ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal at Penn State

On Saturday, February 26, 2011 Penn State University played host to an ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal. The event featured ten groups. Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The Competitors:
The University of Waterloo Water Boys
Penn State University Shades of Blue
University of Toronto Onoscatopoeia
California University of Pennsylvania Vulcanize
The Carnegie Mellon University Originals
The California University of Pennsylvania California Singers
Carnegie Mellon University Counterpoint
Penn State University None of the Above
SUNY Potsdam A Sharp Arrangement
The SUNY Buffalo Buffalo Chips

Host Group:
Penn State University Blue in the FACE

Photos from the event will be available shortly on our Facebook page.

The setting for this event was a large multi-purpose room with four sections of folding chairs set up around the stage. Penn State University Blue in the FACE opened the night with U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Nice performance, made especially profound with the cool blue lighting on stage and liberal use of the smoke machine.

ICCA Director Dave Rabizadeh made the standard announcements, then brought out the night’s emcees, from Blue in the FACE, group director Luke Skerpon and president Lindsay Mangold.

The first competing group was The Water Boys out of The University of Waterloo. The guys took the stage in blue sweatshirts, over collared shirts and ties and jeans. They opened with a variation on The Nylons’ “Me and the Boys,” adapted to include the group’s name and even a reference to the ICCA quarterfinals. Nice deep solo, and the guys put forth a good, jazzy sound, complete with a consistent snap of the fingers. The arrangement was really simple on this one and the choreography got really cheesy really fast. Overall, I think this is a great song to use to introduce the group, particularly at a show in front of their home fans or for a guest engagement, but it wasn’t musical or ambitious enough to bring to the competition setting. OK start to the set.

The Water Boys followed with Stan Rogers’ “Northwest Passage.” They chose to go with a choral sound for the lead vocals, which came across quite nicely. The blend was a little hit and miss, but mostly on point. The main knock against this song is that, again, it was relatively simple. I appreciated the decision not to incorporate a lot of movement in this song—it’s one of those cases when less is more and you can use the absence of movement to build to a moment when you do do something visually. Unfortunately, the dramatic raising of hands was a little out of synch, which took away from the moment’s power.

The Water Boys wrapped up with a medley of relatively current pop songs by female artists, including “Poker Face,” “Circus,” and “Disturbia.”. Let’s discuss song selection first. On the Rocks may have led the charge, but there are now quite a few all-male a cappella groups around the country taking on Lady Gaga, to the point where guys cannot, cannot, cannot count on that sort of song choice to help them distinguish themselves. Sure, it will always be a crowd pleaser and be good for some laughs, but you need to think about what you’re going to do to distinguish yourself if you’re going to travel this well-worn road. I like that this came as a major contrast to the more traditional sound the guys put forth in their first two song selections, and I do like that they branched out and included some other female artists in the medley. The soloists—particularly the first one, demonstrated good charisma and theatrics, though the homoeroticism came across a little one-note after multiple representations thereof. All in all, it was a very fun closer that probably would be more memorable were it not for so many groups having similar ideas of late. Good set to start the night.

The second competing group was Penn State University Shades of Blue. The group wore mostly black, blue, and white formal wear. The group opened with a medley of traditional songs that moved from “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” to “Three Blind Mice” before the three were mashed together. Superstar soloists all around on this one with three turbo-charged front people who were not afraid to take the lead. Very nice use of stage repositioning to tell a story. I enjoyed the arrangement on the hole, particularly when the soloists had the chance to interact and have a bit of a conversation, and the decision to wrap up chorally, back on “Mary Had a Little Lamb” worked well. This was certainly a grabbing opener, though it did beg the question how the group would follow after such a high octane start. In addition, it’s a bit of a pet peeve for me when groups repeat competition songs between years. I last heard Shades of Blue compete with this medley in 2007, so, to be fair, there probably weren’t any overlapping active group members. Nonetheless, I’d prefer the group bring something completely fresh to the competition stage.

Shades of Blue’s second song was Cher’s “Walking in Memphis.” Very nice tone and emotion from the solo. I appreciated that the group went for an overall smaller sound on this one, to show the group wasn’t just about producing volume, and I also liked the decision to up the tempo. Very nice build to the iconic “Ma’am, I am tonight” line, though I would have liked to hear the group get bigger on that last chorus.

