Waiting In Line's final (exam) concert

Samantha Pearlman '11 writes:

Come see Waiting in Line’s final concert of the semester! The concert will not only be filled with Christmas cheer, but it will also feature [not pictured] Mike Sandwick's strapping good looks, Chiara Di Lello and Rachel Carpman's sultry singing stylings, and Julia Michaels’ unattainable freshman beauty that will guarantee an entertaining evening. Also, we have new songs that will hopefully make you wet yourself a little. How's that for incentive? So, take a study break and giggle with us.

Date: Monday, Dec. 8
Time: 9:30 PM
Place: Nic lounge

The Romantik Komedy of the Century

Mark McCloughan '10 writes:

Vokal Debauchery, Wesleyan's finest a kappella/komedy hybrid, presents a romantik komedy to thrill and delight you. Come enjoy sultry sounds and komik kapers.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 8
Time: 8:00 PM
Place: Nik lounge

Quasimodal concert

Come hear Quasimodal kick off the semester with your favorite songs and several awesome new ones. Come to the Free Economic Crisis Concert this Wednesday at 9:00PM in the Exley Lobby outside Sci Li.

Date: Wednesday, October 1

Time: 9:00PM

Location: Outside Sci Li

The Strange Allure of A Cappella

A Slate writer self-mockingly discusses the appeal of collegiate a cappella, based on a new book about the adventures of a few college groups, including the Tufts Beelzebubs and the University of Virginia Hullabahoos, and her own undergraduate ordeals:

I was an a cappella nerd, and I loved every minute of it—but, even so, I didn't show my boyfriend the videos until we'd been dating for a year and a half. Nothing from my past evokes quite the same derision, and I say that as a former debater, mock-trial lawyer, and mathlete.

The crimes of a cappella, after all, are legion and well-documented. The dumb outfits. The dm-dm-ka-cha's that are supposed to approximate the sound of drums and hi-hats. The fact that on many college campuses, it's always being shoved in your face... Perhaps most damning of all is the fact that a cappella is so painfully earnest, so distressingly eager to please.

Slate: Pitch Perfect and the strange allure of a cappella

Facebook invitations we've received

West African Dance & Drumming Performance

Date: Friday, May 9
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: CFA courtyard (Crowell, if raining)

Gag Reflex: The Reading Week Show

Date: Friday, May 9
Time: 10:00 PM
Location: Exley

Midnight Organ Romp

Date: Thursday, May 8
Time: 10:00 PM
Location: Memorial Chapel

Wesleying tip: events are much more appealing when you send us something to post, rather than just a Facebook invitation. :-)

A Cappella Slowly Overcoming Dorky Stigma

The NY Times has this amusing feature about collegiate a cappella singers who graduate and feel a little ambivalent about their participation in the activity, especially with group names like the Tufts Beelzebubs, Harvard Krokodiloes (pictured above), and Yale Whiffenpoofs (complete with their own album, "Take a Whiff").

On the NBC sitcom “The Office,” the grating Andy Bernard, a character played by Ed Helms, often reminds co-workers that he once performed with a Cornell group called Here Comes Treble.

Mr. Helms said the show’s satire of a cappella was all in good fun, though he still bears the scars of his own brief encounter with the art form: in 1993, he said, he quit the Oberlin Obertones after one semester because of a personality clash with the group’s music director. “I decided smoking pot was more important than extracurricular activities,” he said.

Well hey, our a cappella singers somehow seem to manage! At least the groups here don't have names as relentlessly awkward as the "Whiffenpoofs".

Full article here: Perfect Tone, in a Key That’s Mostly Minor

Hear People Sing without Music! OMG!

Steve "The Freak Machine" Sunu '08 reminds us that there are some final A Cappella concerts this week:

Waiting in Line
Thursday, May 3
7:24pm
Nic Lounge

New Group
Friday, May 4
8:00pm
Olin Lobby

Sinners and Spirits Unite, Too

The Sinners and the Spirits will also be performing this week, together.

Date: Thursday, March 1
Time: 8pm-9pm
Place: Olin Lobby

New Group and Quasimodal Unite

New Group and Quasimodal will be performing together this weekend!

Date: Friday, March 2
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Place: Nic Lounge

Girls Girls Girls

The Cardinal Sinners (a cappella for tha ladiez) are holding auditions! All girls of all years are welcome.

Date: Wednesday, January 31st & Thursday, February 1st
Time: 7-9pm
Venue: Davenport Meeting Room 1

Coming Acapella

Just...a...few...more...

The Mixolydians
Date: Thursday, December 14th
Time: 8pm
Venue: Science Center lobby

Cardinal Sinners
Date: Thursday, December 14th
Time: 9pm
Venue: Campus Center MPR

New Group
Date: Friday, December 15th
Time: 7pm
Venue: Olin lobby

Quasimodal
Date: Saturday, December 16th
Time: 8pm
Venue: Campus Center MPR

...And the Spirits!

Wesleyan Sings Vulgar Songs with "Gusto!"

This is an actual news article from The New York Times dated from October 18, 1908:

Wesleyan Songs Censored
Students Will Not Sing Vulgar Ones in Public Places

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. Oct 17--The undergraduates at Wesleyan University have voted to prohibit the use of all vulgar songs about the campus or any public place.

Although Wesleyan has furnished in the past a large percentage of ministers and Bishops to the Methodist Episcopal Church, the undergraduates' life has had much the same tone as at all the American Universities. Vulgarity has crept into many of the songs and students have sung these songs with gusto. The class societies have been the prime offenders in this matter. Some of the songs of the Tau Nu Episoln, Kappa Gamma, and Pi Kappa Tau have been particularly objectionable.

For a few years it has been the practice to sing some of these songs on the streets [in the] evenings. The student body has now placed the ban on this, and it is expected that the societies will acquiesce.

Wesleyan Songs Censored. New York Times (1857-Current File): Oct 18, 1908; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2003), pg. C8.