Tag: Music

REVIEW: University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club Fall Concert

Chelsea Zabel
From the fall concert Facebook event

The Women’s Glee Club started strong in their opening song on Saturday night, singing “The University” to Hill Auditorium. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of students filling the mezzanine, supporting the Women’s Glee Club in their first concert of the year. The theme for this concert was Celebrating Sisterhood, Song, and Strength, and these were found throughout the evening. Song was obviously accomplished by the music they sang, spanning styles and languages from English to Italian to Bulgarian.

The Italian selection “Canzonette a tre” included accompaniment from a violin, viola, and recorder, enhancing the experience to feel more medieval. They sounded excellent together, and I am always a fan of including other instruments to contribute to the sound and atmosphere. Following the Italian pieces was a 6-song string of “Songs for Women’s Voices” by Gwyneth Walker. All poems in English that were put to music, it began with a satire that explained how women should be pedestals that are under men’s command, but concluded with a piece about the power and of a woman’s love. Next was “Ergen Deda”, an up-tempo song in Bulgarian that helped to break up the pace of the concert and give the women something to smile about and move around to. They concluded the first half of songs with “Lux Aeterna”, simply a beautiful composition.

After intermission came Midnight Blue’s performance. The a cappella group performed seven songs, and showed their strength of voices and confidence while they sang beautifully and included some dancing and parodies for the audience to laugh at. A special favorite of mine was “A Netflix World” sung to the tune of “A Whole New World”. A little too relatable, this song made me realize that I’m not alone in how much of life life is motivated or unmotivated by Netflix auto play.

Finally, the concert closed with songs about the University of Michigan, the classics that you hear at tailgates. The bond of sisterhood was evident here as alumnae joined the club onstage. Smiles and hugs were shared as the former members returned to their voice parts, and it was heartwarming to see how much the Women’s Glee Club meant to them even after they had graduated. I know that reconnecting with alumni and forming a base is something that the Women’s Glee Club is working to accomplish, and I think they are on their way to doing so if they maintain the atmosphere of sisterhood.

Overall a great concert, and I am always happy when I attend. I am glad that students are coming to support their friends in the club, and I hope the tradition continues as the Women’s Glee Club grows stronger.

PREVIEW: University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club Fall Concert

Chelsea Zabel

Who: The University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club and Midnight Blue

What: Fall Concert: Celebrating Sisterhood, Song, and Strength

When: Saturday, November 8 at 8:00pm

Where: Hill Auditorium

Why: Why? Because the Women’s Glee Club is a fantastic group of talented women. Their fall concert is sure to be an impressive mix of styles and sounds: something for everyone who wants to support this group. I am excited to hear what they have in store on Saturday.

How: This event is on this week’s Passport to the Arts, so be sure to pick one up for a free ticket if you can. If not, student tickets are only $5 and available at the door.

REVIEW: Flying Lotus

Gabriella
Flying Lotus incorporates stunning visuals in his shows.

After a winded day at Royal Oak the night before, I was ready to get back to the music theatre for round 2 by seeing Flying Lotus with opener Thundercat. I was tired heading into the concert venue but still ready to open my musical horizons and see what the show had to offer. Once again, I was in for a visual and musical treat.

Thundercat honored his name well by dressing up in a cat costume before proceeding to jam out with the piano guy. As a band who made all of their sounds live, I was very impressed with his ability to play in such a limiting suit while still maintaining a high level of performance. The music was feel good and positive, and I was able to notice the reverb he use with his electric guitar as well as the popular wah wah effect to get a wailing sound. While I was not familiar with the group’s music beforehand, I think they did a fairly good job of introducing people to what they were all about. They didn’t try to be too over the top, and instead, successfully hyped up the audience for the headliner act.

While struggling to stay awake for Flying Lotus, I was quickly recharged with energy when he came out in a suit and light glasses that stood out behind his large white screen. Standing behind this screen added to the mystery that is Flying Lotus, as he conducts his live performing behind a screen that projects his visuals. The visuals were like something I had never seen before–very trippy and very mesmerizing. They would go from feeling like you were traveling in space to protruding out different shapes and colors for a 3-D effect. All the while, you were able to take in the atmosphere of people happily dancing around you and connecting to the music in ways they never could listening to it on their own at home.

Even when the music was something I didn’t like, I tried to understand the reasons for his putting that section into part of the show. Artists make very calculated decisions, especially when it come to electronic music where music order is super important as it aligns to the visual production side of things in this case. Flying Lotus live was absolutely worth the money to attend on a Thursday night in the middle of a busy week. I was impressed with the enthusiasm generated by him and his visual team to create an unparalleled concert experience. Even though I left early because of feeling way too tired, for the time I was there I had a great time.

REVIEW: Michigan Pops presents Game of Pops

csatter

After arriving at the Michigan Theater, and hearing sounds of a small jazz ensemble coming from the main theater, I knew this was going to be an interesting concert. With the couple who started a slap fight in front of me, an audience who rarely stopped talking, and an intermission in which the musicians wandered around to chat with the audience, I can honestly say I have never experienced an orchestra concert quite like this one.

