REVIEW: BarberSoc's First Concert of the Year
Have you ever watched Glee? Maybe Pitch Perfect is more your thing? Or maybe you just live for adorable music puns. No matter what the appeal, the University of Sydney’s Barbershop singing society, ‘BarberSoc’, the little society that could, proved itself to be the toe-tapping, suspender-snapping musical sensation that no self-respecting acapella enthusiast should miss out on.
Despite missing out on an O-Week stall and having the pressure of rising from the ashes after years of executive mismanagement, BarberSoc has had their first performance of the year, showcasing the diverse talents of its three distinct choirs. The SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) choir, the ‘Accidentals’, the SSA choir, ‘Pitch Please’ and the TTB choir, ‘Duly Noted’ lit up the Seymour Centre’s Sound Lounge with a stunning performance of over a dozen acapella arrangements.
The night started off with all three choirs on stage and their rendition of ‘Green Light’. What was admittedly not a perfect start to the evening became progressively more easy to enjoy and the singers noticeably overcame their initial stage fright and started to relax more into the pieces that they were performing.
Our Lorde and Saviour’s edgy, alternative style got one more look in as the Accidentals performed Royals, with some much appreciated Glee-style choreography and some spectacular beatboxing skills performed by the wildly talented Julian Merkle. Honourable mentions also go out to Martita Zanin and Matthew Grant for their solo performances, as well as Joel Gibson of Duly Noted and Lousie Moran of the Accidentals, who handled an incredibly difficult solo in ‘Halo’ with absolute grace.
Like any University society performance, the Barbersoc concert probably could have done with a little bit more zeal and a few more jovial grins to replace one or two terrified looks up on the stage. But with such an incredible feat of learning and performing over a dozen pieces of music with no backing track in sight, perhaps a select few members of the choirs were simply reminding us that Barbershop music is no laughing matter, and although boaters and bow-ties might look whimsical, we were in the presence of sacrosanct musical greatness. And who's to say that a mash-up of Robbie Williams' 'Angel' and Imagine Dragons' 'Demon' isn't just that?
Not to be outdone however, the Barbersoc executive itself stepped up to the mic to perform a ‘special guest’ arrangement of ‘Run to You’, which may have taken best performance of the night. Barbersoc’s President, Jack Andrew-Kabilafkas, later told Pulp that the performance had been thought up only a few hours before the concert began, and was rehearsed only once during the day.
All in all, an incredible performance from a society that Pulp is very much looking forward to seeing again. You can consider this reporter well and truly pitch-slapped.