as my friend is or other friends of hers who routinely travel to see the boys and who the boys know by sight and name. And while I've traveled to see them before, this is going to be the first time where the sole purpose of my trip is going to the concert - I'm only going to be in Boston for a little over 24 hours in total. So I'm feeling a bit like an impostor. I mean, yeah, two years ago, I traveled around a bit chasing a band in concert, but that was Genesis, and anyone who knows me would at least understand that. But Rockapella? No, it doesn't really make sense, but sense or not, I'm looking forward to the trip, I'm looking forward to seeing them, and I expect there will be tears shed then and in December.

And that also means I have four weeks in which to buy Ron Jeremy's autobiography and figure out exactly what I'm going to do with it.