For some of those who didn’t go to the hockey game, the Friday of “Halloweekend” kicked off with the Acoustics a cappella invitational. The show started a little late, but the anticipation just increased the crowd’s excitement. Seeing the other a cappella groups trickle in and sit down got the folks talking and whispering, commenting on everyone’s costumes. McGuinn 121 had been transformed from a boring lecture hall with no windows to a dark and spooky hub for music-loving monsters to bond over a shared love of powerful voices, impressive beatboxing, and creative costumes.
After 20 minutes, it was time for Acoustics to come on. The crew trotted in by class, each year dressed with a particular theme. The freshman class looked classy as Disney princesses, with a freshman boy dressed as Ariel shining as the prettiest princess of them all. The sophomores, dressed as the “Avengers” with Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Captain America and Iron Man, followed them. Next, came the juniors, who very accurately represented the Flintstones with Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, Barney and Betty. Lastly, the two seniors brought it back to current times with the phenomenon “Netflix and Chill.”
The Acoustics started off strong with Christina Aguilera’s “Ain’t No Other Man.” Dominique Alba’s (CSOM ’17) strong pipes got the crowd pumped and clapping along, bringing the energy up just a notch higher. So much so that people who didn’t know each other were shouting across rows commenting on the power of her voice and jammin’ together. Then Ben Seo, LSOE ’16, dressed as “Netflix,” put his own vocal abilities to good use on Tank’s “Hope This Makes You Love Me” and hitting some ridiculously high notes, earning him a standing ovation by the entire lecture hall when he was done.
Then, it was the Boston University Treblemakers’ turn, which opened up with some Beyonce and Jessie J and amazing choreography, but didn’t get to it until after being interrupted by someone dressed as the guy from Mean Girls who shouted at them “THEY DON’T EVEN GO HERE!” (which is objectively accurate, since they do go to BU after all). At one point, someone from BU (dressed as Piglet) dared question Boston College’s ability to snap, when it is well known that BC’s better than BU at pretty much everything (snapping included), so that was not appreciated. However, her rendition of “Blame it on the Boogie” was appreciated and the Treblemakers dancing behind her with perfectly synced choreographed moves made up for the assault on the rhythmic talents of BC.
The Treblemakers were followed by the Fairfield Bensonians, who showed off not just their singing skills, but also their “puniness” when they walked up to the front of McGuinn 121 all dressed as “Cards Against Humanity” with a capella puns written on the back. Though their costumes were somewhat roughly realized, they showed off some spectacular vocals with some Frank Sinatra—transitioning smoothly from “Come Fly with Me” to “Fly Me to the Moon”—and Gavin DeGraw (getting people who had not even heard “In Love With a Girl” before, to sing along). They finished off with “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers and got the crowd out of their seats and dancing and singing along.
After the two visiting groups had finished, the show was brought back home with BC’s Dynamics, who started of with a mash-up of Destiny’s Child songs like “Soldier” and “Lose my Breath” with Sarah Zhukovin, MCAS ‘18, Remy Fischer CSOM ‘18, Alexa Kilroy, LSOE ‘18. Then the group showcased Rhys Jamieson, MCAS ‘19, with his first lead song of “Closing Time,” which was followed by “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from Luisa Lange, MCAS ‘16, and ending with a collective Judd Nelson punch in the air by almost everyone in that lecture hall. Seeing as how that classic scene from The Breakfast Club signals the end of the movie, it seems some people thought that signaled the end of the show, and people trickled out while those “in-the-know” waited for the Acoustics to take the stage one more time.
This time, the Acoustics slowed it down a little with a powerful “Taking Chances”, and then Fred Flintstone sped it back up and killed it with a rendition of “Baba O’Riley” and some “Pinball Wizard” from The Who.
While there was some disappointment over a lack of “Monster Mash,” all in all, the night was full of energy with a fun and friendly atmosphere on the eve of Halloween.
Featured Images By Amelia Trieu / Heights Staff
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