The Vocal Chords put on their Annual Fall Concert in the Bloomberg Auditorium on Nov. 11th at 8 p.m. The show's theme was "The Cranberry Love Game," and each member of the Vocal Chords portrayed a distinct character.
They sang a total of 10 songs that ranged in both genre and quality.
The first was "Jaded" by Aerosmith. The soloist, Megha Sharma, started out strong, but her voice died off while attempting to reach high notes later on in the song. What she lacked in high notes, she made up for in enthusiasm, as she danced along to the song and worked the audience.
Following their first song, The Vocal Chords introduced their featured A Capella group, UMBC's Mama's Boys. The group appeared disorganized, but the audience's assumptions were soon proved wrong when UMBC's first soloist stepped up to the microphone.
His voice was amazing and his own personal humor added greatly to his rendition of "F*** You" by Cee Lo Green.
Their performance dropped in intensity a bit in the middle when they sang "Rocketeer" by The Far East Movement, but they ended on another high note with "Secrets" by One Republic. Again, it was very unexpected. A small boy with punk inspired fashion who had blended into the background throughout the performance wowed the audience.
The Vocal Chords started back up with the introduction of their characters for their reality TV Show, "The Cranberry Love Game." They had the audience laughing and it added greatly to the show, as they introduced the clueless girl, the Asian hick, the self obsessed boy and girl, the boy who only wanted love and many more.
They then sang their next song, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days. The soloist Michael Van Maele was excellent. They followed that up with "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele.
The soloist, Zoe Cohen, did Adele justice as she belted out the lyrics and had the audience pumped up. Her voice grew soft at some parts but her overall performance was extraordinary.
The Vocal Chords's next song was very original. They sang a Pirates of the Caribbean Medley which had the audience in hysterics. At the end, two girls even had a "sword fight" with their high heels.
They took a short break from singing with a scene showing dates between their various contestants. It definitely added some much needed humor to their performance.
Their next song was a mash-up of Britney Spear's "Toxic" and Bitter:Sweet's "The Mating Game."
They attempted to mix things up by dancing throughout the song. Unfortunately, although it was pleasing to the eyes, it did not help with their singing. Having to focus on both dancing and singing took away from the overall quality of the piece.
Following that they sang "Bullet From a Gun" by The Script. The soloist, Brad Foulke, did an amazing job with this song. When trying to reach the first high note, he had some trouble, but he quickly recovered and hit the remaining two, more than making up for his first attempt.
They followed that with "The Song of Purple Summer" by Spring Awakening before returning to another skit.
"Who have you chosen to give your cranberry to?" they asked each contestant.
There were more laughs to be had until the end when the character, who just wanted to find love, did not receive a cranberry. Luckily, a girl from the audience jumped up immediately, declaring her love, before jumping into his arms. The audience was more than satisfied with this turn of events.
They then jumped right into the next song, "You and I" by Lady GaGa. Megha Sharma was the soloist and did the song justice. It was much better suited to her than her first song, and it really showcased her unique voice. She even had the audience clapping along by the end.
Their next song was "Cold War" by Janelle Monae. The soloist, Greco Song, did an amazing job. The Vocal Chords were enthusiastic and danced but to a much lesser extent then previously. It worked out much better for them, giving the audience something aesthetically pleasing to watch, but it did not interfere with the quality of the music.
Their final song was "This" by Darius Rucker. The soloist, Kevin Quinn, had an amazing voice, but sadly he was drowned out at times by the background singing during the chorus. Thankfully, throughout the rest of the song, he was loud and clear.
The concert ended with an encore. They sang "Rehab" by Rihanna, and five old members who had graduated joined in. This may have been one of their best songs yet as they all relaxed and had fun with it.
Overall, the concert was definitely a success! Although there were some rough moments, it was still a very enjoyable experience. Make sure to catch The Vocal Chords at their next concert.