Shades of Blue closed on “Kids” by MGMT. I liked the rougher edge on the sound of this one, including some biting vocal percussion. Nice backing solo, and some pretty crazy choreography at work for this one. The group transitioned to a lengthy sample of “Poker Face.” In my notes, I started to write that they really needed to do something different with this sample to justify it—and just at that moment, they took a chance on a wildly sped up verse. This represented Shades of Blue at its least musical, but it was different and interesting to hear. While I don’t entirely agree with the artistic decisions, this was a point of the set at which the group took some creative risks that resulted in a memorable finished product. Good finish to a strong set.

The third group to compete was University of Toronto Onoscatopoeia. The mixed group dressed formally in black with red pocket squares, scarves, and belts. They opened with Matt Dusk’s “Back in Town.” Very rich solo on this one that built nicely as it went along, from bordering on a lounge-singer sound, to going quite gruff. Very jazzy sound from the group. They included some nice samples of “Hit the Road Jack” and “Bye, Bye, Love.” The sound and choreography grew a little cutesy for my tastes, where I think an air of sophistication would have served the group better, given the tone of the piece. The percussionist seemed to get a bit of a spotlight for this piece with an early drum solo, and standing apart from the group, moving around a lot. I liked the guy’s energy and wanted to like his sound, but just wasn’t wowed by him, and felt the group would have been better served had he been better incorporated right in with them.

The group followed with Ella Fitzgerald’s “Misty”. Very nice “pluck” of the bass amid the soaring high notes of the opening. The piece was largely choral, with a very nice blend, and some shifts in dynamics that were precise and well-executed. Though the performance on the whole was a little blah, you can’t fault the group for execution.

Onoscatopoeia closed with “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson. Smooth solo vocals, and good, if a bit breathy perc. The group seemed to sort of disappear beneath the volume of the solo and perc, leaving this one sounding a little hollow. Some of the group looked quite at ease with the choreography on this one, while other looked equally, if not more awkward. This is something groups need to think about when they choreograph—it’s great to be creative with your visual presentation, but you need to consider the group’s ability to execute the movement. This seemed to be the sort of case in which movement may have distracted performers from the music, or at least distracted parts of the audience from enjoying the music. The biggest problem with this song selection, though, was that, even if the group did click on all cylinders, it’s a very mellow song. If the group was going to go pop after focusing on jazz for the first two legs of the set—a decision I agree with—I would have aimed more upbeat. Overall, it was a just OK end to a good set.

California University of Pennsylvania Vulcanize sang next. The group had just eight guys, all clad in black shirts and slacks with red ties. They opened with Rockappella’s “Moments of You.” Good high speed solo. Generally good, if sort of basic sound from the group. The thing with relatively small groups is that they need to work all the harder to try to fill up the stage, and make the performance space work with them. This does not necessitate crazy choreography, but it does call for confidence, and energy. I don’t even necessarily disagree with the decision to assume the traditional collegiate a cappella arc with the soloist up front and center, but the group just didn’t have the intangible element of presence to really carry this off. Small groups need not feel small—just ask either of the top two groups on The Sing-Off this past yea--it’s not just camera angles that made them great, it’s what they put out there.

The group moved on to Billy Joel’s “Lullaby,” in tribute to an ill group member who couldn’t join them on stage. Nice choral sound, and though they came across a bit thin in places, I appreciated the variations in dynamics and the nice bass sound that harmonized well with the higher parts. Nothing groundbreaking, but a nice change of pace middle song.

Vulcanize wrapped up with another Rockappella tune, “I’ll Hear Your Voice.” Nice dynamics again, and a good solo. The finger snaps served them well on this number. There was nothing really wrong with this song, but, even more so than the songs before it, I couldn’t help feeling that the complete lack of choreography, movement, or expressive facials made this feel more like a bunch of guys performing in rehearsal than guys trying to make a name for themselves on stage. The good news for Vulcanize overall is that they have their fundamentals down and come across very likably. The next steps will be for them to branch out to less obvious a cappella song choices, to think about visual presentation, and find ways of building up their musical performance to really create some dramatic moments, so the audience can legitimately be in awe that eight guys are making all that sound.

The fifth group was The Carnegie Mellon University Originals. The guys wore black blazers over collared shirts, ties and jeans. They opened with “Lovesick” from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Very good sounding soloist, with a lot of charisma. The choreography was a little over the top, but, to their credit, the guys sold it well, and it’s kind of signature part of how this group operates. Unfortunately, the sound wasn’t quite there to meet the visuals, with jazzy vocals that just didn’t quite sound full. Nice big finish on the song, that helped make it memorable and set up the group well to launch into the remainder of the set.

