Awesome Concert

Wow. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

The second concert in the Dickinson Area Concert Series was tonight, and I haven't experienced anything so wonderful in a long time . . . if ever. Tonight's artists were an a capella men's quartet called Cadence. Dylan Bell, Ross Lynde, Carl Berger, and Kevin Fox are Toronto musicians--a high-energy, humorous, active bunch whose voices blend well, who display a high level of musicianship, and who know how to infect the audience with their own joyful attitudes.

They sang a wide variety of music, from '40s and '50s standards to '60s and '70s rock "classics" to more recent songs. In between, they performed their schtick, told jokes, introduced themselves and their songs, and interacted with the audience. In fact, at one point Ross came over to where we were seated (near the stage, as luck would have it) and asked me my name, whether the women seated around me were my family, the names of my daughters ("Three girls? Wow! How many bathrooms do you have in your house?"), and Susan's name. Then he invited her to join them on stage!

They seated her on a chair, surrounded her, got down on a knee, and serenaded her with "My Romance." She was a good sport, and they were funny, joking about being in love with her and telling me from onstage how lucky I am. Suzanna could hardly contain her giggles over seeing Mommy up on stage, and Abigail and Hillary were giddy and antsy, jumping up and down and beaming from ear to ear. It was almost as great to watch the three of them as it was to see Susan up on stage with Cadence and to hear them sing and joke and act all swoony!

Afterward several audience members approached us to say "hi" to Susan, having known her from years ago and recognizing her while she was on stage. We bought two CDs of Cadence's music and had each singer autograph each CD. They were good sports, very amiable, and sincerely interested in listening to the girls' comments and answering their questions. I had the sense that they'd be folks we'd enjoy hanging out with in a social setting.

I'm listening to one of their CDs as I write this; it's great, too, and brings back to my mind their onstage antics (that was an important part of why the concert was so enjoyable). Their Web site motto (proclaiming their a capella-ness: "Instruments are for surgeons") reflects their fun attitude. I can't praise them enough. It was terrific. This concert series was a great investment.

P.S. I forgot to ask them afterward during autograph time whether any (or all) of them had ever been in the musical Forever Plaid. I was in that show a decade ago with my friends Patrick, Paul, and Darin, so I was delightedly surprised to hear Cadence sing two songs in nearly the same arrangements as they appear in the musical: "Mathilda" and "Scotland the Brave." And I mean nearly identical arrangements, so if they've never been in the musical, then at least they have seen it and been inspired by it. That deja vu (deja heard?) was a nice element of the evening, too!