While some of us were on tropical vacations or service trips, BC’s very own crazy co-ed a cappella group, the Acoustics, went on a three-city East Coast tour during spring break. Now I know what some of you may be thinking. When I first heard about this, I instantly had visions of a stadium tour complete with a pyrotechnics show in the background. I was utterly jazzed to take on the role of head groupie as I followed their fancy tour bus around in a one-woman caravan. Alas, this was not exactly the plan the Stix had in mind (you’ll get there someday, guys).
The actual tour consisted of a number of shows for charity or as guest performers for other university a cappella groups. However, the tour has been in the works for months and there was a lot of preparation involved from everyone: arranging the performances with the other groups and organizations, as well as the transportation and housing, and of course, raising money. Fun fact: if you have been to a basketball game this year and bought food from Conte, it was probably sold to you by an Acoustic; the group all had to chip in to work the concession stands to help raise money. A repentant sophomore Acoustic Marie McGrath reflects, “The amount of hot dogs I’ve eaten in my life has increased exponentially this spring.” But don’t fret, Marie, it was all for the cause (right…?)!
The trip began as the group lovingly squished into an RV and headed off to the first city, Washington DC. While staying in DC, they had two shows at American University: one with AU’s “On A Sensual Note,” and another, “A Cappella For Life,” hosted by AU’s “Dime A Dozen.” The Stix had plenty of time to frolic around DC, visit museums, and most importantly, have fun photo shoots spelling out “STIX” with their bodies in various locations, as per tradition.
The Acoustics take the Washington Monument
Next up, the Acoustics piled into the RV to move north to Philadelphia. If you were wondering, as I certainly did, the group luckily didn’t have to sleep in the RV every night (though it may have happened once or twice). The Stix stayed with alums of the group, in members of the group’s homes, in hotels, and with the other a cappella groups they sang with. Once they arrived in Philadelphia, the group performed at the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia, and even did some street singing at Independence Hall.
The Acoustics perform on tour
From Philadelphia, the Stix traveled to their last stop, New York. The first performance was at the Morgan Center in Long Island, a preschool for children who have cancer. From there, the group performed at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where they performed both on stage and in individual patient rooms. Junior Matt Johnson remarked, “It was beautiful to see how the seemingly simple act of sharing music made these children smile and forget about their difficulties.” The next day, the group headed to upstate New York to perform at Bard College with the Orcapelicans (A cappella names are an art form, am I right?), and ended the tour with one of their most fun shows.
The Acoustics in front of their new home for the week
I’m happy to report that all the Acoustics made it back to BC, alive and well, and that the tour was a success! It was the first tour in many years for the group, and they were thrilled to be able to travel, spend (a lot of) time together (in close quarters), and share their music with others. If you want to catch the Acoustics performing here on campus, they will have be having their Spring Cafe on March 31. See you there!