“Yes!” shouted one random guy, much to the rest of the audience’s amusement, as the Sharps of Boston College, BC’s all-women a cappella group, announced they would be singing “All Time Low” as their next song. The Jon Bellion hit was just one of the many crowd favorites that the a cappella group performed in its final show of the year Friday night.
They decided on a ’70s-themed show, which they carried out with disco lights, John Lennon-style sunglasses, vintage jumpsuits, bootleg pants, and copious amounts of floral. They even put on a comical disco-style dance routine to “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.
Among the other popular hits on the Sharps’ setlist were Dua Lipa’s “New Rules,” a slowed-down version of Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love,” Zedd’s “The Middle,” and Alessia Cara’s “Scars To Your Beautiful.”
Charlotte Whalen, MCAS ’18, showed the group’s creativity when she performed a mashup of “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse and “Here” by Alessia Cara. The arrangement was seamless, and the harmonic minor chord progression was executed perfectly by the ensemble.
Other highlights of the night included performances from the freshmen of the group, who made it clear that the Sharps have plenty of young talent. The four freshmen performed “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron for their Freshmen Project, and it was somber and beautiful. They have deep and full voices, which isn’t a common characteristic of members of an all-female a cappella group. Maggie Chipman’s, MCAS ’21, rendition of “Lay Me Down” by Sam Smith was particularly mellow and elegant, and Caitlin Mahon, MCAS ’21, concluded the setlist with an extremely memorable performance of “River” by Bishop Briggs, in which she showed off her soulful, sassy, and powerful voice.
The Sharps brought in special guests A Completely Different Note, UCONN’s oldest all-male a cappella group, to perform a few of its own arrangements, too. It performed tight harmonies and impressive solos in “Sweater Weather” by the Neighbourhood, “Kiss From A Rose” by Seal, and “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars.
Obviously, this was the final Sharps show ever for the seniors of the group—Faith Rapley, MCAS ’18; Prianka Bedi, MCAS ’18; Sherri Cheng, CSOM ’18; May Bennett, MCAS ’18; Zoe Bosenberg, CSON ’18; and Whalen—so toward the end of the show, they came together for a heartfelt farewell performance of “These Days” by Macklemore that articulated just how much they will miss their time as Sharps members.
“I think this was our best show yet,” said Sam Padilla, MCAS ’20, the strong soloist for both “The Middle” and “Scars To Your Beautiful.” “We filled up Cushing 001 and had people standing in the back…. I’m really happy with how the concert went overall!”
Though the Sharps could have benefitted from a separate beatbox microphone and some reverb added onto the soloist mic, they put on an amazing and fun show that the departing seniors should be proud of.
Featured Image by Katie Genirs / Heights Editor
