Mobsters, Inc., an a cappella concert by the Rensselyrics, thrilled a packed audience Saturday night in DCC 308. Although the theme was a flop—the skits were poor and the other groups didn’t get into it—the music was definitely a success, as the Rensselyrics and their guest groups put on a high-quality performance.
The opening act was a familiar one to local a cappella fans: WPI’s Simple Harmonic Motion. The first half of their set was, surprisingly, a bit flat. Midway through, however, they performed an amusing skit that focused on a “model” of how neurons behave when drunk. After that, the group loosened up significantly and launched into a solid cover of Weird Al’s “One More Minute,” with Tyler Ames providing comic relief while singing lead. SHM closed with a nice rendition of Billy Straus’s “Change in My Life,” sung by Ed Quinlan.
Next up was the Holy Cross Fools on the Hill. Their last two songs, Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait” and U2’s “Pride” were decent, but otherwise the best I can say about their set was that it was short.
The show came roaring back to life after intermission with the appearance of The Other Guys from the College of Saint Rose. (Note to a cappella fans: There is no connection to The Other Guys from the University of Illinois, one of the top college groups in the country.) They kicked off their set with a funny skit about dancing, and worked that smoothly into the rest of their performance.
The Other Guys’ first song was—no joke—a techno remix version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” easily the best song of the night. Joe Paparone provided some impressive vocal percussion, and group founder Michael McCord’s vocals were right on target. The Other Guys went through several songs, hitting the mark each time, and closed with an excellent rendition of U2’s “Desire.” They have a lot of talent and are impressively well organized for a group formed less than 18 months ago; the audience gave them some of its loudest applause of the evening.
After one more painful mobster sketch, the hosting Rensselyrics took the stage. They kicked their music selections off with “Comfort Eagle,” essentially a rap track by the band Cake. Lead vocalist Michael Dawe performed well on this unusual piece, and the group did a nice job of making it sound enjoyable without the ridiculous quantities of bass typically associated with the genre.
The Rensselyrics’ best songs of the night were “Kyrie Eleison”—a complex arrangement that they performed without a hitch—and “What You Own” from the musical Rent, featuring a fine duet by Rich Davis and Christina Melicharek.
Very poor sound mixing throughout the show hindered all of the performers and left the leads at times very difficult to hear over the background vocals.
Despite the rough spots, though, it was a very enjoyable performance, and certainly worth the $2 price of admission. If you missed the show, the Rensselyrics will be performing again at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on April 7.
