The Rensselyrics hosted their annual Aca-tober Fest concert during Family Weekend in the West Hall Auditorium, featuring performances from all five of RPI’s acapella groups. Attendance was free of charge, but a minimum $1 donation allowed concert goers to pick from a range of baked goods and water bottles prepared by the Rensslyrics.
The first group to perform was RPI Raaga, who competes in the South Asian A Cappella circuit. Dressed as carbonated beverages, the group prepared two songs, both composed by music director Neha Madhwesh ’29. The first song, sung by Anagha Krishna ’28 and Deeptha Ganesh ’G, was a mashup between “Thuli Thuli” from the action-adventure film Paiyaa and “Dil Chahta Hai” from the comedy film by the same name. Their second song highlighted their strength as a group focused on fusing South Asian music and Western favorites as it mixed “Humsafar” from Saiyaara with Rihanna’s “Desperado.” It was performed by Samannita Mukherjee ’27 and Sivaank Pothukoochi ’28.
Up next were the Rusty Pipes, a competitive SATB a capella group founded in 1997. The group dressed up based on class year with the freshmen as Wizard of Oz, the sophomores as a pickle and Shawn Spencer from Psych, the juniors as Alvin and the Chipmunks, and the seniors as characters from Spongebob. They performed three of the most played pop songs this year. Their setlist included “Feather” by Sabrina Carpenter, “The Grudge” by Olivia Rodrigo and “Midnight Sun” by Zara Larsson.
Then, Duly Noted, an acapella group focused on highlighting lower voices, took the stage. Clad in pirate costumes, they performed four songs together. One of the most unexpected songs on their setlist was a mashup titled “Cabo Girls” which mixed “Cabo” by Ricky Montgomery and “Girls/Girls/Boys” by Panic! At the Disco, two artists not commonly associated with each other. It was sung by Annaka Freve ’27 and Danny Roeder ’27, who also arranged the piece.
The penultimate group was Partial Credit, another SATB a capella group who arranges all their songs themselves. Though it was a bit difficult to discern the theme of their costumes, the audience certainly enjoyed the three songs they sang. “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele was especially impressive as she is a notoriously difficult singer to cover.
Last to perform were The Rensselyrics themselves, who are still accepting members into early November. They dressed as superheroes and supervillains, mostly from the DC universe, and performed five songs ranging from upbeat to heartfelt. They opened with Daniel Spencer singing Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby” arranged by former member Rita Peace and ended with Jasmin Chen ’27 singing Taylor Swift’s “Fate of Ophelia” arranged by Howie Lien.