Centered around the theme of games, the Michigan Pops Orchestra played 14 pieces, including music from the Olympics, Halo, Rocky, and the ever popular Game of Thrones. While most of the pieces were played well, the second half of the concert was stronger than the first, and the suites from Video Games Live and Game of Thrones were when the orchestra really shined. In those moments there weren’t any homemade movies or awkward gags, and the Michigan Pops let the music speak and showed off how well they can play and how great they sound together.

The two soloists, Allen Chang, a clarinetist, and Dylan Stasack, a singer, were wonderful additions to the concert and both performed very well. While the insertion of a classical concerto into a concert of predominately movie and video game music felt a little awkward, Chang’s excellent playing captivated the audience. Stasack gave a strong performance of “Go the Distance” from Hercules, which showed off both is musical and theatrical skills.

Overall, the concert was pretty good, with interesting pieces that were played well. Although it is a student run orchestra, I was surprised with how informal the concert was. The constant chatting of the audience, flash photography in the dark theater, unconventional intermission, and over played gags were distracting and had me wishing for a more traditional and formal orchestra concert.

REVIEW: The Dicks and Janes- It’s Not Delivery, It’s DJorno and Album Release

kjtopor

The transition from the Polar Vortex couldn’t have been more wonderful. I went from walking from the Bursley-Baits busstop to the MLB, fighting face-biting winds and dangerously slippery sidewalks, to strolling across the diag’s grass in the light of the setting sun. Warmth. But last night, the sun wasn’t the only thing that put a smile on my face. I had the opportunity to attend The Dicks and Janes: It’s not Delivery, It’s DJorno and Album Release performance.

The concert was held in the MLB at 7:30pm on Friday, April 11, 2014. My friends and I walked in, greeted by excited grins and tables of t-shirts and albums. We walked into the auditorium to upbeat music which was quickly interrupted by Justin Wong, who introduced the Maize Mirchi, a South Asian, co-ed a cappella group. A 30 minute set by the Maize Mirchi sang a lively array of music, including both pop and cultural tunes.  Their chemistry was evident, and I found myself smiling throughout the entire performance.

Maize Mirchi
Maize Mirchi

After an amazing opener from the Maize Mirchi, the Dicks and Janes took the stage at 8pm. The a cappella crew, who took 3rd at the ICCA quarter finals this year, came out ready to sing. They began the night with a stunning rendition of Zedd’s Clarity. After their first song, they talked quickly about the concert, the songs, and their album! They moved swiftly through the next few songs, which included Happiness is a Warm Gun by the Beatles, Bottles by V.V. Brown, Delicate/I Won’t Give Up by Damien Rice/Jason Mraz, A cappella by Karmin, and OK, It’s All Right from the Dicks and Janes’ album- Flying Bicycles. I was disappointed to take an intermission after senior Sarah Szollar’s breathtaking solo in OK, It’s All Right.

While looking through the program, I was surprised to find a majority of six freshman! But the young group wasn’t defined by year, only by talent. Kait Mulder and Austin Terris tore up their solos! I was amazed by their range and solo in I Won’t Give Up and Happiness is a Warm Gun.  Throughout the next few songs, I was thrilled by their dancing, stomping, and incredible skrillex-like bass drops.

We learned, through small skits and jokes, that the Dicks and Janes album is compiled of 5 years’ worth of music and groups. We also learned that they went through many album names…from punny to downright hilarious! While names like  Barackapella, Falling From Grace Notes, and my personal favorite- Queen Jane and the Dicktators- were thrown around, they eventually settled on Flying Bicycles.

After a brief intermission, we were continually delighted the Dicks and Janes’ vocal ability. They had great range, great chemistry, and everyone had a good opportunity to showcase their voice.

The show continued with Bizness by Tune- Yards, Here We Go by Mat Kearney, Royals by Lorde, the groups ICCA set, which included Why Oh Why by Little Big Town, The Plains/Bitter Dancer by Fleet Foxes, and It Doesn’t mean a Thing by Club Des Belugas. My two favorite moments of the night were both in the ICCA set; I’m not at all surprised they received such a high ranking. During Bitter Dancer, all the men in the group really stepped forward and sang out. Now, maybe I’m just a sucker for guys who can sing, but that was an amazing musical moment. During the final song of the set, the group seemed to be huddling together, but much to my surprise, they exploded into musical and visual waves. Arms flew around as the Dicks and Janes incorporated a sick bass drop into their a cappella set. I was blown away!

The show ended with a small award presentation to Justin Wong, who has really gone above and beyond to make this group as good as possible, and followed up by a heartwarming sendoff for the three seniors in the group- Elise Coletta, Jeff Ferguson, and Sarah Szollar.

All in all, I would highly recommend listening to the Dicks and Janes if you have the chance! Check out their album- Flying Bicycles- which should be on iTunes shortly! The Dicks and Janes would like to thank the alumni of the group for all of their help on this album!

The Dicks and Janes
The Dicks and Janes