ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals at Rutgers University

On Saturday, February 12, 2011, Hickman Hall at Rutgers University played host to an ICCA Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinal. The event featured nine groups, five of which had previously made it to the Mid-Atlantic Semifinals in recent years; two of which have gone all the way to the ICCA Finals in the last decade. Needless to say, it was a stacked show. Before we get to the review, a quick summary:

The Competitors:
The University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers
The Lehigh University Melismatics
The Cornell University Class Notes
The Westminster Choir College Deaftones
Rider University Vocalmotion
Rutgers University Deep Treble
Elizabethtown College Phalanx
The SUNY Potsdam Pitches
Richard Stockton College Stockapella

Host Group:
Rutgers University ShockWave

Photos from the event are available now on our Facebook page.

Rutgers’ own all-female group, ShockWave opened the night with a fun rendition of Maroon 5’s “Misery,” the brightest spot of which was a very well done solo. From there, ICCA Director Dave Rabizadeh took the stage to make the standard announcements.

The Midnight Ramblers out of the University of Rochester were the first competing group to take the stage. Though they ran out on stage, all chest bumps and testosterone, they calmed down quickly to start with a soft sampling of Soul Savers’ “Revival”--an unconventionally soft and serene number for the all-male powerhouse that featured some very nice harmonies and some subtle repositionings around stage that were engaging without distracting the audienc--an art so few group have really mastered. After a bit of this, the guys exploded into a raucous interpretation of Journey’s “Anyway You Want It.” Again, the guys put on a clinic in regards to how to use movement to your advantage. They didn’t employ choreography per se, but rather stood behind the soloist in a traditional arc for most of the song, with everyone dancing and bouncing in place in such a way that they appeared to genuinely have fun. The soloist was the truest story of this piece—he was quite good, but more notably went so far as run off stage into the crowd, to the back of the auditorium, to greet the crowd and introduce the group mid-song during an instrumental break. It was a little silly, but moments like this demonstrate that a group is perfectly confident in itself, and comfortable thinking outside the box. In short, The Ramblers have fun, and that makes it all the easier for the crowd to laugh along with them.

The guys staggered themselves across the stage, looking in different directions, to start their next song, Bon Iver’s ”Woods”. It started with just one guy singing, then he was joined by a second, then a third. At first, I thought this was a device for segueing between songs, on account of the sort of spiritual nature of the song, that seemed like a call back to “Revival.” The song went on and on, though, repeating the same lines over and over again with varying numbers of singers, varying harmonies, varying dynamics. It was very clean, and the way in which the guys stood on stage fit what they were going for musically quite well—again, interesting to look at, complementing the music, but not distracting anyone. My only gripe with this number is that it did seem to drag—while it gave the guys another opportunity to show off their ability to harmonize and blend, the selection was just so lyrically repetitive that I found myself wondering when it would ever end, or if they were about launch, full-tilt, into another rock song.

The Ramblers wrapped up their set with ‘N Sync’s “I Want You Back.” When a group chooses to perform a song that’s this silly, it needs to be prepared to go into it 100%, and not show one ounce of doubt or self-consciousness. To their credit, the guys did exactly what they needed to do—they sounded great, sang boldly, and choreographed out the wazoo, including a couple costume changes with one crew of guys sporting ‘N Sync shirts beneath their baseball jerseys, another crew representing The Backstreet Boys for a sample of “Get Down (You’re the One for Me).” Great perc, and the guys certainly earned their audience clap-along at the end. I had mixed feelings on this number—as well as the guys executed it, I worry it was just too silly for a group of this caliber in the context of a competition. Don’t get me wrong, because taking the whole set as a package, the set would easily carry them through most quarterfinals, and almost certainly allow them to place in Mid-Atlantic Semifinal. But a group this good should be gunning for the ICCA Finals, and this last song would not be a good fit for that kind of show. Nonetheless, The Ramblers set marked an excellent start to the night.

