Rockin A Capella

In Gilmore Girls (Season 6 I believe) there is a scene where Lorelai and Christopher go visit Rory at Yale. During the parent day visit, Rory says to avoid tunnels, arches, or anywhere that has good acoustics because it means that A Capella groups are hanging out there. During the rest of the show, Lorelai and Christopher make sure to avoid these places due to the fact that everyone at Yale seemed to belong to these crazy no-instrument singing groups.

I find that I generally do not like A Capella groups either and found myself laughing at the way the groups were portrayed in the TV series. That was until tonight. I don't know what it was, but the group I saw perform this evening was brilliant. Each voice seemed seamless. The choreography was hilarious. Though the group was professional and poised, I couldn't help but notice individual personality and flare during their performance. Tonight I saw the Harvard Krokodiloes perform music from titles like Danny Boy, to some more upbeat tunes like My Girl and even Rockin Robin (where part of the choreography included three men acting like birds). I was completely impressed.

By the end, I wondered why I hadn't liked this kind of vocal organization before. Maybe it is because I am jaded by the three to four-men A Capella groups that seem mostly to come out of Utah. I am not saying it is terrible, but there is something to be said about a larger A Capella group. I also liked that their sound was true to the song, meaning...no beat-boxing. Maybe that is why I haven't been so fond of A Capella groups before. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance tonight and hope to go visit Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other top-notch schools that choose to stick with the roots of the true A Capella sounds.