The Originals continued with Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” The sound on this would most aptly be described as cute, but I’d argue that’s more a symptom of the song than the performers. To their credit, the guys did seem to take the song seriously—it can make all the difference in the world on a cross-gender comedy song if a group is still taking the music seriously, rather than just playing for laughs, so I credit the guys for still working hard on this. The vocals went choral on the chorus, which featured a nice blend and good falsetto. Like last week’s Hopkins show, I have to question a group’s decision to pick a song that’s been performed a cappella this high profilely this recently (see the ‘Bubs version on Glee), because it begs for comparisons. Nonetheless, The Originals made the best of questionable song selection for a good middle song.

The Originals wrapped up with Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” What’s left to be say about guys going Gaga? The choreography was quite good (better executed than most all-male groups performing in this style), but it’s nothing a cappella enthusiasts haven’t already seen time and again. Nice power percussion on the bridge, and nice fake out ending. Again, the guys seemed to take the music seriously, but the overall presentation was so over the top that it was hard not to take it as a comedy piece. I’m not sure if the soloist was intentionally going for a classical lilt on this one, or if that was just part of the theatrics. Anyway, it’s not entirely fair to put this one down for lack of innovation, because every group this year is more or less equally culpable in making the same decisions. Nonetheless, nothing remarkable about this closer, but a good enough close to a good set.

Intermission time. Get up and stre—no, wait, they’re going to keep singing? Really? Subsets of Blue in the FACE took the stage to perform songs including “Starlight,” “One Try,” and “The Sound of Silence” as the audience awkwardly resisted the urge to chat and mumbled apologies as they made their way across rows to get to the bathrooms. Blue in the FACE is a really entertaining and talented group, but 1) it was a long enough night of a cappella without having the whole intermission period filled with live music and 2) this decision was just uncomfortable for the audience. Not something I’d like to see evolve into tradition or common practice.

The California Singers out of California University of Pennsylvania opened the second half. The mixed group wore black group polo shirts, jeans and red undershirts. My critique of this performance warrants some lead-in. First, I want to address a misconception expressed by one of the comment-ers on my review of the Rutgers quarterfinal two weeks ago. I criticized Rider University Vocalmotion for forcing five songs into their set, and in so doing, diluting the overall quality of their performance. The comment suggested I expressed a bias against non-traditional set structure, and this is just not true. Some of my favorite sets have been four songs long (2007 Noteworthy and 2007 Orange Appeal to name a couple examples). I love it when groups experiment with the boundaries of the traditional set. Moving in the opposite direction, I think one of the most underappreciated sets I’ve seen this year was The Deaftones’ two-song outing at the same Rutgers show, which didn’t deserve to place that night, but would have been worthy of recognition at a less stacked show. Furthermore, I’ve speculated—perhaps even fantasized—about the prospect of a one song set. A take on “November Rain” or “Free Bird” perhaps, or maybe, just maybe, a good medley?

The California Singers, indeed, opted to try their hand at a lengthy medley centered on a jungle theme. They opened on a very theatrical rendition of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” with a clean, full sound and solid solo. The song progressed then to “Jungle Love,” “Welcome to the Jungle” “Jungle Boogie,” “George of the Jungle” and more. A performance like this could be a lot of fun at an engagement at a local elementary school, or for a wacky, over-produced YouTube video. To be frank, though, this wasn’t cool enough for a college crowd, wasn’t coherent enough to really get old school music fans on board, and wasn’t serious or musical enough for a competition. Spots of good solos, spots of fun choreography, but on the whole this experiment just did not arrive at a happy result.

The seventh competing group was all-female Counterpoint out of Carnegie Mellon University. They came out in black dresses with purple bows. The group kicked off its set with VV Brown’s “Shark in the Water.” Nice solo, and nice backing vocals—particularly the repetition of certain lyrics in the background of the choruses. My only complaint there is that I would have liked for the group get bigger and sound a little fuller on the verses. I could take or leave the stop motion choreography—not great, but harmless enough. All in all, a good opener.

Counterpoint followed up with “Wade in the Water. Nice harmonies, and the girls made the right call on remaining mostly stationary for this one. Some dynamic variation, though I would have liked to have heard a bit more. As pretty as it was, you don’t get much more traditional than a spiritual like this, and I feel as though a group needs to do something to distinguish itself from what’s been done—not so much reinvent the song as do something to dramatize it, sell it, or plug in an innovative sample. This was well done, but not memorable.

