Last Friday, Nov. 14, the Vocal Chords hosted their fall concert entitled Project VC Runway. While I didn’t see any of the men in drag that were advertised, it was still an awesome way to start off the weekend. Even with 10 — you read correctly — 10 newbies, the a cappella performers maintained their infectious energy. They are probably some of the best beatboxers and basslines at Hopkins, and they have incredible group harmonies.
Senior Akshay Chitturi started off the night with his rendition of “Love Don’t Die” by The Fray, and while he has a great voice, it was the group as a whole that really shined in this number. The performance led the audience to break into applause mid-song several times.
They then performed “Elastic Heart” by recent breakout star Sia with junior Rachel Xian leading this piece. Xian is a natural performer with poise and presence, so even when the voices of the entire group began to rise into a crescendo, she still took command of the stage.
In order to give the Vocal Chords a quick break, the post-college, local Baltimore group Boh Re Mi — featuring Hopkins and Vocal Chords alum Jon Konel — came onto the stage to sing two songs. Though the first was a beautiful rendition of “Smash Into You” by Beyoncé, it was their final song that really got the audience going: Megan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” Their performance was quirky, entertaining and incredibly fun. It started off with the classic choral stance and harmony but turned into a wild dance performance that showed how much fun the group has together. There were no leads in the performance so every member got a chance to shine. The group even called out “Bye, Felicia!” during the performance, causing the audience to erupt into laughter. It also helped that their bass reminded me a bit of Avi Kaplan from the famous a cappella group Pentatonix.
The skits for Project VC Runway played nicely off of the TV show, with presenter names rhyming with the true hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. The skits even allowed for some self-deprecating jokes to be told about Hopkins. All of the members of the group were involved and helped introduce the newbies, who acted as the models in the skits.
Senior Kaleigh Choi is graduating early this semester so her senior solo was next on the program, followed by her goodbye gift-giving ceremony. (She received gifts that were fluffy and shiny — her two favorite things.) She chose to perform “State of Grace” by Taylor Swift for her solo, and there were plenty of pleasant surprises included in the performance. For example, the newbies threw in little snippets of Taylor’s other hit songs to accompany Kaleigh’s lovely soprano voice.
Another standout song was “Find A Way” by Nico and Vinz (featuring Emmanuel Jai), in which senior Brad Foulke got to show off his surprisingly powerful falsetto. The next skit formally introduced all of the “models,” and their introductions read almost like Tinder “about me” sections.
One model was introduced as being “particularly talented at existential crises... he majors in anthropology and Molecular Cell Biology, one that he wants to study and the other his parents want him to.” I’ll also mention here that I was quite impressed by how engaged all of the models were, posing and strutting across the stage as they were introduced.
Other songs included a lovely ballad rendition originally by musical group A Great Big World, a genuinely tender version of Ingrid Michaelson’s song “I’m Through,” and a hit from their concert last year, Rihanna’s “What Now.” Having seen this performed several times by the Vocal Chords, I have to say this was probably my favorite rendition that sophomore Alexia Huggins and junior Nick Uebele have done. Their voices blended together seamlessly, and the bass was awesome.
The Vocal Chords got to show off their sense of humor in the songs they performed as well as in their skits. For example, newbie Linda Horn’s opening line of her version of the George Michael song “I Can’t Make You Love Me” explained why the lights in the hall appeared to randomly turn on in the middle of the performance (“turn down the lights...”).
For a first-year Vocal Chord, Horn appeared really comfortable on stage, so props to her. Fellow newbie, Melanie Capruso, also seemed similarly comfortable and really used the space of the stage for her song “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit. While it was very good, I would have appreciated a slightly more edgy performance for this particular song. The bass and beatbox were really the winners here.
As always, the Vocal Chords ended their show to thunderous applause from the whole audience, which included plenty of alumni, friends and family. The applause was immediately followed by a “one more song” chant. Thankfully for the audience, the Vocal Chords obliged and returned to the stage to dedicate “Still Into You” by Paramore to a Vocal Chord alum who had hosted them in New York the past weekend.
This was a great way to end the show, and it made evident the true colors of the Vocal Chords. They are a group that truly loves to just have fun.
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