Six a cappella Groups Rock the House

I don't know how many years the Unity Music Boosters have sponsored last night's annual a cappella concert, but all six groups who performed rocked the house with their voices - no instruments allowed. Four groups were from the U of I, one from Indiana University and one group from the local community.

The Other Guys from the U of I:

Highlight - their 7 song medley of Beach Boy Songs.
Flashback - their song intro where they "Introduce Themselves by shaking hands with each other". I recall using that shtick back in 1986!

The Girls Next Door from the U of I:

Highlight and Flashback - Singing the Carpenter's Superstar (Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby? You said you'd be coming back this way again maybe. Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, my Baby. I Love You, I really do)

Straight No Chaser from Indiana University:

I think EVERYONE has seen their YouTube video of the 12 Days of Christmas. Just do a search for "Straight No Chaser 12 Days". The video has been viewed over 400,000 times. The original members have long graduated, but the quality of group carries on.
Highlight - Their Straight No Chaser Song.
Flashback - Lion Sleeps Tonight. Complete with silly animal sounds.
Pseudo Flashback - Africa. (not a real flashback for me, because I sang a cappella before EVERY group had an arrangement of Africa - BTW, the Chorallaries arrangement is better!).

Following intermission, a beat-boxing competition was held, with one of the X-Chords winning by singing and beat boxing Michael Jackson's Billy Jean. Wow.


Next, a surprise - a local women's barbershop quartet called Illusion performed:

They proved that you don't have to be in college to perform close harmonies, so I guess there's still hope for me.

The last two groups annually perform in this concert and anchored the night's performances.

The Rip Chords from the U of I:

Highlight: It's Raining Men

The Xtension Chords from the U of I:




Highlight: Insomniac
Flashback: Repeats of last year's Jesse's Girl, What We are thinking when We Sing, We Love Illinois.

OK, so I was a little disappointed with the XChords because, with the exception of "Insomniac", their set was the same as last year's. I understand why that is, I hope next year they'll bring something fresher.

My favorite group of the night? Straight No Chaser.
Was something missing? A Mixed SATB group of course!
Did I buy a CD? I always come away with a CD - I purchased one from Straight No Chaser, one that had "Back to Pooh Corner" on it. Because I'm nostalgic.