Straight No Chaser

After an action- and friend-packed weekend in New York City, I miraculously made it back to Virginia in time to shower and head out to Wolf Trap with my mom and sister to see STRAIGHT NO CHASER. Haven't heard of Straight No Chaser? Oh, I am sorry for you! Check them out here. I know only a little about them: they started out as an a cappella group at Indiana University and more than a decade later (with a few new additions), they're still going strong. Makes me think of a lot of my friends in college (including my own dance team) who would've loved nothing more than to make a living out of our extra-curricular performing activities. 

I bought a Straight No Chaser album for my mother a few years ago after working at Barnes and Noble around Christmastime. The store kept playing the stupid CD on repeat for days on end, but my Mom loved it! So when they headed to our neck of the woods, we took advantage of it! 

Wolf Trap is a fantastic venue: an outdoor National Park for the performing arts. More than half of the theatre features lawn seats, which are super popular, even in Virginia summers which feature random thunderstorms most evenings. That concert last Sunday was no different (but more about that later). Mom sprung for the covered seats, just in case. It was a fantastic show, and the audience was really great. Poor Jerome (one of the group) collapse in the middle of a solo in the beginning of the show (I'm sure it's on YouTube by now.... the group, I think, was expecting it to be on YouTube even before the show was over.. haha). But he seemed to be okay after a minute, and the show continued with laughs and lots of songs!

A full house!

And a full lawn!

But though the show was a frolicking success, the weather decided to interrupt. With about ten minutes left of the show, we all thought bombers were heading into the area. When the sky collapsed into raindrops, we realized it was a thunderstorm instead. Luckily the lawnies didn't have to wait too long. (My mother couldn't understand why they waited at all; my sister and I agreed that it was an adventure).

Soon, the show ended and we all hauled ass through the torrential downpour. Well, it didn't really matter how fast anyone was going; we were all wet.

Despite the weather thing, it was a real treat getting to see this group in concert. They're fantastic performers, and the show really bounced with energy. If they're ever in your neck of the woods, it's worth the investment. But even as they said themselves, you can probably (and hopefully) find a couple of their concert videos on YouTube. They are a YouTube sensation, after all!

Happy Listening!