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