Counterpoint closed with Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister.” I had very mixed feelings on this one. On one hand, I love the call for a female group to take on this song. The vocals are high enough for it to work and, while the lyrics don’t totally connect, it’s easy enough to reframe this as a song about a mono-gender song about sisters. In addition, I liked the call to make this softer, a bit less of a funky pop diddy, and a bit more soulful—I think they could have only enhanced this by slowing the tempo a bit more, but it worked well enough. With all of that said, I think the group settled way too readily into silly rather than serious mode with repetitive and playful choreography on the choruses, and redundant, lightweight syllable choices (the jing-jing-a-jinga grew especially tired). The solo was good, but I really would have liked to see her develop more as the song went on, and get a little bigger on the rap part of the song—as it was, she came across too even keel. The group recovered what I felt the song should have been when they wrapped up the song on a soft, precise clap that served as a unique and classy way of closing it and reasserting the femininity of the performance. It’s a very subtle touch, but I like that the group wrapped up by taking formation and bowing in unison before walking off stage together. Those little things can help make a group look significantly more professional than it otherwise would. Mixed bag close to a pretty good set.

Time for group number eight, and allow me to start by saying that this group was like None of the Above. See what I did there? It’s—ah, never mind. The mixed group out of Penn State came out in brightly colored tops and black pants for a fun, vibrant look. They started with “Firework” by Katy Perry. Nice, fuller sound than most groups that night, very good bass part, excellent percussion. I liked the soloist’s tone and body language, but as a number of soloists are doing with this song this year, she got too big too fast. They’re covering Katy Perry, so I recognize that the original is obnoxiously loud, but as serious musicians, groups need to rein it in a little to both create more dramatic build and to avoid just yelling. It got to the point where I was actually concerned a second that the girl might blow the sound system. Nonetheless, this performance did serve its purpose in establishing None of the Above as a high energy, high power group.

The group followed with a mash up of Diddy’s “Coming Home” and U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name.” Sick bass and very good vocals on both ends of the solo. Here’s the problem. It’s perfectly sensible for groups to orchestrate mash ups, medleys or samplings when the songs involved have thematic, melodic, or even artist connections that create a coherent narrative. Maybe I’m missing something, but these songs are not related. Outside of the very first transition to the U2 song (which was pretty electric, if just for the quality of that second solo) this song just came across incoherent and uncomfortable. Poorly conceptualized use of the talent at hand.

None of the Above wrapped up its set with A-Ha’s “Take on Me.” Don’t get me wrong—I love the song, but I do have to question the song choice. If you’re going to pick a dated, and conventional song, I’m expecting an original take on it, and/or a simply awe-inspiring performance. To the group’s credit, this was quite good—just not awe-inspiring. Nonetheless, a nice solo with a fine job on the falsetto on the choruses. Nice visual presentation with a lot of rearrangement, climaxing in a crescendo that peaked with the group standing in a line, creating a wall of sound. At one point, the group settled into a slow groove, at which point I was hopeful they were going to transition to something innovative—but it wasn’t to be. They just went right on with the song. Weird moment. Anyway, nice finish with the group hitting all the right notes and forming two groups, looking off to either side of the stage with the soloist peering straight forward. Good end to a good set.

The penultimate competing group was SUNY Potsdam’s A Sharp Arrangement. The group came out in black and purple. I sort of cringed when they opened with Ella Fitzgerald’s “Summertime” because it’s just one of those songs that’s been done to death and doesn’t really have a place in competition anymore. But then, remember what I said just one song ago about taking a standard and doing something crazy-different, or crazy-good with it? Within seconds, the mash up had begun and the A Sharps mixed in Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly”. Take two standard jazzy songs, give them to two exceptional soloists, put them together, and voila! Something relevant, cool, and captivating. Very good perc to boot. Though the blend was a little fuzzy toward the end of the song, it’s a minor quibble. This was an unconventional but ultra-effective opener that asserted the girls as an act to take very seriously in this night’s competition.

The A Sharps followed with “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles. As great as she was, I was little disappointed to see the “Summertime” soloist hang around as frontwoman. Oftentimes, repeat solos in competition serve as a cue to me that the group doesn’t have a lot of depth, and while that’s not an entirely fair assessment, it certainly inhibits the group from showcasing its full range of personalities. Anyway, the performance itself went well, with some good subtle repositionings and good harmonies. The lead vocals seemed to get a little high for the soloist’s range, which almost made me wonder if she was filling in for someone on it. Regardless, a good middle song. The group members wrapped up with their backs to the crowd. Though it doesn’t always pay off, I’m kind of a sucker for using dramatic posturing to lead from one song to the next, so I was on board.

