Straight No Chaser Through The Eyes of an Eight Year Old

Part Two of the Legendary Aca-Experience (Part One was two days earlier) took place in South Bend, Indiana on Tuesday, December 22nd.  Actually it began about three hours before when I picked up my son for his first Straight No Chaser concert.  As I buckled him in his seat he started the adventure by saying "Ahem!  You didn't even notice I took a shower and brushed my teeth!"  This from an eight year old boy.  Is it possible he was more excited about this evening's concert than I was?

Not a chance.  Even though I caught the doubleheader Saturday at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago, I couldn't wait to see the guys again and even  more so see what my son's reaction would be seeing them live.  He has seen dozens of videos and LOVES (I mean LOVES) the official Marvin Gaye video as well as the Movie Medley video.  In fact, those two songs were what he was most hoping to see/hear.

** Side note - I can't express enough how thrilled I am that he has immersed himself in SNC's music.  But I'm a little concerned that I'm going to one day receive a call from his Catholic school principal saying "Mr. Bentel, can you come to school?  Your son is Marvin Gaye-ing in the hallway.**

So off we go, according to MapQuest a straight shot east from Chicago to South Bend.  On the way, no doubt worn out from eager anticipation, Cooper feel asleep.  He only woke up when he felt the car turning around.  "Where are we?  Are we there yet?"  "No," I told him, "we have to turn around."

Something didn't feel quite right when I passed a sign that said "WELCOME TO MICHIGAN".  I'm not exactly Magellan, but even I understood that Michigan didn't stand between Chicago and South Bend.  Not to worry, a quick U-turn and we were back on track.  I had told Cooper that if we arrived early enough we could try to find SNC's tour bus.  Well, we arrived early, but it was rather cool and windy so we hustled right into the theater, grabbed a beverage and found our seats.

The show started with Tyler singing lead on "Shut Up and Dance" and Cooper was captivated.  He didn't have to wait long for Mike to knock Marvin Gaye out of the park.

*Oh, I should point out that no matter how many times you've seen SNC, there is always something you haven't seen.  For instance, at the intermission we were fortunate enough to catch up with COTM Dottie Kovacs and her charming daughter Robyn.  Dottie asked how this show compared to the two I saw on Saturday.  In all honesty, the show was exactly the same, word verbatim on the intros, same set list (except that since we were in Indiana the boys added "Back Home Again in Indiana"), everything, so it was the same . . . except that it wasn't  - courtesy of Mike Luginbill.

During Marvin Gaye the guys (namely Jerome and Steve) like to offer their talents and accoutrements to various female attendees in the first row.  Mike, not wanting to be outdone, channeled his inner rock star and jumped up on one of the floor speakers. Or should I say "tried" to jump up on the speaker.  Well, he made it to the top, but didn't stay there for long as the speaker immediately started to tip over and almost planted Mike in the lust filled and helping hands of some women in the first row.  Showing cat-like agility, Mike managed to stay on stage, shook his head and in between lines said "I swear I thought that was taped down."  He sang a few more lines, made his way to the other speakers and said "I'm just going to check these .. . ", kicked them, saw that they moved as well and finished the song without another Mick Jagger incident.  BUT it was an awesome and different performance.

So the song ends and my son turns to me and says "When is the movie song?"  I knew it came during the second part of the show so I said "It's after intermission."

"How many songs until the break?"  Hoo boy, he came focused on what he wants.

Throughout the night I watched him as much as I watched the guys.  As the show went on Cooper became more interactive, almost responding to things that were happening on stage.  During the movie trivia and "12 Days of Christmas" as the guys were goofing around Cooper would shrug his shoulders and lift his arms almost as if to communicate "What? What are you doing?"  He already knew the routine from numerous video views, but now he was getting into it.

When the concert ended we headed upstairs for the Meet & Greet.  I made Cooper an autograph book

and to make things easy on everyone, we waited until we were last in line so the guys would have time to flip to their page and sign their name.  Tyler was first (followed by Don) and Tyler asked Cooper if he made the book.  Cooper said "Yeah, well my dad did" and then continued talking with Tyler.  It was awesome.  Don looked at Tyler's page and asked what song he was singing in the shot.  Tyler said based on his arm position he was guessing it was the Four Seasons Medley (he was most likely right).  Then Don signed his page and Tyler asked Don what song he was singing.  It was the part of their ending medley from a few years ago where Don sang (mimed, actually) "Call Me Maybe" which led to the two of them to try and figure out when that picture was taken.  Tyler finally nailed it down because he tied them doing that medley to when he met his current fiancée.  That's awesome and all, but I'm thinking "Hey guys? Uh can that wait for the bus?  Chaser here wanting to schmooz a bit."  But seriously, they were awesome.  Everyone was.  Cooper told me on the way home that Walt (who was the last guy in the M&G line) figured out (at least verbally) that the book was in alphabetical order.

Then came the highlight of the evening for me (if there can be just one highlight).  Time for the group picture.  When it was our turn, Mr. Korby (did I mention before that he's a class act?  Good lord, he's a class act) said to Cooper, "Ok, get in there!  Where do you want to stand?"  And with the energy and exuberance only an eight year old can muster he yells from deep in his throat "STEVE!!!"

Steve immediately celebrates "Alright!" and without missing a beat Charlie says dismissively "Well, there's a first time for everything."

And so I thought our awesome evening was over.  But Cooper rose to the occasion yet again.  As we were walking to our car he said "Hey Papa (that's how I roll), we never saw their tour bus."  So instead of heading to the highway we headed to the back of the theater to find a tour bus.  Successful, we pulled up along side one of the buses, hopped out of the car and took a picture of Cooper next to the bus.  Somehow in our conversation I pointed out that the guys sleep on the bus as they head to the next town to perform.  Showing he's still eight, Cooper said "Wait, what?!  They sleep on the bus?" 

