Bella’s fall show falls short

By LEAH VAHJEN

The BellAcappella group put on their fall concert on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium. The concert was themed “Southern Bellas” incorporating southern attire and songs.

There were nine songs on the program, which included the following: “Somethin’ Bad” by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood, “Count on Me” by Bruno Mars, “Ghost” by Ella Henderson, “Panic Cord” by Gabrielle Aplin, “Take Me to Church” by Hozier, “Rather Be” by Clean Bandit, “Girls Chase Boys” by Ingrid Michaelson, “I See Fire” by Ed Sheeran and “Gunpowder and Lead” by Miranda Lambert.

Many of these songs were arranged by members of the BellAcappella group itself, usually featuring one or two soloists. The girls took turns providing soft beats to accompany their selections, creating the illusion of music that a cappella derives much of its intrigue and popularity from.

Despite their use of a nifty pitch-pipe Smartphone App, there were definite pitch issues once in a while; however, the large crowd was extremely supportive, even requesting an encore, which the Bellas met with a rendition of Maroon 5’s 2014 single “Maps.”

Throughout the show, the crowd kept the atmosphere filled with energy, frequently whooping and cheering on the performers. The audience was a hodgepodge of relations to the singers, from roommates and friends, to siblings, parents and grandparents.

Jennifer Dunn and Hope Racine were by far the crowd favorites for soloists, gaining the most applause and named recognition from a variety of audience members.

“I really liked Hope’s performance. This was my first a cappella concert on campus, so I had no expectations, but I was delighted and surprised,” said Noelle Carlson, a sophomore Spanish major.

“My favorite performance was ‘I See Fire,’ and I really like that this is an all-girl group,” said Clara Martin, a sophomore Spanish and English double major.

During the program’s intermission, the University of Mary Washington student and beat-boxer TylaDubya wowed the audience with a short set of amazing, original beats. His use of the sensitivity of a microphone definitely beat that of the Bellas, whose voices were often startlingly loud at moments that would have otherwise been positively show stopping, and contrastingly rather quiet as a group.

While these 16 women are respectable artists and seem individually talented, they could benefit from a better selection of songs to suit the styles and ranges of their members.