The second group on stage was the Lehigh University Melismatics. The mixed group wore black and silver formal attire, which fit quite well with their first song selection, Van Morrison’s “Moondance.” Good solo, and the group carried off a cool jazzy sound. The visual presentation was a mixed bag—I quite liked the point at which the men and women paired off for a momentary dance and spin; a lot of the other moves were just the cheesy side steps and hand jives that could have fit into any upbeat number, and didn’t work particularly well here. Good decision at the end, at which point the group fell out so the soloist could sing the final lyrics alone, before the group harmonized on the last note.

The Melismatics sang Iron & Wine’s “Naked as We Came” next. They sang it all chorally, with some nice solo lines mixed in and a very nice bass sound overall. The song was pretty, but for a number like this, you need to find a way to engage the audience. While I agree with the decision not to choreograph, simply standing in a double arc—men behind women—didn’t offer much to look at. The group also didn’t do quite as much with dynamics as you would hope for on a song like this. Overall, not bad, but not memorable.

The set wrapped up with Christina Aguilera’s “Soar.” The idea of this song was spot on—after a cool, smooth opener and such a slow middle song, the group needed to bring on the energy. The solo was good, and demonstrated a fine level of attitude, though it came across a little one-note. The thing is, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with a solo like this, but there’s a lot you can do with tone and dynamics to tell a story and build, rather than hitting the audience with everything you’ve got for three minutes. The choreography here was good, and a better fit than “Moondance” but it was still the sort of situation in which you could look at the performers and tell they were consciously trying to make the choreography work. It’s difficult to avoid this, but I’ll always take simplified movement that looks effortless over a complicated visual presentation that for which you can tell from the group’s faces just how complicated it all is. Anyway, a solid enough set from The Melismatics.

Cornell University’s Class Notes took the stage third. Living up to their name, the mixed group wore tuxedoes and black cocktail dresses, and each woman entered the stage on the arm of one of the men. While this is all a little more formal and old-fashioned than I would choose, it does lend them a distinctive identity, which is often a good thing. I fully expected them to kick-off with a number like “Moondance,” but, boy, did they have something different in store. The group opened with Miranda Lambert’s “Gun Powder and Lead” a country song of women’s empowerment that’s all about attitude and power. Very strong solo on this one, good percussion. It seemed to run a little long, but on the whole, it was a good start to the set.

The next song was Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song.” Quite an interesting thematic contrast to the first selection, from a song about woman getting her gun on, to a message song about peace. The three-part solo was well-executed and interesting enough to do something different with the song and keep things interesting, but the group made the grave mistake of over-choreographing a ballad, complete with all sorts of steps, leans and moves. A simple bob or some repositioning would more than suffice for a song like this and, frankly, it just looked silly. A lack of movement makes the movement that does happen seem all the more profound; choreography like this amounts to visual noise. Not a bad song, all told, but kind of blah and the movement really hurt the overall performance.

The Class Notes wrapped up with Maroon 5’s “Misery.” The group started out posed such that they were leaning on each other, and otherwise frozen in place—a posturing they reverted to at the end of the song. In between, the group put out a solid musical performance—cool, smooth solo; very good percussion. They went for a group clap-along, but hadn’t quite earned it, and got a half-hearted handful of claps from the crowd before it died away. I hate to keep harping on choreography, but this one was heavily choreographed too, and employed a lot of similar moves the preceding song. This is a part of why you shouldn’t choreograph most ballads—it cheapens the overall effect of your choreography, and makes it all the less effective when you keep doing the same sort of stuff for yet another song. In a nice touch, the group wrapped things up with the guys reconvening with the girls and walking them off stage. All in all, this was a musically solid set, and I appreciate that The Class Notes put in some detail work to help establish their identity. The visual presentation, though, combined with a lack of true musical “moments” kept this from being a great set.

