Surprise Performances
For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to understand why people love a cappella. Heck, even for those of us who do actively enjoy it, it can be difficult to put into words why we enjoy this art form so. While we’ll never have a truly comprehensive list of everything cool about a cappella, 200 Reasons to Love A Cappella is our best attempt at assembling a list of what makes it great.
Reason #46: Surprise Performances
OK, so you’re attending an a cappella show, and you hear “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “The Longest Time” and something or other by Coldplay. You get to wondering if anything different is going to happen at this shows.
And then it does.
One of the coolest things about a cappella as the way in which groups can transcend boundaries. Few groups restrict themselves to a specific genre these days, instead celebrating the diversity of the modern music landscape. And so, a group can turn in a snoozer of a set, only to break loose with something completely off the wall.
It’s the 2004 Syracuse University Mandarins singing The Darkness’s “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” at the ICCA Finals, or the 2005 Rutgers Casual Harmony invoking Muse long before it was cool to do so. Or it’s 2006 Brigham Young Noteworthy opening its international championship winning set with Bulgarian folk song. Different doesn’t always mean better, but groups that dare to try something new, and invest the time and effort necessary to execute it well can provide a truly memorable experience for everyone in the audience.
I love it!