Lured by free food and Mardi Gras beads, seniors drifted into the Cat in the Cream last Friday night for the Senior Blowout.
Organized by the Senior Gift Committee, the event was designed to motivate seniors to donate part or all of their $200 matriculation deposit to the senior gift fund, student organizations or the OberLegacy Senior Scholarship fund (which helps rising seniors who are in need of financial aid). Members of the committee handed out raffle tickets to seniors for every $25 they gave.
The show began informally as the Oberlin Jazz Sextet’s idle tuning turned into a full-fledged song and people milling around munching on cookies and hot wings took their seats. OJS gave a lively performance with a wide range of instruments, each of which had their turn in the spotlight. Junior Josiah Woodson’s trumpet solo was particularly memorable.
Clad in their “A Capella Sucks” t-shirts, the Obertones were the next to take the stage in what had become a packed house. They gave a typically energetic performance and even premiered a new song: “You Sexy Thing.” The group ended the set with an arrangement of “Higher and Higher,” which motivated some audience members to get up and dance.
The Offbeats slowed things down a bit with songs such as “Autumn Leaves” and “Wanting Memories.” They introduced first-years Tatyana Tenenbaum, Sarah Allen and Alissa Wible, three new members to the group. Each of these young women showed off their strong vocals during the group’s trademark improvised a capella, which had the audience clapping along.
Piscapo’s Arm gave a vigorous performance of student-written sketch comedy routines. Their clever “Scooby Doo” skit, written by junior Mike Connor, had members of the audience hooting and cheering with laughter at a gay Fred, naughty Daphne and Scooby Snacks laced with PCP.
Campus band Thrillzilla turned up the volume, motivating audience members to compete for dance prizes. Two lucky dancers were chosen to show off their skills on stage during the band’s last song entitled “The Punk Song,” a self-referential parody of Blink 182’s “Dammit.” Seniors Ben Lawson and Derrick Watson, along with former Oberlin College student Chris Tebbens, delivered an excellent mix of humor and music.
Campus band the Hip Abduction performed next. Their six song set list consisted of several innovative covers of songs by such bands as Radiohead and the Magnetic Fields. Senior Lincoln Ritter on guitar and vocals joined junior Jim Reynolds on drums, senior Mark Kornblum on guitar and the innovative addition of an electric fiddle played by sophomore Peter Adams.
Seven Souls in Passing closed out the show with an enthusiastic and engaging performance. Dancing resumed at the behest of the hip hop group who reminded their audience, “This ain’t no recital; it’s a senior blowout!” MCs senior Caleb “Ohajji” Miller and junior Steffon “Soup and Sandwich” Thomas encouraged audience participation and they elicited such a positive response that the group ended the night with an encore performance.
Rachel Tansey, Assistant Director of the Oberlin fund, said that the event brought in $2,178 and that, together with those who gave at the fall event in the ’Sco, 24 percent of the senior class has given.
“If 30 percent of the class makes a gift, of any size,” she said, “an additional $5,000 will go to the OberLegacy Scholarship fund. In order to meet the challenge 50 more seniors need to make a gift before June 30, 2004.”