ICCA Northeast Semifinal at MIT

Jillian Kimberlin is a member of Rutgers University Shockwave. This is her first review for The A Cappella Blog.

After watching the ICCA quarterfinal in Rochester in mid-march, I decided I had so much to say about a cappella and not enough people to listen. So, luckily, The A Cappella Blog was hosting that competition, so I spoke with Mike Chin and decided to review for ACB. So, I made the trek all the way from good old’ Rutgers University all the way to Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Northeast semifinals. As I walked up to this magnificent building, I stopped to take in the beautiful structure with glass windows and a detailed, dome copper roof that met at the ground three times, which is called the Kresge Auditorium.

The lights dimmed in the audience and your attention was drawn this beautiful, wood panel stage. You were also drawn to this humongous organ to Stage Left, lights on the sidewalls, lower level and upper level seating, and free-hanging acoustic “clouds” from the ceiling that contained more speakers and lights. I walked in late, so I missed MIT’s Resonance’s opening song, but made it just in time to find the Jabberwocks starting the competition off right.

As the gentlemen of Brown University’s The Jabberwocks walked onto the stage, an image of Ithaca College’s all-male group, Ithacappella, ran through my mind. They both don the navy blue blazer and khaki look, with different colored ties. I soon had that image leave my mind as the Jabberwocks gave their first pitch. They started off the night by singing a hip-hop medley of “I’ve Got a Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas, “All the Above” by Maino featuring T-Pain, and “Beautiful” by Akon featuring Colby O’Donis and Kardinal Offishall, which definitely pleased the audience. It was a fun song with varied soloists, fun choreography, and some awesome Vocal Percussion. They then slowed it down into Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” which really captivated the audience. As they first started the song, I remembered hearing them sing this in the same competition two years ago with a soloist I could not forget, Teng Yang. I was interested to see if the new soloist could live up to Yang’s rendition, and was pleasantly surprised that he could. It was a beautiful and smooth solo, with a great arrangement and kick-ass VP that cannot be forgotten. Then came their final song, the popular hit, “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon. I usually dislike when groups sing songs that are played way too much on the radio, but I thoroughly enjoyed this interpretation. The soloist was powerful and engaging and had an amazing tone to his voice. The arrangement was full with some great harmonies, but the VP was lacking a bit, especially after some great beat boxing in the first two songs.

All in all, The Jabberwocks were a perfect opener for the show. Their energy was great, and it looked like they were having a ball, even though it didn’t always show on their faces. Their set was fun and innovative and set the bar for the rest of the groups.

Next, The Nor’easters from Northeastern University joined the stage. This co-ed group was full of some sexy ladies looking classy in matching gray skirts, black tops, black stockings and heels and some (not-AS-sexy) men in black suits and gray ties. The group came out and started with “Stronger” by Britney Spears, which could always go one of two ways. In this case, I would say it wasn’t the best choice for a song. When singing Britney Spears, although she does lip-sync herself, you have to have some kind of pop and sass that was sort of lacking from this soloist. I’m also not a big fan of unnecessary choreography, which they definitely had throughout their entire set. Choreography can definitely help you in some cases, and can be a disadvantage in others. The greatest part of this song and their set in general, however, was that they were very energetic and looked like they were generally having a good time up there. There’s not much to say about their third song, “Show Me What I’m Looking For” by Carolina Liar. It sounded okay, but was a bit chaotic, vocally and visually. Not much to say about anything except the ending chords, which was probably the prettiest the sounded during the entire song. Their last song, “Crawl” by the well know Chris Brown, saved them a bit after a not-so-memorable start. They had a ton of fun, although their was a bit of a balance issue, and they finished with a nice ending to of the group bowing their heads while the soloist finished his last line.

The Nor’easters did not have the greatest arrangements and they didn’t have the greatest soloists to add, but they definitely had a lot of fun on stage with each other, and to me, in the end, that’s all that matters.

