...So, a few months ago I bought some tickets to see Rockapella in concert. And I was excited. I'd picked the non-holiday show and was ready to hear 'Zombie Jamboree' and 'Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego' live again.

But a couple of days ago I found out that they'd mislabeled the show - and it was going to be a holiday show. Oh well. It should still be good, right? Within a couple of songs, I was enchanted once again, and happy that I'd be hearing the holiday songs in concert.

Sort of.

You see, I made a mistake this year - the same one as last year. I brought my children with me. DH didn't seem to be thrilled about seeing them, so I guess this is going to be the last time that I bother getting Rockapella tickets. Oh, he clapped, but I think acapella music just isn't his cup of tea, and that's too bad. But this isn't about him... this is about my rude children. Interestingly enough - I don't have a blog entry for that concert - and I really wish I'd written about it now so that I could compare the years.

Yes, rude children. The loves of my life. I couldn't be more disappointed in their behavior. They had settled down for the concert, but kept complaining - one said she couldn't see anything once someone sat down in front of her, so I switched seats with her. Then the other was complaining she couldn't see anything, but we convinced her that she could see the top of the mike stands, and that meant she could see *them*, and all of this was going on before they hit the stage.

When the lights went down and the vocals started, the kids settled down. And just about two songs in, it started all over again. One would lean over and ask questions in a not-quiet voice, and the other would complain about her sister leaning over her. At one point we couldn't get the older child to sit back in her seat so that she'd stop obscuring the view of her sister. And EVERY SINGLE SONG of the first set? I had an interruption. And three of them during thier rendition of the Chipmunk christmas song - where they change around the things that they want for Christmas, and I barely got to hear *any* of them.

I am sorely disappointed and disenchanted. And I let the kids know this during the break that I was disappointed in the fact that they weren't letting me (or themselves) enjoy the show. I ended up separating them and sitting between them (which is how we started out) and the youngest moped for the entire second half. Apparently, by being a parent and telling her that she was being out of line and that she should save her questions ruined the show for her. She was mad.

Well, fine. So was I. I think that that's going to be the last time, for a long time, that I'm going to take those kids anywhere that involves tickets and seating. Including movies.

The second half went much more nicely with the kids having been admonished to sit and listen to the music. There was a great rendition of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' and 'The Grinch' and many other songs - including a new one called 'California Sad-Eyed Girl' - they did an outstanding job with it as an encore. 'Christmas in Tokyo' - without the mikes - wrapped up the show.

And I did get to hear 'Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego' as one of the encores. I'd heard that they'd perfomed 'Shambala' on Tuesday night in the encores, but that was not to be for me. Instead I got 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone' with the wonderful bass taking lead on that for most of the song. And that was good enough - he's fantastic.

So, in short - I really enjoyed the music that I did get to hear, but I didn't enjoy the behavior of my companions at the concert. But hey, I've got two CDs of older albums that were reissued of theirs, and that should keep me happy enough for a few days.