At any rate, I've watched at least bits and pieces of all four seasons, but watched season four religiously. The groups on the show were fantastic and some of the new twists this season (like the Ultimate Sign Off - which pitted the bottom 2 teams against each other with the same song each show) made it really entertaining and fun. So, when my friend, who had also been watching religiously, said to me back in December - "Hey! The Sing Off tour is coming to Turning Stone! Will you go with me?" I jumped at the chance. We weren't sure just which groups would be along for the ride, but I'd enjoyed so much of the show, I wasn't really worried.
Season 4 winners, Home Free, along with The Filharmonic and VoicePlay, two other groups from the top 5 were the groups we were going to get to see. We were really excited to see Home Free as they were our favorite group on the show and also hopeful to see, perhaps, some of our favorite show performances from the other groups as well.
To say that this was one of my favorite concerts of all time is an understatement. Those of you reading, by now, probably know that I've been to a number of concerts (in fact, I believe this show was my 74th) and this defintiely ranks in the top 5.
Along with the groups from the show - a couple of local college a capella groups opened things up, which was cool to see. Their sound, though less developed than the more seasoned groups on the show, were really quite good and got the crowd engaged and ready.
After a fun varsity-jacket clad group performance, the show was broken down into each individual group's performance.
When Home Free hit the stage - people went crazy. They performed for about 45 minutes - incorporating both other groups from the show into their own "Ultimate Sing Off"s. Throughout their performances were interspersed some amazing comedy bits too - picking on Bass, Tim, for hitting tenor notes in his Josh Turner cover of Your Man, and picking on Austin for attempting to rap. There was even a bit of twerking that caused Rob to run scared from the stage...and from Tim - the one who was twerking. They incorporated some "dirty pleasure" songs like Justin Bieber and even the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song. It was fantastic. I found myself laughing, singing along, and screaming and clapping at the end of each song. In fact, I think I was annoying the hell out of the guy in front of me...but, I mean really, we're at at concert - of course I'm going to yell and clap! (Note: Vocal percussionist from Home Free - Adam Rupp, was not with the group for this tour as his wife had just given birth - according to their announcement at the concert and he was home with her - so HeatBox was touring with them as their percussionist).
They ended with a couple of group numbers to wrap things up. It was fun to see the groups play off each other.
When VoicePlay had been up on stage performing, they informed the crowd that they'd be "outside" after the show to say hi to everyone. Having been to Turning Stone previously, I knew where they usually do post-show "meet and greets" like that in relation to the Showroom, so Kate and I made our way over to the hallway beside the theater to wait. We were a couple of the first to be milling about and ended up toward the front of the group of audience members who were waiting. VoicePlay came out and started to get set up behind some ropes that the casino employees had set up. We were very excited to meet them, and then the doors opened again and Filharmoic came out too. They hadn't mentioned being there after the show so it was slightly unexpected - and because of that, we dared to hope that Home Free would also be joining their tour mates. As Kate searched her purse for something we could use for autographs (all those signatures just wouldn't fit on our ticket stubs...), I saw the door open again and watched as Home Free also filed out to meet their fans. I slapped Kate's arm to get her attention so that she would know she'd get to meet her favorite - Tim. We were pumped.
We got to chat with VoicePlay - who were apparently amazed when I told them that this was one of my favorite concerts and that I'd been to so many and that it ranked so highly. They all signed our slips of paper (thank goodness Kate had a pad of paper in her purse) and thanked us profusely for coming.
The Filharmoic are adorable and were seemingly really excited people had come to see them. They graciously signed our papers as well and we chatted with them for a few as well. They are posting a tour diary on their Facebook page - and my friend Kate and I can be seen around 45seconds in their Tour Diary 507-511 package. That's me in the pink vest, waving like an idiot.
We also got to meet Home Free and get all of their autographs as well. They thanked everyone very graciously and asked how we liked the show. I, like the idiot that I am, told Rob that we had been doing the gopher dance from Caddyshack (due to their performance of "I'm Alright" from the movie with Filharmonic) in the car all week. He laughed at me. I still can't believe I said that. But oh, well...it was memorable, I suppose, right?
They were all super nice and seemed so thankful that we had a great first night of the tour - enjoying all the hard work that they'd put into their preparation.
All in all, it was a fantastic night and I would totally see the tour over and over. I've been listening to Home Free's album on repeat since that week and haven't been able to stop. It's so good - if you're at all interested in a capella music or this group, definitely check it out. Some great covers as well as some original songs written and arranged by the band. I still kind of want to go to Buffalo this weekend to see them again before the tour leaves this coast...
