Last Wednesday was aca-awesome. JCU had its very first combined concert with all three a cappella groups on campus. As a member of The Sweets, I can say that it was an incredible experience to share a concert with the other groups on campus. Normally, all three groups would have their own concert sometime near the end of the school year, and it took up three dates. We wanted to make it easy on our audience, so we combined all three concert dates into one. The result was this unreal energy in the Dolan Atrium that could only be provided by JCU students hyped up about this a cappella music. The chairs we set up were filled, people were standing on the upper levels and on the stairs, and some sauntered in and out as the night went on. It was one of the best performances I have ever done, and I can’t wait to do it again. In case you missed out, here are some highlights and memorable moments from the night.
Rhapsody Blue opened the night with their energy to get the crowed excited. I’m going to be honest here: I’m using the program as a cheat sheet, and “We as Rhapsody Blue have never made a formal program for our concerts,” so I can’t remember all their songs or in what order they were sung. I’m going to do my best, though. Obviously the one that sticks out in my mind is their version of “Let It Be” by The Beatles. They dedicated this song to anyone who has cancer, especially their member Pat Waldron who was unable to attend the concert. It was truly beautiful and a perfect example of why JCU students are the greatest. On a different note (ha, pun), I loved their “Wagon Wheel/Chicken Fried” mash-up. The transition between the two songs was flawless, and it was so cool. Lastly (that I can remember), they sang their classic “My Girl.” Just your typical, adorable tribute to the respective soloist’s favorite girl in the world. SO cute. Find them on social media to stay updated on all of the great music they have coming up next school year!
Next, Streaks in Key rocked it. Just because they are only two years old does not mean a thing. They are amazing. I’m a huge fan of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” and Marissa Stupecki, Kristen Zeuch, Megan Yankovsky, and Krista Braeunle were beautiful. They got all of the random harmonies and riffs that Jason is famous for, and I loved it. Duncan Peters and Robin Weaver KILLED “Counting Stars” by One Republic. The crowd went wild at this song, and most of it was singing along. That might have been my favorite song of the night. Streaks finished their second set with “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles. You could tell they had so much fun with this song. Megan Yankovsky did a great job getting the audience to sing along and have fun. Patrick Headley grabbed some shades, the mic, and twisted alongside the audience. I’m so impressed with how far they have come in just two short years. I cannot wait to hear more from them, and I will definitely be going to every event they sing.
Last but not least, The Sweet Carrollines had a brand new set to try out. My favorite song we did was “Jar of Hearts” by Lauren Laughlin. She nailed this song, and it gave me goose bumps just listening to her. We opened our second set with “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry. Meg Slivka and Samantha Nickerson were our own Katy Perrys for the night because they sounded just as good as the recording. Rachel Spenik, future rapper, took the Juicy J part and…oh my gosh…it was flawless and amazing and incredible and just…AHHH. She’s perfect. We had our own mash-up with “Without You” by David Guetta featuring Usher, “I Will Wait” by Mumford & Sons, and “With or Without You” by U2. So yeah, that one took us a bit longer than the others. Meg Slivka, Rachel Distler, and I had the solos in that one, and I thought we did a nice job with that song. I can’t wait to get started for next year, oh my gosh!
And there you have it. We made JCU history last week at JCU! Whoo! Look out for us in Pitch Perfect 2! Just kidding, but that would be, you guessed it, aca-awesome.