The Deaftones out of Westminster Choir College performed next. Good, unified look, with everyone in black tops and jeans; the men with green ties, the women with green scarves. They opened with Sara Bareilles’s “Gravity.” One of the things I really appreciate about The Deaftones year after year is their musicality, and refusal to place musical showmanship over precision. Sure, it’s not as entertaining, but it’s nuanced and sounds great. Very nice choral sound on this one, backing a very good, understated solo. The choreography worked well because it, too, came across understated and appropriate—for example, the group members all leaned back on “fall another moment,” providing a nice visual hook. Solid, if offbeat opener.

The group transitioned to Meat Loaf’s “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.” When they started this number, the first thing that occured to me was that it’s a really long song, and it would be interesting to see if they would trim it or mix it with something else. Instead, the group opted to sing the whole thing straight and leave their set at two songs. This is an ambitious song choice, the soloists were quite good, and the transitions in the song justified the theatrical choreography they threw in. With all of that said, let me reiterate, this is a really long song. It doesn’t help that, after the first verse and chorus, the first half of this song is pretty much filler until we get to the “let me sleep on it” part, making for a bit of a bore of a performance until we got to that point. Very nice variations in dynamics throughout, and I liked the choral breakdowns on the choruses. It’s a cool idea for an a cappella group to pursue this song, and I appreciate it when groups break out of traditional ICCA set molds. I don’t think this gamble quite paid off, though. I wanted to see The Deaftones strut their musical stuff for three distinct songs. At its worst, this performance came off a bit cheesy, and at its best the group was good in spite of itself--pulling the music potential out of a less than ideal selection for the context. All in all, it was good showing for The Deaftones, but probably not as good as it should have been.

The fifth group to compete was Rider University Vocalmotion, a group the emcees noted had only been in existence for three months. What they neglected to mention was that the group shares a front man with The Sing Off’s incarnation of Men of Note, young Richard Crandle. You may recall Crandle from the season 2 premiere of The Sing Off in which he had the solo on “The Longest Time.” Anyway, Crandle brought his big voice with him, and a supporting cast that was up to the task for a raucous opener in the form of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Very fun, very high energy—full sound, good choreography. All in all, this accomplished everything a set opener should accomplish.

Next up was Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.” The women, including the soloist, put their hoods up for this song for an interesting visual. Lots of subtle repositioning in the background, which worked quite well for the song. I liked the way in which the sound built throughout this, and particularly enjoyed when the soloist let loose on the choruses—though she got a bit yell-y for my tastes by the end.

Vocalmotion moved on “The Lion Sleeps Tonight in the style of The Lion King. This was the group's first real misstep in my estimation. Don’t get me wrong, because the song was fun; Crandle’s theatrics, channeling meerkat Timon, were entertaining, and the sound was generally good. The problem is that this is a high school a cappella song. I would liken this a bit to The Ramblers’ decision to sing ‘N Sync, in a performance that was very fun but kind of beneath them. I don’t mean to be overly biased here, but I struggle to imagine a case in which a song that originated in a Disney animated film is really a good choice for a collegiate a cappella set. Despite the well-developed sound, the group came off a bit amateurish here.

Lo and behold, we got a fourth song. Vocalmotion squeezed in James Taylor’s “Lonesome Road.” I love this song, and love to hear it a cappella, but the problem is that (conservatively) half the collegiate and high school groups in the country have had this song in their repertoires at one time or another. There are times when you can take an old standard do something legitimately different with it to make it your own and make it worth sharing (The Stanford Harmonics’ new take on “The Sounds of Silence” comes to mind). Otherwise these are not songs to bring to competition, and particularly at the collegiate level. This actually reminded me of The Men of Note bringing “The Longest Time” to The Sing-Off--great song, but the wrong context. Anyway, for what it was, the choral harmonies were quite nice, and the stand alone solo lines were well-executed. They made the best of a poor song selection.