Up next, this co-ed group from Brown University came out in the ever-so original black and red, with ladies in dresses and men in suits. The Higher Keys came out and immediately started off with a “Beatles Medley” full of “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Eight Days a Week,” “Drive My Car,” “We Can Work it Out,” and “Strawberry Field Forever.” It was a nice interpretation, almost doo-wop like, but not being a fan of medleys in general, I felt the arrangement had too many songs in one medley and was a bit chaotic. Even still, they had fun and added some cute choreography that helped. Next came “Cry Me a River,” by Arthur Hamilton, which immediately struck my attention. The female soloist sounded beautiful, more so at the beginning than the end, with a great background arrangement and some nice blend. I would have liked to see their faces match the energy of their body movement, but it was a great song altogether. They finished their set off with “Think” by Aretha Franklin, which was pretty risky. Personally, I always think doing an Aretha or Whitney type song is not usually a good idea, especially if you don’t have the soloist to pull it off. It threw me off to have a male soloist, who didn’t give enough compared to what Aretha gives. The background sounded nice and had some great dynamics, but lacked some happy faces. And even though the choreography was a bit weird, I’ll give them credit for having it look unified.

Closing the first half of the competition was the cute group from University of Connecticut, Extreme Measures. This co-ed group was dressed casually in jeans with pink, black, and gray tops and accessories. This group also opened with a number by the Beatles, “Don’t Let Me Down.” They were very energetic, with nice dynamics and a simple, but pretty arrangement. The soloists (one male, one female) were very energetic and really livened the stage and took your eyes off of the simple choreography. It was a bit unfortunate that there was some feedback with the sound, but nothing too horrible. Their next song, a personal favorite, was “Winter Song” by Sara Barielles and Ingrid Michaelson. It was once again a simple arrangement which works for the song, but they should watch their vowels if they are going to sing “doo doo doo” over and over again. Even still, it was a beautiful song with two great soloists that complimented each other very well. Ending their set was “All of the Above” by Maino featuring T-Pain. The two best things in this song were the VP and choreography. The VP had a nice, crisp sound and the choreo was simple, but solid. Everything else was rather chaotic and hard to understand, especially the soloist and rapper.

In the end, Extreme Measures was a cute group, but even though they’re first two songs were relatively solid, there wasn’t anything memorable about the set in general.

INTERMISSION!

To start of the second half, they brought in the smallest collegiate a cappella group I’ve ever seen, coming from Brandeis University, called Starving Artists. This ten-person group was wearing black and red, which I think I’ve seen before. Their opener, which brought me back to the good old days, was “This Time Around” by the ever so popular Hanson. I couldn’t help but laugh a little once I figured out the song, not because of the group themselves, but because I actually knew every word to the song. That being said, I was happy that the soloist rocked it out and held his own. The choreography reminded me of “High School Musical” and was a bit distracting. Their second song, “Everybody’s Fool” by Evanescence took me by surprise, mostly because they just sang Hanson, but also because they started with some out of place choreography that was surprisingly solid and cool nonetheless. The background was simple and pretty, but lacking the powerfulness that is Evanescence. And the soloist was too pretty and soft for Amy Lee. They ended their set with “Angels” by Robbie Williams, which was a beautiful arrangement. Once again, out of place choreography that was a bit too much, but the group was having fun. Very nice VP on this and probably the strongest song out of all three.

There’s not much to say that I haven’t already said. Starving Artists seems like a young group that has some way to go.

I was pretty excited to hear this next group, coming from Berklee College of Music, called Pitch Slapped. This co-ed group came out in jeans with black and/or white tops. They started off with a crowd pleaser, “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship, which got the audience pumped. The group had great blend and amazing vowels, something they must have learned at school. The soloists were fun and quirky with powerful voices. The choreography was simple, but perfect, with lots of formations and small movements that added to the song. Their second song, “Got to Get You Into My Life” by Earth Wind and Fire” was so much fun. The solo was unbelievable. I’m pretty sure my jaw literally dropped. There was also some awesome VP and a great scat guitar solo. Their final song, “Halo” by Beyonce, was a perfect ending to the set. The soloist was wonderful and creative. It was a breathtaking arrangement with great VP added and solid movement throughout that kept the song moving.

