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-Quirk’s 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. Effinger’s 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 weren’t 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 group’s 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 group’s healthy mixture of serious talent and goofy humor was evident throughout the performance in the group’s interactions with each other as well as with their audience.