So Much Better

Put on your waterproof eyewear, folks. I’m about to gush. (And don't forget, you can scroll down to see some really bad low-rez photos of the people I'm talking about.)

Later I’ll tell you how nice it was to have an excellent traveling companion in AnnaK, to meet several equaintances in person, to geek out posting pictures as I took them and to have Jeff Thacher join me at it. But right now, I’m going to tell you about this amazing new band I’ve discovered. It’s called New Rockapella.

I did not see a Rockapella show on Friday night. I saw a New Rockapella show. So much new. So much hot. So much stripy. So much shiny. So much joy. So much — I finally have to admit it — better. I’ve fallen in love all over again.

So much new.
When I saw Rockapella back in April, I was worried that they — and I — might be getting bored with their material. Friday’s show didn’t just lay those fears to rest, it slapped them out of the ballpark. We heard at least five as yet unrecorded songs at this show, most of them fresh originals from the suddenly geyser-like Leonard pen. I was so gobsmacked I forgot to even chew my gum. However, we did not hear the new George showpiece Baby Girl, which they’d done the night before, and which Harley assures me is well worth waiting for.

One song, Make Love Last, received its debut performance in the second encore. And I was there! Scott gave the usual disclaimer about how a new song isn’t always great the first time out and can turn into “a bloody train wreck for the front row,” and in fact called offstage for a tarp to cover his hapless victims. (He also made a Gallagher reference I’m surprised so many people got. Not you? Look it up.) But it was not a train wreck. It was fantastic. Note-perfect. They knew it, too. None of them could disguise their pride and pleasure in the rapturous reception the song received. That one needs to go straight into the regular lineup and onto the new CD.

Yes, new CD. I’ve decided we’re having one, and soon. I’m taking a Field of Dreams approach: If you envision it, they will record it. Everybody throw your mojo at this, now. You’ll thank me later.

So much hot.
Somebody keep a tally of how many times I use the word “hot” in reference to this concert. Somebody who can count really high. I’m talking about the dance moves now, the ones I used to hate. The dance steps no longer look grafted on from some other act. They are now a fully integrated part of the New Rockapella show. They’re slick and sassy, and that’s nice. What’s hot, though, is that the band now owns those moves with a swaggering confidence they just didn’t have before. Absolute self-assurance is what makes George so hot as an individual — try to look into his eyes without blushing if you don’t believe me — and it’s what makes New Rockapella new. NRP aren’t just the best singers in the biz any more, they’re the best movers and shakers, too.

And by the way, all that aerobic activity has the fellas looking mighty fit.

So much stripy.
Kevin Wright shall henceforth be known as Zoot Suit Riot in honor of the ensemble he was sporting Friday night. It wasn’t enough that he wore the pants and half-buttoned vest of a boldly pinstriped suit, nor that the vest had not just a silk back, but a burnt-orange silk back that managed to clash with every single lighting cue. Oh no. He put an even more widely striped shirt under there. Cripes, who dresses this guy, Scott Leonard?

The difference is, this time it worked. It was almost hot. It’s that confidence thing. When you know you’re the baddest cat in the alley, you strut, and when you strut, damned if you don’t look like the baddest cat in the alley. Rrrowr, Zoot.

Not to be outdone, John and George both wore striped shirts as well, albeit with quieter pants. Scott, of course, wore the blue striped shirt with a suit made from some sort of shiny blue stuff that looked more like a Corvette paint job than fabric, and that neither matched the shirt nor needed to.

Jeff, the nonconformist, wore grey and black and looked damn good doing it.

So much shiny.
Scott’s suit. Scott’s songwriting. Kevin’s realization that he is, in fact, one of the most gifted performers around. John’s jazz trumpet of a voice. George’s finessing of a vocal part that could easily get boring and repetitive. Jeff’s evolving vp solo, which involves a spectrum of sounds and buzzes that lift it beyond drumming into a mini-Stomp show all his own. Even the slow numbers sizzle. The entire show has been buffed to a high sheen, and I appreciate it.

Let’s talk about Scott’s new songs for a sec. I don’t know squat about songwriting, but I can tell you this: They’re damn good. They’re flashy, they’re catchy, they’re 100% C.S. Leonard at play. You will babble incoherently when you hear them, kind of like I’m doing right now.

So much joy.
It used to be that Rockapella danced because they had to. Now, they dance because they’re bursting with joy and cannot keep still. Hell, I thought Jeff was going to wear his pants out from the inside. They grin and clap each other on the back after a particularly good number, which is often. They gush so much sincere praise for one another that they laud each other into aw-shucks embarrassment. They’re excited to show us what they can do because they know we’ll love it just as much as they do. And that’s a lot.

And Scott. Scott is absolutely on fire. He has never been dull to watch, but these days you can almost see the sparks fly. He’s being challenged in a way he hasn’t since Sean left the group and could not be happier. He sets the energy standard high, and the others are right there with him. Yeah, they’re all limp noodles by m&g time. But smiley ones.

A telling moment: At the very end of the very last encore, as the audience screamed and clapped and begged for more, Scott gestured to his band and said, “Rockapella!” And one of the other guys corrected him. “New Rockapella.” It’s not just words, it’s a whole new mindset.

So much better.
All right, I admit it. New Rockapella is better than Rockapella Classic.
Not just different, not just hipper, not just more visually interesting, but outright better.

You’ll notice I’ve talked a lot about Rockapella here, when usually I say George did this, Kevin said that, Jeff did blah blah blah. That’s because they’re not just five talented guys together on a stage any more, they’re a unit. Together, they are greater than the sum of their parts. I’m beginning to think there’s nothing they can’t do.

All right, just thinking about that high-impact concert has worn me out. More later.