Overall, it was pretty obvious to me who was going to win at this point. They had the cleanest set, with great arrangements, amazing soloists, necessary choreography and creativity and energy.

To follow, the only all-female group, The Tupelos from Wellesley College, came on stage looking nice in red and black dresses. Their first song was “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from Disney’s Hercules. It started off a bit shaky, and kind of stayed that way throughout the entire song. The soloist was cute, but forgot the words and instead of just going on and playing it off, she turned to her group-mate in a panic, which is always a no-no. She tried to make it up later on, but it just turned to screaming. The best part of the song was their cute ending of the soloist “fainting” into the group’s arms. Next, they sang the Noisettes “Never Forget You” which was the same as the first, simple and nothing special. They seemed a bit uninterested in what they were doing and had little to no energy throughout the entire set in general. Dynamics really brought the song together towards the end though. They finished with the popular hit by Keri Hilson, “Knock You Down.” I found this song the most enjoyable, mostly because they had the most fun themselves and they had great dynamics. The soloist was also very strong compared to the two beforehand. The biggest problem I found was that it went sharp and kept going sharp. But the number one rule that they followed was to just keep going.

The Tupelos held their own for being the only all-female group up there, but reminded me a lot of The Mandarins by being timid and unmemorable.

We finally arrived to our last group, The Ramblers, coming from Fordham University. These men dressed in white button down pants, jeans, and red ties, walked in and formed tight arc. They immediately started their set off with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which brought a smile to my face. The soloist had a beautiful tone and a great VP to counteract it. The arrangement was simple, but lovely. I was not a fan of the group being conducted and that they didn’t move at all, but it worked a bit for the song in general. Next up was “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind, picked up their set a bit. The soloist was not meant for the song, his range was not high enough, so he pushed a little too much. The arrangement was fun and they had fun with it. The choreography was a nice tough compared to the stillness of their previous song. “Cry Me a Crazy Sonata” was their last song, which was a compilation of “Cry Me a River” by Justin Timberlake, “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley mixed with one of Beethoven’s “Sonata.” The arrangement was a bit disorganized, with chunks of nothing in between. They really got the crowd engaged and it was a great ending to the night.

In general, I enjoyed the Ramblers choice of songs and had fun watching them, but paid more attention to their energy over musicality in the last two songs.

As we waited for the judges to deliberate, MIT’s Resonance joined us on the stage. They were great and had lots of fun, but I didn’t pay much attention to them because I decided to go over my notes. There was no doubt in my mind that Pitch Slapped had it in the bag, and rightfully so. They gave the audience and the judges exactly what they were looking for. In my opinion, second up had to be the Jabberwocks, who were obviously frontrunners for the first half. After that, I thought it was all up in the air. Best soloist was definitely going to either the solo on “Got to Get You Into My Life” or the solo on “Halo,” both from Pitch Slapped. I honestly also believed that Best Vocal Percussion was going to Pitch Slapped and Best Choreography was either to The Ramblers or Pitch Slapped. The judges finally came back, and the handsome Dave Rabizadeh announced the results:

1st: Berklee College of Music - Pitch Slapped
2nd: Brown University - Jabberwocks
3rd: Fordham University - Ramblers
Outstanding Arrangement: Ram Sharma for the Ramblers for "Cry Me A Crazy Sonata"
Outstanding Choreography: Shams Ahmen of the Northeastern University Nor'easters
Outstanding Soloist: Will Makar of Pitch Slapped for "Got To Get You
Into My Life"
Outstanding Vocal Percussion: Ram Sharma of the Ramblers

Even though I may not have agreed with all of the awards and such given, I really enjoyed the concert as a whole. Each group did an amazing job and kept the concert rolling. MIT’s Resonance’s alum should get a shout out for being great emcees and for hosting such a great show. I can’t wait to see the Pitch Slapped and the rest of the competing groups battle it out at Lincoln Center on April 24th!