And now we move on to—wait, no, Vocalmotion still has another song? I guess so. They launched into Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart.” This was just strange. Good solo and perc, fun little bit of choreography with recurring gun cocking motions, but why on earth did this group feel compelled to go to five songs, and especially to have their fifth one be the least polished? This song felt very tacked on to me--give me a fully realized “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “If I Were A Boy,” and a more refined version of this same song, and you would have a fine set. As it stands, I think the group simply tried to do too much and really watered down the quality of its own set.

Intermission time. Five groups, and we’re only halfway done with the show? Where am I? The Midwest division?

The second half opened with home group Deep Treble, introduced via an involved rap number by the emcees. The group came out all in red and black and open with Paramore’s “Decode.” The solo came across a bit thin on this one. Lot of volume from the group, but not so much in the way of blend. They did work in a nice bit of slow motion choreography on the bridge that fit the music quite well. All in all, the brightest spot for this song, and indeed for the whole set, was the vocal percussion which across very nicely.

Next up was Sutton Foster’s “Flight.” Cleaner sound from the group, relatively speaking, but the sound was still a bit muddled. The group had duel soloists on this to mostly good effect. The wall of sound at the end was pretty good, and again, the group made good use of movement, with a sort of slow and creeping movement that reflected pain and conflict of the song nicely.

The group performed a brief song in a foreign language, which culminated in the introduction of Tyler Picone, whose soaring vocals came through loud, clearly, and quite nicely before he even got to the mic. This transitional served to set up Picone as the soloist for the rock medley to follow. As a general rule, I frown upon the practice of building a collegiate group around one soloist—it’s one of the few contexts in which equal distribution of front person responsibilities makes sense, and you should spread the wealth. With all of that said, Picone emerged as one of the truest stars of the night demonstrating speed, swagger, volume and a unique vocal tone for a solo on songs like "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Walk This Way." All in all, this was an unpolished set that built to the right place, giving a star soloist in the making the opportunity to shine and help the group leave stage on the most positive note they could.

The seventh group was Elizabethtown College’s Phalanx. The guys came out clad in a spectrum of different-colored cardigans, white shirts, and ties. Good, distinctive look. The guy’s opened with Paramore’s “Misery Business.” The soloist didn’t seem to be able to sing quite fast enough to keep up with the verses, and, especially for the first verse, his sound just got swallowed by the group behind him. He got to shine a bit later in the song, when he could hold some notes. Good percussion. All in all, this wasn’t bad, but wasn’t particularly memorable.

For the second song, Phalanx took on John Mayer’s “Dreaming with a Broken Heart.” It’s not entirely fair to hold this against a group, but with this song choice (and the one to follow), the group was falling into a very conventional all-male a cappella group’s set structure, with a fast song, a traditional ballad, and old school, fun finisher. There was nothing wrong with it, but if you’ve seen any all-male group sing a John Mayer ballad before—well, you’ve pretty much heard this. Points off for conducting on stage, though the solo was quite good, and offered up a very nice falsetto. Nice blend on the bridge. Good sound, despite the forgettable nature of the overall presentation.

Phalanx closed with Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” Strong solo, and solid percussion. The guys used a lot of choreography, and it was fun enough to get the crowd engaged and clapping along by the end. Here’s the thing—there are some tropes in collegiate a cappella that become so commonplace because they work. To be fair, a few years ago, in the Mid-Atlantic, this set would probably have been good enough to place at a quarterfinal. A cappella has evolved, though, and the song selections and execution we got here weren’t going vault the group into the upper stratosphere of this night’s competition, and weren’t the sort that anyone who isn’t connected with the group is likely to remember a year from now. Good enough effort, but nothing to write home about.

Up next, The Potsdam Pitches came out. The mixed group wore all black with silver belts for the women, silver and blue ties for the men. Sharp look. The group opened with Katy Perry’s “Firework.” Solid performance all around, with a very good solo and perc. The choreography started to fall out of synch late in the song, but it was nothing so egregious that most casual observers would see it. While this wasn’t spectacular, it’s a good demonstration of how using a current song selection can elevate good song up a few notches to stellar, because you know this songs is relatively new to the group’s repertoire, and the song is fresher in your own mind. Mind you, the novelty of the song may well wear a little thin by the time Semifinals roll around--I have feeling this will be a common song selection this competition season.

