Bostonians Harmonize With BU, MIT

A capella groups from three schools performed in Devlin 008 Friday night as part of the Bostonians Fall Invitational. In addition to Boston College's own Bostonians and Dynamics, the audience was treated to performances from MIT's Resonance and Boston University's In A Chord. After delaying the start time a few minutes to allow the room to get packed, the Bostonians opened with their rendition of "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Soloist Erin McKenna, LSOE '12, did an excellent job translating the dance hit to an a capella setting by making the lead vocals sound much more organic and melodic than the original's. Joey Nicholson, A&S '12, seemed to come with a personal cheering section, receiving several cheers before and during the concert, but his standout beat boxing on the song rewarded his supporters' enthusiasm.

The next song was "Where I Stood" by Missy Higgins. While the slower and less well-known song did not elicit the same energy from the crowd as the opener, soloist Arielle Egan, LSOE '10 captured the same passion found in the original in her rendition. The slower pace of the song also allowed the entire group to highlight their vocal abilities. The third and final song of their first set was Taylor Swift's "Love Story," soloed by Lynsie Ranker, A&S '10, with help on the chorus from Joey Nicholson. The audience enjoyed the catchy and solidly performed song, and it was a good lead in for the Dynamics' set.

The Dynamics had the most fun set of the night, coming out swinging with a disco medley featuring among others "Last Dance" by Donna Summer and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston. In addition to great solos, the group's choreographed dance moves proved to be a crowd favorite. Another highlight of their set was a medley of "Sexy Can I" by Ray-J and "Leavin'" by Jesse McCartney. Alfonso Antonio, CSOM '11, gave the audience one of the most charismatic solos of the night, earning several mid-song cheers. The rest of the ensemble was on also spot-on during their set, seamlessly switching between songs in their medley sets.

MIT's Resonance and BU's In A Chord performed next and put on entertaining shows, the highlight of which was MIT's rendition of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight," which got some members of the audience to sing along. Both groups were good, but whether it was the lack of dedicated fans or their short sets, they did not have as engaging a performance as the two groups from BC.

The Bostonians then came back on to close out the concert, performing "Who Knew," originally by Pink, with a solo from Alex Geitz, A&S '11. Geitz had the most dedicated cheering section in the crowd, who all came wearing pink shirts adorned with her last name. Her singing validated their fandom, though, as her solo revealed her to be one of the strongest singers in the show. To close out the concert, The Bostonians performed a rendition of "One" by U2 and Mary J. Blige, with Tom Aleo, A&S '12, and Lauren Parra, A&S '12, handling the solos. The audience's familiarity with the song combined with its big chorus and flawless solos made it a winner for a final song.

After around an hour and 15 minutes of music, the show concluded and the satisfied audience set out to continue their Friday night.