Harmony found at GW a cappellastock
Last Saturday students and parents alike went home humming along to their favorite tunes from a night of perfect harmony. After waiting in a line stretched across the entire first floor of the Marvin Center, The Troubadours, who hosted A Capellastock, courted the crowd with an amazing balance between backup vocals and soloists and a great selection of music. Including human beat boxes, the group proved it had no need for instruments on stage.
Troubadours member Jeff Malinowski said he thought the concert was a success.”We worked really hard as a group to get these new arrangements,” he said. “This concert left no competition aspect, which was nice.”Closing with Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River,” led by soloist Zach Colonna, The Troubadours left the crowd ready for more songs, and yes, even dance moves.
The audience was then entertained by The Sirens, The Pitches, Sons of Pitch, and The Vibes, all without any contention. The all-female Pitches exhibited great vocals with their powerful rendition of “Criminal.” The co-ed Vibes followed suit with an amazing chemistry unparalleled by the other groups, fully showcased with Maroon 5’s “This Love.” The all-male Sons of Pitch, a crowd favorite, had the audience ecstatic with sounds ranging from Billy Joel to Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom.” The Sirens quickly gained the audience’s affection with R&B and oldies. “The Sirens is such a fun group. We like to mix it up, show good musicianship and remind people that there’s great music that’s not on the radio,” said member Jessica Catz.
-Marisa Workman
Israel’s top hip-hop group performs at GW
Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash kicked off its first U.S. tour with a performance in the Marvin Center Grand Ballroom last Sunday. The group performed the song “Shirat HaSticker” (the “Sticker Song”), which was written by David Grossman, a successful novelist with a liberal sensitivity to the political hotbed in Israel, his and the band’s home.
“People have a right to life,” said Shaanan Street, the band’s founder. “It’s time that both governments (Israeli and Palestinian) should see that peace and equality should rise above death and madness.”
Street’s sensitivity to the condition of people in his homeland is something that the band uses as one of its motivations for making music. In addition to man’s natural response to violence, the group also uses a simple and universal love for the beat.
Street said acid jazz and funk were motivating forces when the boys got together back in 1996, after Street had cut a single and began collaborating with the other members. Now the music they play is largely fueled by one of the most popular genres of music in Israel today: hip-hop. The band sings all its original lyrics in Hebrew, and it recognizes other rap talents while asserting that in their view, hip-hop should be more than a glitzy image.
Hadag Nahash was recently voted the number one Israeli hip-hop band among quite a few candidates, proving they can rap with the best of them.
-Heather Struck
