The Rusty Pipes put on their annual spring show on Friday entitled “Late Night with the Rusty Pipes.” The show featured guest groups from the University at Albany, Dartmouth University, and Trinity College.
As is traditional, the Pipes opened the show with a song and a skit before turning the show over to the first guest group. The song was Go West’s “King of Wishful Thinking,” and was well done. The skit was a top ten list of things you’ll “never” (by which they meant often) see in an a cappella show. It had its funny moments but was a bit forced.
The first guest group was the star of the first half of the show. The SUNY-Albany Earth Tones, an all-male group from down the road, had wonderful voices, good arrangements, and funny banter between songs. Their repertoire included Ben Harper’s “Steal My Kisses” and The Lemonheads’ “It’s a Shame About Ray,” two songs they had expertly arranged for a cappella. Their finale was a hilarious Earth Tones original, entitled “Last Night (Nooney’s Theme).” This song begins with the soloist describing, in woeful tones, how he had missed the train into the city this morning, causing him to miss an important meeting and likely costing him a big promotion. He puts it all in perspective with a loud, proud chorus that begins with the lines, “At least I got laid last night / Life can’t be that bad.” This was easily the best guest group of the night, and I recommend buying their CD King Elephant and the Cacophonic Jam if you enjoy collegiate a cappella.
The next group was an all-female group, the Dartmouth Rockapellas. I would describe their set as a cappella for the socially aware. While they seemed talented, their stage presence and song selection was a bit off. Their songs, like “Another Day in Paradise” and “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” all had a political point to them and were a bit depressing—they certainly didn’t keep up the energy level the Earth Tones had provided.
After the Rockapellas was a short intermission followed by a performance by another all-male group, Trinity After Dark. They started off with their school fight song, which was a nice song but not quite an apt selection to open a performance in front of an RPI crowd. Their show picked up after that, leading into their finale, Baltimora’s “Tarzan Boy,” which was arranged well. Their energetic monkey sound effects added humor to the song.
When the last guest group finished, I expected the Pipes to take the stage, but instead the Earth Tones climbed up and formed a huddle. One of the members gave a pep talk to the group on the utility of pipes, with such phrases as “they take water from here to there” with appropriate hand gestures. It was very amusing and an excellent introduction for the Rusty Pipes.
The Pipes started off with U2’s “Elevation” and other songs they’ve sung in previous performances, moving into newer songs at the end of their set. Highlights included “Son of a Preacher Man,” which highlighted the strong vocals of Cecilia Granda, who led opposite Matt Hitchens in another new one, “Cruisin.” Blessen Kurian was a favorite of the audience throughout the night, and soloed in a new song, Seal’s “Don’t Cry.”
Between the acts, the Rusty Pipes put on skits based on talk shows themed around a cappella, including a Jerry Springer about a couple torn apart by the man’s obsession with the form, and a hilarious impression by Hitchens of Linda Richman of Saturday Night Live’s “Coffee Talk” sketch.
The Pipes bid a fond farewell to three of its number—Matt Blye, Nate Davis, and Matt Hitchens—with the customary bouquets wrapped around plungers. While their contributions will be missed, the group has brought in three freshmen this year and have a strong core of returning members.
The Pipes will perform once more on campus, according to the schedule in their program, on April 19 in the Russell Sage Dining Hall. Additionally, the Earth Tones will host the Pipes at SUNY-Albany on April 26.
