Devlin 008 has never seen as many students as it did Thursday night, when this year's A Cappella Fest drew an audience of hundreds to the dimly lit lecture hall. Fans of the all-vocal music style packed the seats, aisles, and doorways to listen to students sing pieces from Regina Spektor to Frankie Valli.
"I never really understood a cappella. Where are all the instruments?" said Matty Booker, LSOE '11. "But after A Cappella Fest, I'm a fan."
All six of the Boston College a cappella groups - the Bostonians, Against the Current, the Sharps, the Dynamics, the Heightsmen, and the Acoustics - performed. The show ran a little under two hours, from 7 to 9 p.m.
"A Cappella Fest is always great because we get to hear all the other great groups perform, which is something we don't get to do at any other show during the year," said Brendan Dougherty, A&S '10 and a member of the Acoustics. "It's also great because it's the very first show for our new members, so the excitement level is always very high."
The Bostonians, BC's oldest a cappella group, kicked off the show with an uplifting rendition of "Viva La Vida." The soloist, Joe Denatale, A&S '11, out as one of the most charismatic performers of the night, set the bar high for the remainder of the evening's solo singers.
The formally dressed group showed no shortage of talent with their clean and classy presentation. They followed the opening with Pink's "Who Knew," and ended dramatically with Little Big Town's "Boondocks."
Against the Current, BC's only Christian a cappella group, was up next, singing "Revolution" by Starfield. The 14 members have just recently come together, but seemed to have a lot of fan support from the audience.
The Sharps, BC's only all female a cappella group, followed with four songs, including "No Air," given a new spin by having the traditional guy-girl duet sung by two girls. They lightened up the show by closing with a comedic rendition of Britney Spears' "Piece of Me."
The Dynamics followed, stealing the night and living up to their name with an eclectic mix of music and an energy-packed performance.
"We went out there and had a lot of fun," said Amir Shirazi, A&S '09, arranger for the Dynamics. "That's one of our main priorities, and I think we achieved that. This is our 10th year, and we wanted to show BC how far we've come."
The group started out with a powerful "Before He Cheats," led by one of the strongest female voices of the night, Dani Rosen, LSOE '09, who sounded remarkably like Carrie Underwood. "Apologize" was next, an obvious crowd-pleaser for the Timbaland-produced vocals.
"Fix You" was next, which crescendoed with a shift into "The Scientist." It seemed like it would be difficult to upstage the aforementioned mix of Coldplay for their final song, but the group proved to do just that in their last piece.
The Dynamics then launched into "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurythmics, with a little bit of the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" thrown in. A fluid shift into the always-popular "SexyBack" lifted the audience out of their seats and proved that the more songs packed into three and a half minutes, the better.
The Heightsmen, BC's only all-male a cappella group, followed the Dynamics with a more traditional performance. Dressed in suits and ties, they seem to take a classic approach to a cappella.
The boys commanded the audience's attention with theatrics, appropriate dramatic pauses, and practiced vocals during all four pieces, including the Beach Boys' "Kokomo" and Guster's "Medicine Song."
The Acoustics were the last group to perform at A Cappella Fest. The six guys and eight girls of the group put on a laidback but entertaining presentation similar to that of the Dynamics.
The group started out on a high note, with a Montell Jordan mix of "Get it On Tonite," an obvious favorite, and "This is How We Do It." They ended the show with a debut performance of The Zutons' "Valerie."
Although none of the groups have had more than a few weeks of practice this year, the performers at A Cappella Fest put on a show that was exciting and engaging. The song choices were often predictable, but the music was accessible to a crowd that included a range of students, along with parents and faculty members.
"You could just feel the energy in the room, and we definitely fed off of that and performed better I think because of it," Dougherty said.
Overall, A Cappella Fest was a huge success that far upstaged the venue. Considering the massive audience, it is clear that Robsham would be more appropriate for the event next year.
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