Photo by Emma Himmelberger ’20
One of the four guest a capella groups, the UMASS Doo Wop Shop, performed in Chapin Saturday night at the Victory Eights’ annual Acafella concert.
BY SAVANNAH HARRIMAN-POTE ’20
Since the first Acafella performance 14 years ago, all-male a cappella groups have traveled to Mount Holyoke to share the stage with Mount Holyoke’s Victory Eights. Last Saturday night the annual showcase featured four guest groups: The UMass Amherst Doo Wop Shop, the Amherst Zumbyes, the Middlebury Dissipated Eight and the SUNY Potsdam Pointercounts.
“It’s a really fun event where we get to make new friends and connections,” said Annie Choi ’19, co-director of the V8s. “It’s also where we make the most of our money each year [on ticket sales], so it’s a big event for us.”
The Potsdam Pointercounts, one of the two out-of-state groups to perform that evening, participated in Acafella for the first time this year. The Pointercounts transitioned between the Ray Charles classic “Georgia On My Mind” and the modern masterpiece “Redbone” by rapper Childish Gambino. Both numbers featured Sekayi Williams as the soloist, who said, “There’s something communal about a cappella. It’s like a sport, everyone has to be a team.”
Williams emphasized that community is essential not only within a cappella groups, but between them. “The a cappella community is generally close-knit, especially in the Northeast,” said Williams. “We have a great network of friends.” In fact, the Pointercounts’ President Andy Morrison said that he was first introduced to a cappella through a Youtube video that went viral in 2010 featuring the UMass Doo Wop Shop performing their Disney medley.
The UMass Doo Wop Shop make frequent appearances alongside the V8s and are regular guests at the Acafella performances.
“The stand out moment was when [the Doo Wop Shop] was singing ‘It’s Raining Men’ and they all ripped open their shirts,” said Martha Kent ’20, who was in the audience. “It was quite tongue and cheek.”
“Acafella is one of our consistent gigs, and we always look forward to it,” said Varun Shankavarum, a member of the Doo Wop Shop. “We love having this relationship with the V8s.”
The V8s showcased their own musical compositions in between each guest set. In addition to the obligatory Mount Holyoke Drinking Song, which their website states has been the opener of nearly all of their performances since the 1970s, they sang their iconic Britney Spears Medley and Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.”
Founded in 1942, the group’s modern and diversified repertoire reflects the V8s’ conscious effort to adapt their image to fit the 21st century. “We’re trying our best to show that the group is evolving and diversifying itself,” said Choi. “When Mount Holyoke opened, it was made up of white cis-women . . . This year is one of the first times that a majority of the people in the group are people of color, and that’s change we’re trying to create and sustain. . . we want to make sure that this group is always a diverse group in every perspective.”
While she appreciates the V8’s history as “the oldest continuing, historically all-female collegiate a cappella group in the nation,” new V8 member and social chair Juliet Greenwood ’21 values the group’s effort to evolve. “After all,” Greenwood said, “It’s not 1942 anymore.”