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Straight No Chaser aren’t so titled for nothing; they’re an a cappella group, meaning that there’s no instrumentation to their music - just the sound of their voices. Originally, there were ten members in the group, students who met at Indiana University - Steve Morgan, Jerome Collins, Dave Roberts, Dan Ponce, Randy Stine, Walter Chase, Mike Itkoff, Patrick Hachey, Kevin Carroll and Charlie Mechling. They took their name from ‘Straight, No Chaser’, the Thelonious Monk record from 1967.
They made their debut at a 36 hour dance marathon - a baptism of fire, by anybody’s standards - and went on to attract national attention, performing at such venues as Wrigley Field in Chicago and Carnegie Hall in New York, the latter as part of a national tour of their own. In 1999, the original lineup graduated and were replaced, although they would go on to reform in 2006 - a little while afterwards, the collegiate group, still in existence, would change their name, although the alcohol theme was retained - they are now Another Round.
The original group continue to perform together today, and have recorded four records - the first two, 2008’s ‘Holiday Spirits’ and 2009’s ‘Christmas Cheers’ being festive efforts. Their frequent national tours in the U.S. serve as testament to their enduring popularity.
I saw the a capella band Straight No Chaser perform a medley of "Some Nights" and "We Are Young" from the band FUN. As that is one of my favorite songs from the band I had high hopes for the performance. It turns out, I was not disappointed whatsoever. They put on a great show and performed both songs admirably.
The a capella genre has a lot of great performances in it but this was one of the best of any I have ever seen. The added beat boxing really helped elevated the performance to another level of greatness for me.The audience was silent and let the music wash over them. They did not interrupt or create a ruckus for the band. They just let them perform their songs and listened to the excellent tones and tunes from their voices and beat boxing.
It was one of the best performances, a cappella or otherwise, that I have ever seen. It was especially the best a cappella performance I have ever seen.
I highly recommend every one that is interested see Straight No Chaser perform live at least once in their lives. They put on such a fantastic show that you should not miss it.