Amherst's Zumbyes opened the concert and I am proud to say that they featured not only the most dynamic, but also the raunchiest, choreography of any group present. After a quiet rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," they launched into a jaunty tune called "Spin Me 'Round," featuring Brian Clowdus '03 stripping off his staid blue suit to reveal snakeskin pants and a tight black shirt and proceeding to perform a routine similar to something one might expect on a Vegas stage.
The Zumbyes' third number, "Since I Feel," included a rich solo by Taharqa Patterson '05, unquestionably one of the most memorable solos of the night. They ended with a rendition of "Walking Day and Night," a song whose necessary hollers and acrobatics were performed with enough gusto to leave the audience laughing.
The Zumbyes were followed by the Harvard Din and Tonics, another all-male group that, to my initial chagrin, was dressed in crisp white shirts, bowties and suits with coattails. I am happy to report, however, that the Din and Tonics' set had, at times, a decidedly tongue-in-cheek tone, including a lively version of Harry Belafonte's "Matilda" and a cheerful song called "Delovely," as well as the more traditional "The Water is Wide." The song that finally nullified the affectation of their attire, however, was the mock-reverential "McDonalds Girl," in which the singers, with mournful voices and tragic eyes, lamented a futile crush on a McDonalds worker, an "angel in a polyester uniform." The song concluded with two members hoisted up into the air in the shape of the omnipresent golden arches, thus marking one of the highlights of the show.
The Din and Tonics were followed by the Boston College Acoustics, the only coed group present, who changed the tone of the show by performing contemporary pop fluff such as Michelle Branch's "Everywhere," Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" and N'Sync's ubiquitous "Bye, Bye, Bye," a selection whose only great merit was the muted but happy exclamations of recognition it drew from the audience. The Tufts Beelzebubs continued along the more contemporary veins with renditions of U2's "Elevation" and Bjork's "Oh So Quiet," performed with such good humor and exaggerated zest that, as the group collapsed in a heap at the close, drew a standing ovation from several audience members. The first of the two all-female a cappella groups, the University of Rochester's Vocal Point, began with yet another version of "Everywhere," this one gentler and more melodious than the Acoustics'. While hearing Abba is always ridiculously satisfying, as their performance of "Dancing Queen" was, the real standout was their finale, Alicia Key's "Fallin'" featuring a soloist who, to my admittedly untrained ear, all but outperformed Key's herself.
The Yale Whiffenpoofs, who, in a priceless turn, were dressed identically to the Harvard Din and Tonics, succeeded Vocal Point on stage. The nation's oldest a cappella group lived up to the distinction of this title, performing five mellifluous songs that, though displaying some of the afternoon's most able vocals, were lacking in the sheer entertainment value provided by songs of all the other groups.
The Whiffenpoofs' saving grace, however, was a bizarrely incongruous skit performed halfway through the set, in which one member strode about the stage pompously extolling the talents of Kevin Costner, while another stood stone-faced at the microphone delivering dead-pan imitations of Costner's trademark lifelessness. No one in the audience ever found out why Costner was the subject of their skit, but the impression was exceptionally well-received by the audience nevertheless.
The final performers of the concert were the truly exceptional Smith College Smiffenpoofs. Beginning with "Freedom," they displayed the jazziest background compositions of the show. Their second song, "All You Want," featured a solo by a girl whose voice, falling somewhere in between Dido's and Sarah McLachlan's, held the audience completely mesmerized for four straight minutes. Their two remaining numbers, U2's "The Sweetest Thing" and the "Moulin Rouge" tune "Lady Marmalade," continued to display the diversity of the voices among the group and the adeptness of their arrangements. This is a group whose performances I plan to attend whenever possible.