The group closed with “Leave Me Alone” by Michael Jackson. They started with three lead vocalists, then moved to two different ones. The group appeared bold, and showed some attitude here, which was fun to see. Unfortunately, the song itself grew quite repetitive as it went on. While I appreciate that the group held back and used only subtle choreography up until this point, I kind of wish they had continued the trend here. While this wasn’t a bad closer, it didn’t do much to make me want to get up and cheer the group on, which I feel is sort of what the group needed at this stage to advance itself from the top-tier of the night’s performers to earning itself a spot in the semifinals. OK close to a good set.

The final competing group of the night was SUNY Buffalo’s Buffalo Chips. The guys came out in black vests and slacks with royal blue shirts and white ties. I like the addition of the vests to last year’s duds—it adds a bit more sophistication to the look and makes the white of the ties a bit less shocking to the eye. The guys opened with “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. The moment the guys started in, it was clear they were simply on another level from the rest of the night’s performers, with a far fuller sound than anyone to that point, excellent percussion, and a very good solo. The choreography was a little excessive, but fun and well-executed, including a neat slide move. The song felt a little long, but otherwise functioned as a fine opener that really showcased the group’s talent and institutional experience in ICCA competition.

Next up was Coldplay’s “Lover’s in Japan.” I felt the soloist was OK, but I wanted to hear a little more texture and emotion out of him. The energy level from the group all around was a little uneven with some guys positively pulsing, while others stood still. Nonetheless, this song continued to highlight what The Chips came to do in this competition, which was execute on complex arrangements with a full sound. Great perc again to boot.

The Chips wrapped up with “Breakeven” by The Script. What a performance. Scintillating solo that succeeded in delivering the emotion of the song, while maintaining fantastic control—never growing too big, never lurching toward the point of yelling (though I’d argue he could have gone a little more nuts on the finish—a minor quibble). Excellent percussion again. Great use of dynamics by the group throughout the song to help deliver the drama. The choreography was mostly good on this one, though I could have done without the cheesier parts of it—particularly the lame synchronized kicks. This is where groups will only benefit from thinking about the song and what their visual presentation is doing to enhance the music. Once the guys really master the movement, this could be an ICCA Finals level piece. Based on sound alone, I would dare say that this song represented the best I’ve ever heard The Chips sound.

As the judges headed off to deliberate, Blue in the FACE performed songs including “21 Guns,” “Hallellujah,” “Carry On My Wayward Son,” “In the End,” a magic medley, “True Colors,” “If I Could Change the World,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Fix You” and “Livin’ On a Prayer.” Mostly good a cappella, only enhanced, again, by the smoke machine and lighting effects.

While the judges were away, I took some time to think about my picks for the night. I considered The Buffalo Chips the clear choice for first, but I thought things were pretty tight for second through fourth. Though they got a little caught up in their theatrics, I thought “Shades of Blue” came across like a group ready for semifinals, and had some true highlights early in the show. None of the Above put on a mostly solid set. The A Sharps’ opener was, without question one of the top two songs of the night, though they didn’t quite live up to it from there. All in all, I had Shades of Blue in second, None of the Above a close third, and A Sharp Arrangement at an even closer fourth. I gave The A Sharps’ “Summertime” soloist the nod for best solo, The Chips honors for best perc, Shades of Blue credit for best choreography, and The A Sharps were my choice for best arrangement for the “Summertime”/“Killing Me Softly” mash up.

No huge surprises in the results. Though I didn’t necessarily agree with the call, it was nice to see the Water Boys get some recognition for their choreography. The Chips, rightfully, took home first place and closed the night with a very funny version of Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You.” All in all, a good show, and I’ll look forward to seeing The Chips and None of the Above again at the Mid-Atlantic Semifinals.

ACB Picks
Overall Placement
1. The Buffalo Chips
2. Shades of Blue
3. None of the Above
4. A Sharp Arrangement
5. The Originals

Best Solo:
1. A Sharp Arrangement for “Summertime”
2. The Buffalo Chips for “Breakeven”
3. Onoscatopoeia for “Back in Town”

Best Percussion
1. The Buffalo Chips for the full set
2. None of the Above for the full set

Best Choreography
1. Shades of Blue for the traditional song medley
2. The Originals for “Paparazzi”

Best Arrangement: A Sharp Arrangement for “Summertime”/“Killing Me Softly”

ICCA Official Results
Overall Placement:
1. The Buffalo Chips
2. None of the Above
3. A Sharp Arrangement

Outstanding Soloist: The Buffalo Chips for “Grenade”

Outstanding Vocal Percussion: The Buffalo Chips for the full set

Outstanding Arrangement: The Buffalo Chips for “Lovers in Japan”

Outstanding Choreography: The Water Boys for “Diva Medley”

A special thanks goes out to Will Browar for all of the photographs used in this review.