Friday at midnight, the Erb Memorial Union Amphitheater overflowed with people. As the University’s all-male a cappella group On The Rocks began its year-end concert, votive candles and torches illuminated the mostly female audience members as they lounged on the concrete seats in sleeping bags.
University freshman Alice Tasker arrived upwards of two hours early in order to insure good seats for the midnight show.
Tasker said she was excited for the show because “the guys are always entertaining. You can tell they’re always giving their all.”
Despite the characteristic exuberance of the group as they sang, their performances were inhibited by poor acoustics and sound equipment that made their show inaudible for those seated in the back. Eventually, this caused some audience members to leave the show early.
Undaunted by this auditory setback, the group entertained with choreographed dances and contemporary songs such as John Legend’s “Number One” and OutKast’s “Roses”.
Another aspect that made this end-of-the-year concert special was the incorporation of OTR alumni. The group swelled from 12 men to more than 30 as the group sang Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time” and “Lullaby”.
Freshman ensemble member Teigh Bowen said, “We’ve sung them since the beginning of On the Rocks. It’s really cool because the number of guys up there grows every year.”
Member Matt Jacobs said another reason that (this concert) is special is because it is “a culmination of the group’s year. We get a chance to showcase all of our songs.” In addition to the seven songs that OTR learned this year, they introduced a new song, “Dreaming with a Broken Heart” by John Mayer, and two new members, Jermaine Golden and Jacob Steinberger.
Indeed, it was quite a year for OTR, which began the year with nine new members. The group placed third in the Western region’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, toured California during spring break and is in the midst of recording a new album.
Member Jason Remsche said, “honestly, we had pretty low expectations because we had such a big turn over…but we got a ton of really great guys and exceeded all of our expectations. A lot of people said this was supposed to be a rebuilding year but it’s just gone so much further than that.”
Remschel expects next year to be just as strong with OTR getting “really into competing in ICCA” as well as the fall debut of their new album.
As always, the group will continue to perform every Friday at 4 o’clock in the EMU Amphitheater at no charge – shows that Jacobs encouraged all to attend because they are “a cool, accessible venue for people to get to know vocal music.”