Completely negating the contemporary magic of the first song selection was the second song, Matchbox 20’s “3 a.m.”. I recall singing this song at a pops concert my senior year of high school—the song was a few years past current then, and, well, that was a long time ago. This is the sort of song that isn’t old enough to be classic, but is old enough to not really be relevant, so if you’re going to use it, and particularly use it in the money spot at the center of your set, you have to do something innovative with it. What we got was an a cappella performance that could have just as easily happened a decade ago. Good solo, and good sound all around, but nothing remarkable. The strongest moment was the big build to a climax on the bridge, but even that is built right into the song. I just wanted more on this.

The Pitches closed out their set with Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy.” There was a lot to like about this song. The group arrived at some pretty spectacular harmonies, and made good use of their relatively even gender split, keeping the men and women apart, then having them interact at key moments. I had mixed feelings about a number of the decisions The Pitches made, though. First and foremost, there’s the solo. No question, she’s an incredible singer and she nailed every note of that song. Her voice, however, did not quite fit. This isn’t unusual in collegiate a cappella—you take a classically trained singer with a lot of talent, and plug her into a contemporary-style group. She’ll never have intonation problems, and she’ll master her dynamics but the fact remains that that classical tone just isn’t going to sound right on a number of pop selections. And so it was a very good solo, but not great on account of the poor fit for a song that demanded attitude. The backing solo that came in the choruses was a nice complement. And then, it happened. The backing solo took over, and the song transitioned to Alanis Morrissette’s “You Oughta Know.” The good news—the group sounded great, and the atmosphere in the auditorium was positively electric on this transition. Furthermore, there’s a thematic connection between the songs, and this fit. The thing is, when a group transitions to another song in the middle of the first, you have two core choices—sample or medley/mash up. Given the power of that second song, I would have gone full-tilt and not turned back to the Beyonce number. Instead, The Pitches gave an awkwardly long sample of the Morrissette song, then went back to Beyonce in a transition that was far less of a thrill. Anyway, back to the good news, I’m nitpicking on what could have taken a solid performance and made it outstanding. The fact remains this closer more than made up for the lackluster middle song selection, and secured the group a place in the top half of the competing groups for the night.

The last group to compete was Richard Stockton College Stockappella. The mixed group wore black tops and jeans with bright pink ties for the guys, and suspenders for the women. They opened with “Torn,” originally by Natalie Imbruglia. Nice, smooth solo. The soprano syllables were a little grating on this song. All in all, the performance was harmless, if uninspired—not so different from The Pitches on “3 a.m.,” though a fair bit less polished.

Next up was Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” I appreciate the ambition on this song. The group opted to mash up the normal version of the song with the acoustic take on it that Gaga was performing on tour last year, and that Lea Michele and Idina Menzel sang on Glee. Good idea, OK execution. The first transition to the normal version of the song just needed to be bigger—it should have been a moment. Instead, the switch seemed more like a break into a new song—oddly lacking in fluidity, but, at the same time, telegraphed. The percussion that kicked in on the third verse probably should entered sooner to jazz this up more. Ultimately, this wasn’t bad, and I admire the group’s ambition. At the same time, it came across a little messy, and smelled of unrealized potential.

Stockappella wrapped up with Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” this isn’t exactly innovative as a closer, but I would put it in a similar category to Phalanx’s choice of “September”—familiar, but it’s an effective song for bringing down the house, and appealing to audience members and judges across generations. Things got off to a rocky start when the group was just too loud and swallowed the soloist’s sound. The soloists picked up from there, though, the last of which showed some good charisma—dancing, and getting into the song, which was great until her movements got redundant and progressively less entertaining over the final minute of the set. This was a perfect demonstration of the need for soloists to practice their stage presence, thinking about everything from if and when they'll dance, where they'll stand, how they'll hold the mic, etc., etc. These little things can add up to a pronounced difference. Overall, Stockappella showed some good potential. They weren’t in the upper echelon of this night’s competition, but had a lot of good ideas for their set, and there’s reason to be optimistic about where this group is headed in the next two to three years.

