Obertones stage lively performance
By Julie Sabatier
The charismatic Obertones entertained a lively audience with almost two hours
of skits and a capella songs during their spring concert in Finney Chapel Thursday night.
The show began with a skit involving retired baseball star Lou Brown coaching
the Obertones and encouraging them to take antiquated steroids.
Side-effects be damned, senior Jason Goss said as he entered the
stage clutching a pair of fake breasts as he began his solo.
From the outset, it was clear that the audience was not there to hear the pop
music turned barber shop that has become so typical among college a capella groups. This is Oberlin,
where Weezer, Radiohead and the Magnetic Fields are more likely to be recognized than anything
sung by Justin Timberlake.
The group performed some of their old stand-bys such as Africa,
Crazy Love and Under the Bridge. They also introduced some new arrangements
such as Politik (originally by Coldplay) and Under Ice (originally by Kate
Bush).
The Obertones continue to arrange the often difficult and intimidating music
of independent artists with pride. After completing King of Carrot Flowers, a song
originally by Neutral Milk Hotel, Junior Benjamin Shirley-Quirk raised his fist in the air proclaiming,
Indie Rock forever!
Shirley-Quirks enthusiasm carried over into his athletic performance
of the White Stripes song Jumble Jumble, which involved singing in falsetto while running
up and down the aisles of Finney.
Each soloist clearly enjoyed his time in the spotlight, but none were so warmly
received by the audience as first year Fredderick Effinger. Effingers solos included Under
the Bridge and the show-stopping Miracles (aka You Sexy Thing). He
danced his way through Miracles with a broad smile on his lips, eliciting hoots and
whistles.
Hoots and whistles werent all that were thrown at the Obertones during
their performance. Audience members near the front of the chapel hurled brightly colored panties
and bras on stage as senior Jason Goss finished singing the rhythm-and-blues tune Higher
and Higher.
Though their music was always a pleasure to listen to, the groups skits
were a little strange. They incorporated off-the-wall humor and characters such as Gunther, the
German neighbor, and made ironic jabs at patriotic Peeps candy and Freedom Fries. It seemed that
the time between songs could have been filled with material that was more polished and perhaps
less absurd.
Whether it was off-the-wall skits or a capella indie rock, the Obertones
high energy level always made them fun to watch. The audience cheered loudly as they left the stage,
encouraging the not-so-reluctant singers to return for a one-song encore performance.
Before the song, the three seniors in the group (Goss, Jacob Adams and Lincoln
Ritter) had a moment of recognition and a group hug.
The groups healthy mixture of serious talent and goofy humor was evident
throughout the performance in the groups interactions with each other as well as with their
audience.
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