The Sing Off Live! (February 19, 2014)

If you've not heard of The Sing Off (on NBC) it's both somewhat understandable and also a huge shame.  It's like American Idol/The Voice/X-Factor/whatnot...for a capella groups.  A competition show that just finished its 4th season...and you probably didn't even know it had been on at all - let alone for 4 seasons.  Part of the reason, I think, is that it's a fast moving show - it takes place over just a couple of weeks, airing multiple nights a week - and every night a group goes home so it takes much less time to air than many of the performance night/elimination night style formats that are out there.  It's been missed by a lot of people, but really, it's fantastic.  Judges (this year in particular) include Ben Folds, Jewel, and Shawn Stockman (from Boys II Men).  Ben is always using big words and talking about musical abilities that really only a few people can understand, Shawn gets so into the performances that he's singing along, and Jewel loves everyone.  It's great.  Also, Nick Lachey is the host - and he's totally not bad to look at during the show.

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.

The Filharomic performed first and performed our favorite pieces from the show.  They were energetic and sounded fantastic.  A self-proclaimed Boy Band, I love their sound...as I have such a soft spot for the boy band phenomenon.

VoicePlay performed next, with Emoni - of Ten from the show - as well as alone doing a bit of their vocal theater.  They were hilarious and also sounded fantastic.  Emoni was a great addition to the songs she joined them for.  I greatly enjoyed their set - even though, for me, during the show they were less memorable than either Home Free or Filharmonic. After their performance at the concert, I was an instant fan.

Another college group - the Yellowjackets from Rochester, NY - performed next and they were also quite good - getting the audience to sing along with their version of 500 miles and really pumping everyone up for the 'headliners.'

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.

Overall the concert was about 2 hours long and really, the music didn't stop at all between all the groups.  As we were the first stop, on the first ever Sing Off Tour (they hadn't toured specifically for the other seasons - although season 3 winners, Pentatonix have been touring on their own), we weren't quite sure what to expect, but what I can say is that we were definitely not disappointed.  Humor, fantastic music, and great entertainment.  I seriously didn't even notice that is was a capella music, meaning that I didn't miss "instruments" AT ALL...the vocal percussionists from all the groups were fantastic and really round out the sound of the lyrical vocals.

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...

3 Doors Down: Acoustic Songs From the Basement (February 18, 2014)

 

When I saw the concert announcement for this show, I was pretty much already sold.  I love acoustic sets and I'd seen 3 Doors Down two other times and knew they put on one hell of a rock show - so I was curious to see what they would do acoustically.

After procuring floor seats for myself and my husband, I was pumped and ready.  Listened to pretty much nothing but 3 Doors Down in the car and at home for like three weeks and really got in the mood.  I love the band, but sometimes with new music and the excitement of new bands I move away from some of my old loves - not because I stop liking them, but just because there are other things occupying my attention.  I fell back into love with so much of the music that I loved in the early 2000's and was totally ready to hear this new spin.

Boy, oh, boy, did they not disappoint.  It was like jam session of all of my favorite 3 Doors Down songs, stripped down.  There were no crazy lights and huge stacks of speakers...as there had been when I'd seen them with Breaking Benjamin and Staind or with Papa Roach at our local rock festival a few years later.  There were 5 guys, 4 couches, a couple of random lamps (even a leg lamp!), and a single lightbulb hanging above the center of the stage.  Of course there were stage lights so we could actually see them, and for sound projection, the instruments were, in fact, plugged in - however the stripped set and simple accompaniment worked really well.

Brad's voice was spot on and the vocals seemed all the more powerful set against the simple instrumentation.  Despite saying that he had a cold and apologizing in case his voice broke at all during the show, I didn't notice any issues in that regard.

The set included both a Garth Brooks cover (The Dance) and a Metallica cover (Nothing Else Matters) which really showcased the range that this group can manage.  It also included all the big hits from the boys themselves, including Kryptonite, Loser, When I'm Gone, Away From the Sun, among several others - both classic and newer.

The stage setup was cool - and although we were in the shrunk down event center at Turning Stone casino (they were only using floor seats and the stadium seats along the back wall of the room - the others were blocked and the stage moved closer) the venue felt intimate.  The couches looked comfy and you could have even purchased seats, right up there on the stage, if you were willing to spend about $400 a piece.  A few people did and it was fun to watch one of the guys taking photos with his phone from the stage.  At the very end of the night - after the encore - Brad reached up as he was walking last off the stage and turned out the single hanging lightbulb designed to make this set look even more like a basement jam session.  It was a nice touch indeed and made me smile.  Definitely a fantastic night.

Turning Stone has also incorporated, for some of their shows, giveaways and prizes as well.  On the way in, we were each given a raffle ticket and told to hang on to it.  After the show was over there were signs set up in the halls saying "Drawing this way" with arrows pointing us in the direction of the main lobby where a DJ was set up.  There, you dropped half of your ticket into a clear acrylic bingo ball style cage and just hung out.  Once most of the crowd had gathered, they drew numbers to win one of 3 signed posters from the band, or the grand prize - a signed acoustic guitar.  Neither my husband or I won anything, but it was definitely a cool - if somewhat unorganized (people milling about and we were waiting for everyone to get down there from the show) little perk.  Nice touch by the casino - even if I really think it's probably just a ploy to get concert-goers to stick around longer and possibly wander into the gaming rooms and spend some money.  

While this was the last stop for this leg of the tour, 3 Doors Down is heading back out to do more acoustic style shows this spring and summer.  If you get the chance, I'd put this on my "check it out" list.