One Note Stand More Than a One-Hit Wonder

This past Saturday, the One Note Stand greeted audiences with an insightful documentary about the UMW a capella club and its origins.

“The Social Network: The Story Behind the One Note Stand,” was an obvious nod to the recently released movie about the formation of Facebook. This humorous preface loosened up the audience with humor, revealing that the club contract for One Note Stand was drawn up in only one night.

“Hence, One Note Stand,” noted the documentary.

Yuna Lee was the opening soloist of the night and did a marvelous job overcoming the silent microphone for the first few seconds of the piece. But after the sound system became intact, she engaged the audience with her rendition of The Killer’s “Mr. Brightside.”

The One Note Stand really wowed the audience with their group chorale version of Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes,” earning an eruption of claps at the close of the number.

Brendan Kelly’s vocal performance of Van Morrison’s “Moondance,” was passionate and perfectly suited for this style of music.

A rendition of Jordan Spark’s “No Air,” was a lovely duet, but it seemed as if either the range was a bit low for the female vocalist or she may have been sick. Still, it was quite the crowd-pleaser and closed the first half of the show with thundering applause and shouts from the crowd.

For the intermission, One Note Stand invited the UMW Breakers onstage to show off their skills. Philip, a freshman, introduced the group, noting that unfortunately not all of their members could be at the performance.

“Some went home, some are sick, and some sprained their ankles,” he said.

The breakers impressed the audience with their individual styles and daredevil moves, including handstand kicks, body rocks and plenty of fancy footwork.

The One Note Stand welcomed the audience back with the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.” The male lead had a strong, clear voice but seemed unable to hit the highest notes, again making me wonder about range choices or the possibility of illness. Either way, his energy and performance on the song outweighed the few lapses in tone.

The performance continued with Shontelle’s “Impossible,” and a strong duet on Rusted Root’s “Send Me On My Way.” The performers used a creative mash-up of Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Scar Tissue,” and Green Day’s “21 Guns,” to really get the audience into the music, using stomps and claps to increase the energy.

The performers walked off the stage at the close of the mash-up, only to reemerge to an encore of Antoine Dodson’s “Bed Invader,” featuring their beatboxer, Mitchell Bass as the rapper. It was a short encore, but one that certainly got the audience giggling.

The One Note Stand did not fail to impress this year at their fall performance. A few voices seemed strained, but considering that we’re right in the middle of allergy and sickness season, I’ll give them a pass. The show was energetic, engaging and, above all, fun.

[Photo credit: Marie Sicola/Bullet]