Being the photographic genius I am, I chose to have him stand at the middle of the bus away from ANY supportive light.  But here it is anyway.

Trust me, both he and the bus are in the picture.  Then it was back into the car where he declares "We need to listen to music on the way home.  Can we hear "Marvin Gaye"?  Oh you bet we can, mister.  Let me just flip through my eight CDs to find . . . here it is!  From there we jumped around to other songs and in a Name That Tune sort of way, he played Name the Lead Singer.  Dang if he didn't get about 80% of the names right.  I even threw him a curve ball with Ryan singing lead on a song.  I said "You won't get this, it's Ryan singing."  Mr. Smartypants responds with "Oh yeah, he's the one that retired."  Points for creativity my man.

Postscript:  This weekend while we were making dinner, we listened to The New Old Fashioned.  When the song got to the Chariots of Fire part, I started moving in slow motion and Cooper got this big grin on his face, shrugged his shoulders, scratched his head and ran past me like he was shot of a cannon (obviously mimicking DR's role).

Officially I can say, SNC through an eight year old's eyes is pretty darn cool.

Sweet Georgia Chaser

Back in the early 1920's the Harlem Globetrotters were formed.  Everyone knows who they are and what they do.  But when they first started playing, oftentimes the players wanted to shoot trick shots, get real fancy and entertain the crowd.

The owner and coach of the Globetrotters, Abe Saperstein, made a deal with them.  He said they could do all those things, but FIRST they had to become the best, most disciplined BASKETBALL team before they could think about ENTERTAINING.

For a few years now I've thought of Straight No Chaser in that context.  Anyone who has seen them perform, like, say Saturday night to two sold out shows at the Chicago Lyric Opera House, sees an amazingly talented group of guys putting on a show that defies description.  Yes, it's a cappella singing.  But it's so much more than that.  It's funny, it's visually appealing, it's topical, it's choreographed.

But at the absolute core, it's being the best, most disciplined singing group possible.  They have to be.  Singing in and of itself is hard.  For some of us it's impossible and definitely should not be tried in public.  Then add moving around a little bit.  Add facial expressions to make your audience engaged.  Add A LOT more moving and dancing.  Oh, but above all else, maintain perfect harmony, perfect pitch, perfect tone and other musical terms I don't know or understand.  That's SNC.  They are the Harlem Globetrotters of music.  Not for one minute are they willing to sacrifice musical excellence in exchange for entertainment.

I had the extreme privilege of seeing them for the seventh and eighth times this past Saturday.  As I was going through the Meet & Greet line after the second show I pointed out that is was just possible the evening performance was better than the matinee, but I would hate to live on the difference.  Since they are still on tour, I won't provide any on stage spoilers.  But there were some amusing off stage things.

For one, and I have no idea why this happened, but while waiting for both shows to start I, like the other 3500 attendees, was hanging out in the lobby.  Apparently I was doing a really good job of it because I had not one, not two, but THREE people (three separate instances) come up to me and ask me a question about the venue because they thought I worked there.  Now I will be the first to admit that I was rather nattily attired (that's just how I roll), but I didn't think I was EMPLOYMENT attired. 

Yet there I was fielding questions for the location of the bathroom and lost and found.  I knew where the bathroom was so that was an easy help.  But let's just say that the guy who was looking for his iPhone?  Well, he's never going to find that thing.

And then, being in Chicago and at a major music event, there is always the potential for celebrity sightings.  I had no less than five encounters!  Not in any particular order, but I did happen upon...

Dan Ponce!  Chicago morning news anchor for Channel 9?  Yeah, whatever.  THIS IS THE GUY WHO FOUNDED STRAIGHT NO CHASER!!!  So what's with the picture you ask?  Why does it look like Dan is photo bombing the shot?  Because technology is no friend of mine and I absolutely SUCK at taking selfies.  This was my second attempt.  Dan was gracious enough to play along.

Toward the end of the evening I struck additional a cappella gold when I ran into  . . .

Luke Mechling (in the Colts hat), bass singer for Gentleman's Rule and brother of SNC bass Charlie Mechling and Corey Frye, former member of Gentleman's Rule.  Two incredibly talented singers (don't believe me?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miWJdXIGDVo  Bam!  Told you.) who were incredibly gracious with their time.  Corey took the picture of me and Luke and Luke took the picture of me and Corey.  Best line that didn't come from the stage Saturday night - Luke Mechling lining up the shot trying to get us to smile saying "Everyone say 'Corey's new hairstyle.'"

So two world class shows, the creator of Straight No Chaser (and Gentleman's Rule for that matter) and two members of GR.  What could be better?  Well what anyone attending an SNC concert would hope for - meeting Chasers.  Chasers, if you weren't aware, are the names of the rabid fans that worship and adore the ten guys on stage.  The pinnacle in Chaserland is to be named (by the group) as Chaser of the Month.  Being named COTM means SNC has recognized the contributions and loyalty a fan has provided to the group.  So did I meet a COTM? Heck no, not on a night when I had three employment inquiries, and met two GR members.  Nothing was happening in ones.  I met TWO COTM!!!  Maggie Sherwin AND Laura Miller.  Laura was there to see SNC for the 50th time.  Yeah, that's what I said.  It's  not a typo.  50.

Showing amazing generosity and grace with a healthy dollop of tolerance, Maggie and Laura let me hang with them in the M&G line to hear and share SNC stories.

What could be better?  I would say nothing . . . .except that Tuesday I will be driving to South Bend to introduce my eight year old son to the guys.  What's SNC look like in the eyes of an eight year old?  We'll soon find out.