I went to my first Rockapella show of the year, last night, at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. It was my first time seeing Steven Dorian since he joined the group, which was towards the end of last year. I had very high expectations of him, since he had quite big shoes to fill. However, as soon as he hit the stage, all my expectations were met, and exceeded! Steven is fantastic! He’s such a great performer, with great presence, and not to mention, he’s easy on the eyes. I’m very excited and happy that they’ve chosen him as Kevin Wright’s successor.
The show, like Steven, was fantastic as well! The guys were looking good in their new suits. I loved the black and purple theme – stick with it, guys! Their new songs sounded great, their choreography and just the overall production of this show was outstanding. For me, it was like seeing Rockapella for the first time, all over again! New member, new group dynamic, new energy. It was a joy to see.
Geo sang his new song, the name escapes me at the moment (Sherry, help me out. LOL). It was a very nice tune and at one point, I thought Geo and John (a.k.a. JKB) were about to take us to church! Can’t wait to hear it on the new CD! By the way, during the beginning of the show, I noticed that Geo’s fly was unzippeed. It must’ve been around the 2nd or 3rd song. I was hoping that the girls who were sitting closer to the stage than I noticed too and let Geo know that his fly was open. It turns out that both Sherry and Karla noticed and even made a sign in an attempt to notify Geo of the “fly” situation. After the show, we asked Geo when he realized his fly was unzipped. He said probably during the 3rd song into the show. We asked him if he noticed the sign the Karla was holding up, letting him know that his fly was unzipped. He said he didn’t notice. He wouldn’t have anyway because it was hard to see anything from the stage, and that he was in the zone to even notice anything at all.
They sang “California Sad Eyed Girl”. That’s when it hit me that I miss Kevin. For me, it will always be a Kevin song. But, Steven did it justice.
John was sweating like nobody’s business! Poor thing was drenched up until the part where Geo did his “Whitney Houston” spiel. JKB managed to change shirts during that time, which was sort of a mini-break for them. However, he drenched that shirt as well! Ah… poor John.
Yes, Sher. Scott was wearing very tight and shiny pants. I’m glad that he’s recovered well from his accident. He was able to do all of his crazy dance moves. That man is resilient! I’m glad he’s OK.
By the way, the new CD is coming out in about a couple of months, according to Scott. A new CD with new material after about 8 years or so? Absolutely exciting news!
Met Steven after the show. I introduced myself and asked if I could have my picture taken with him. Sherry took about 10 pictures of us (I exaggerate, of course) with my iPhone. I don’t want to swoon, but he’s just soooo swoon-worthy! (OK. That’s enough, Aura!) He is very nice, and very easy to talk with. And he is very handsome. (OK, I’ll stop!) He is originally from Worcester, MA, but he now resides in Orlando, FL, just like Geo and JKB, and hangs out with Geo at the house of the Mouse. He occasionally plays, Simba (that was who he was probably referring to when he said he plays the “prince”) in “The Lion King Experience” at Disneyworld. And Geo plays his “daddy” (Mufasa). LOL I “LOL” at that statement because of the conversation that he, Sherry and I had about that. Sherry asked him if Worcester is anywhere near Dorchester. I can’t remember if he said it was, but Sherry asked him if he knew any of the New Kids on the Block. He said that he and Marky-Mark were homies. OK, so he was just kidding. He didn’t know any of the New Kids, nor their siblings for that matter. But he did say that Dorchester was indeed a rough neighborhood (which Sherry and I knew already, being the big New Kids fans that we are).
Found Jeff and Scott talking to some fans and people who came to watch the show. Waited to talk to Scott because I wanted to lecture him about the hazards of hanging Christmas ornaments on rooftops. However, when I finally approached him, it dawned on me what had happened to him, and I immediately felt bad for even thinking to lecture him! I sheepishly gave him a hug, but not too hard because I didn’t want to break anything again! And all I could say to him was “please don’t go on anymore rooftops”. He smiled and proceeded to show me the scar on his wrist, where he shattered some bones, they had to be replaced by a metal rod. So, I suppose now, he gets frisked at the airport for setting off the metal detectors. LOL I gave him another hug and left him with other people who wanted to meet and talk to him.
I waited for Jeff to finish what he was doing on the business end of things. After he was done, he looked at me, I waved at him, then he wraps his arms around me and gives me the biggest, tightest, longest hug I’ve ever had from him. Then, he asked me if I had been at the 2 previous shows (I’m thinking he was talking about Lafayette and SLO). I told him that that night was actually my first show of the year. He said something like, “Oh, that’s good because I would’ve hated to have missed you.” He said all this while I was wrapped up in his arms. Yes, I’m still squee-ing right now. *sigh* I asked him if he got his iPad yet (which he wrote about wanting to get on his blog on Rockapella.com), and he said that he’s ordered the 3G version and it’s going to be shipped next week, I think. He seemed very excited about that purchase because he can put all of his reading paraphernalia and music in the iPad, as opposed to bringing a whole bunch of books and magazines and CDs on the European tour. He’s just wondering about the cost of WI-FI on international flights. LOL
That conversation ended as he said “hello” to those who were waiting to meet/talk to him. Somehow, I ended up standing behind him, stuck in this small area right by the front entrance of the venue, behind the ticket booth. It was a very small space, and I wanted to get back to the dining area where Sherry, Wendy, Linda and Mox were. But the only way to get to them was to get past Jeff, which was not going to happen because he AND Scott were both blocking the only way to get back into the dining area. I tried a couple of times to find a little opening between Scott, or Jeff, and the people they were talking to, but to no avail. So, I just hung out behind them, waiting for an opportune time. I guess Jeff realized that I was still standing behind him, so he turned to me, pulled me to him, put his arm around me, AGAIN, and asked me how my life is, how I’ve been doing, what I’ve been up to. I told him that life is good, and I’m pretty much just busy with work. He asked me if there was anything fun coming up for me. I told him that I will be seeing a certain band that he and I both love, in a couple of months. Then, the conversation went on from there. I won’t get into detail on what we talked about anymore. And that’s that.
We said our goodbyes to both Scott and Jeff as they went to the dressing room to gather their things. Then, Sherry, Wendy, Linda, Mox and I went outside after that and ended up sticking around a little bit more, just chatting away as, one-by-one, the Pellas started to leave. I will never forget what Sherry did right before Jeff left! That will go down as a classic! Forgive me for being a little vague about it, but it’s just one of those things that you just had to be there for! LOL And now, I’m terrified more than ever before!
Thus, ends my first Pella tale of the year. It will be awhile ‘til they return to So Cal, but I’m sure they will. After all, we’re great people.
Me and Steven Dorian (a.k.a. “Flirty Eyes” according to Sherry)