Best Show, Part I

This time, I share one of the best collegiate a cappella shows I’ve seen.

A cold night at Cornell

As a fan of any given form of entertainment, there are going to be certain moments that define your fan-ship. For me, that moment arrived at the ICCA Mid-Atlantic Semifinals in 2005, at Sage Chapel on the Cornell University campus.

Mind you, this was only the second ICCA show I attended, and I went primarily because the girl I was dating was in the competition. This show marks a turning point for me, when I went from casual fan to someone who was genuinely interested in seeing a cappella shows, regardless of whether I knew the participants.

The show included good showings out of Lafayette College’s Cadence, The Skidmore College Sonneteers, and the Johns Hopkins All-Nighters. What made the Lafayette and Hopkins performances all the more impressive was that it was the second time they had performed that day, given the unique structure of that year’s competition, in which runner up groups from quarterfinals competed in the afternoon to win their way into the evening’s contest.

While all of the groups were quite good, the first one to really make me take notice on this evening was, I believe, the UPenn Counterpoints (I couldn’t recall if this was the group for sure, but some retrospective research says it was probably them—please correct me if I’m wrong). This mixed troupe stormed the stage with an electrifying version of Gavin DeGraw’s “Chariot,” with one of the finest soloists I’ve ever seen.

Not to be outdone, The Syracuse University Mandarins featured a power solo of their own for Evanescence’s “My Immortal”—the middle song of a fantastic set, which earned the group outstanding soloist honors—a real accolade, given how stacked this show was.

But then there were two more groups, the combined effort of which ensured my place as an a cappella fan for the years to follow. The University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers turned out an incredibly memorable performance. The set began with “Stuck in the Middle with You” including an off the wall soloist, and really unique stage placement and movement. Next was the most poignant performance I’ve ever seen from an all-male group, in a near-perfect rendering of Sarah McLachlan’s “When She Loved Me.” It was a brilliant, unconventional choice for an all-male group, and an effort imitated with varied degrees of success by other all-male ensembles in the years to follow. The guys rounded out their set with a very good performance of The Darkness’s “I Believe In A Thing Called Love.” While I’d argue that the closer was the weak point of the set, it still went a long way toward establishing the group as one capable of performing a truly diverse set of songs, between the three distinctive styles, time periods, and manners of performance.

And then there was the final competing group, Rutgers University’s Casual Harmony. There are a number of factors to keep in mind when evaluating how good the guys were on this night. For one, they were among the groups to win their way into the show that afternoon. For another thing, let’s consider that ensemble had been together for two years when they took the stage that night. With those qualifiers out of the way, let’s face it—the group was awesome. I’m a bit abashed to say that, as good as the performances were, I can’t recall what two-thirds of the set’s songs were. What I do recall was an impossibly emotional, intense performance of “Dream On.” I recall the soloist singing his heart out, and the group selling every movement full-tilt, the way only the men of Casual Harmony can. It was an outstanding showing, and a great preview of the kind of unique quality and heart that this group would bring to the stage in the future.

In the end, The Ramblers won the night, and progressed to the ICCA Finals. Casual Harmony would go on to two more appearances in the semi-finals over the three years to follow. The remaining groups have continued to thrive to this day.

For me, personally, this show holds the legacy of being the one that showed me just how good a cappella could be. It was diverse on so many levels, with solid representations of men’s, women’s and mixed groups on stage, and so many different musical styles on display. What’s more, the desire of these competitors was palpable—demonstrating just how competitive collegiate a cappella can be. It was an absolutely thrilling night, and certainly one of the best shows I’ve seen.