Have you ever experienced a real life Pitch Perfect? I did Friday Night – and it was amazing. Secondary Dominance is one of the three A Capella RSOs here on Illinois State’s campus. This group is made up of 16 beautiful and musically talented women. I have seen the movie Pitch Perfect (2012) multiple times, enough to be able to quote almost any of the scenes. The whole idea of A Capella has always been something I have loved to hear. A Capella is made just by singer’s voices – no pianos, guitars, or drums involved at all. Attending the Secondary Dominance concert was the first time that I have experienced A Capella in real life, next to the Pitch Perfect movies. ICYMI, here is what happened at the concert:
The Old Main Room, Bone Student Center, 8 p.m. The room is almost filled to the max, I was thankful I had a seat saved for myself. My reason for attending was not only to finally experience A Capella in person, but to cheer on three people – Megan Pellock and Sam Biga, who are both in Women’s Choir with me, and Morgan Peters, who lives on the same floor of Hewett as I do. I got seated and situated with two other girls from Women’s Choir as the opening act took the stage. The group that opened for these wonderful women was a small group of males from Illinois Wesleyan called Suspended. They sang three songs – the first was “Land of Opportunity” by A Great Big World; the second was “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel, that gave me the chills, and the third was “My Shiny Teeth and Me” from Fairly Odd Parents. Their group was made of eight males that took my breath away. I will be visiting Wesleyan more.
A few minutes later, the Secondary Dominance girls made their entrance. They all looked so beautiful in their dresses! A pitch was given, and they started to sing a medley of Destiny’s Child songs – “Bootylicious,” “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”, “Say My Name,” and “Independent Women,” Pt. 1. I sat next to our editor-in-chief, Mallory, who loves Beyoncé more than other person on this earth, and her face said it all. They did amazing in channeling their inner Beyoncé, Kelly and Michelle. The ladies then introduced themselves by saying their names, grade, major and their celebrity crushes. My favorite was Hannah Witting’s – “Weird Al” Yankovic.
The next songs they sang included “Sit Still, Look Pretty,” by Daya which included beautiful harmonies, “Crazy for You,” by Adele, which had a jazzy vibe and a beautiful solo by Emily Weber, and “Please Mr. Postman,” by The Marvelettes that not only had cute choreography, but captured a 60’s vibes perfectly. After these three songs, they sang Happy Birthday for those that had a birthday in the house. Before the intermission, they sang their ICCA set, which is the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, like in Pitch Perfect. This set earned them fourth place, which they definitely deserved!
The set was about 12 to15 minutes of continuous singing. The first song was “Castle,” by Halsey, which had choreography as well and amazing vocals by Mia Shah, enough to give me chills. The second song was “Oh Henry,” by The Civil Wars, with funny choreography to go along with the funny lyrics sung by Francesca Velich. The final song was “Hear You Me,” by Jimmy Eat World, that had a beautiful soprano descant and main vocals sang by Marissa Gollogly. This gave me the chills, for the fourth time of the night. I cannot wait to see what they will perform next year for the ICCAs! There was a 15 minute intermission, in which the gorgeous ladies changed out of their dresses and into some form of a Secondary Dominance shirt and pants. Then, they continued on with their second act of music.
The second act included “End of Time” by Beyoncé. This was sung by Morgan Peters, along with a duet by Shelby White and Janine Cihak; “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” by Adele, sung by Sam Biga, “Bravado” by Lorde, which was arranged and sung by Emma Moran, and “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston, with solos by Emma Moran and Francesca Velich. Finally, “Pocketful of Poetry” by Mindy Gledhill, sung by Shelby White. The final song was a perfect fit – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by the Queen herself, Whitney Houston. Each girl had the opportunity to sing a line and have their own line.
This concert was amazing! I am so happy to have been in attendance, and I cannot wait to see the future performances. Great job ladies! Here is a playlist of all the songs sung: https://open.spotify.com/user/rjserps/playlist/2PdTzNUiRCNRXxlL7cCY2e
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