The judges went off to deliberate, and ShockWave retook the stage to entertain the crowd with songs including “Bad Romance,” “Break Even,” “Uninvited,” “Sweet Disposition,” “King of Anything,” “Toxic,” and “Say My Name.” Good stuff all around.

While the judges were out, I figured out my own thoughts on final placement and special awards. Although their song selections didn’t quite let them meet their potential, the fact remained that The Ramblers innovated, entertained, and sang impeccably—they stood tall and were the clear choice for first place in my book. Second through fourth place were a lot muddier. At their best, I’d place Vocalmotion in second, but the latter half of the set proved unrefined enough to drop them a bit lower. The Pitches made great song selections to book end the set, but “3 a.m.” was blah enough that I wasn’t so sure of them either. The Deaftones delivered an offbeat set that wasn’t so friendly to the everyday listener, but shone in musicality. In the end, I placed The Ramblers first, The Pitches second, and Vocalmotion a very, very close third, with The Deaftones just behind them.

Imagine my surprise when Rabizadeh handed second runners up honors to The Ramblers. I don’t want to take anything away from The Pitches or Vocalmotion—they were solid and, coming out of most quarterfinals, they would probably each earn a spot in the Semifinals anyway. But, in my estimation, for The Ramblers to not make the Semifinals is not only the wrong call, and not only bad for The Ramblers, but bad for a cappella on a larger scale.

Here’s why this is bad for a cappella--lots of great groups don’t compete because they’re hyperconscious of the fact that they have little to gain, and lots to lose. Take, for example, The Tufts Beelzebubs and The Yale Whiffenpoofs. These groups generally don’t enter competitions, unless there’s clearly something in it for them (like the national exposure that comes with appearances on The Sing-Off). If groups like this compete in the ICCAs and get to the Finals, or even win the international championship, it’s a nice feather in their caps, but it really only confirms what they hope we already know--that they’re elite groups. If, on the other hand, they fail to emerge from even the quarterfinal round, it can take a world class group and taint them with the stigma of not even being among the two best groups in the preliminary round of a competition.

By no means am I suggesting that groups of high repute should get special consideration in competition, or that a group like The Midnight Ramblers have apotheosized to point that they’re beyond a judge’s reproach. At the same time, when an elite group comes in, takes the competition seriously, and outperforms the competition, it’s a real shame to see them walk away with a third place snub, and this is the kind of the result that keeps a lot of elite groups out of competition and keeps us--the fans--from ever getting to see competition between the truest collection of the best groups in the world.

Despite the disappointing results, the consolation remains that this was one of the strongest quarterfinals I have ever seen, and two very talented groups are moving on to the Mid-Atlantic Semifinals at Rutgers in March.

ACB Picks for the Night:

Overall Placement:
1. The Midnight Ramblers
2. The Pitches
3. Vocalmotion
4. The Deaftones
5. The Melismatics

Best Soloist:
1. Vocal Motion for “Don’t Stop Me Now”
2. Deep Treble for the rock medley
3. The Pitches for “If I Were A Boy”

Best Vocal Percussion: Deep Treble

Best Choreography:
1. The Ramblers for “I Want You Back”
2. The Deaftones for “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”
3. Vocalmotion for “Don’t Stop Me Now”

ICCA Official Results

Overall Placement:
1. The Pitches
2. Vocalmotion
3. The Midnight Ramblers

Outstanding Soloist: Deep Treble for the rock medley

Outstanding Vocal Percussion: Deep Treble

Outstanding Choreography: The Midnight Ramblers for “I Want You Back"