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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Straight No Chaser bounded onto the stage of the Lied Center in Lawrence, Saturday night with the energy of a spirit squad.   With fingers snapping, knees bending, and backs arching, I half expected them to make a three person high pyramid complete with basket tosses.  Hearing them at the University of Kansas somehow completed the College connection.

Their music is quintessentially "a cappella".  And I'm not talking about the brand of classical unaccompanied vocal music we hear in Kansas City by groups like Octarium or Musica Vocale.  No, this is the Glee club variety of a cappella based on drinking songs at the fraternity mixer. 

They re-arrange popular tunes to fit their voices, add high energy "choral-ography", and rapid melismatic endings to songs. It all results in a crowd pleasing, highly marketable, brand of entertainment perfect for the whole family.  It is known as "a cappella" and I'm not ashamed to say...I like it.  It can be cheesy, yes, but sometimes a little cheese tastes good with a dry white wine.

Collegiate a cappella is a big deal.  Thousands of students all over the country meet every year in American Idol-esk competitions for top honors and bragging rights.  It's like a spectator sport that's driven by high quality talent, imaginative choreography and the power of personality.  Straight No Chaser is the a cappella group that carried on after graduation to critical acclaim.

Part of their success can be attributed to their social media savvy.  Discovered, by chance, on YouTube by Atlantic Records, they allow the audience to freely photograph them during the performance, knowing full well the pictures will be posted and spread around the internet.  They, in turn, photograph the audience so that they can "tag" themselves right from the Straight No Chaser Facebook page.   The idea seemed kind of smarmy to me at first but I appreciate its genius.  Not everyone will be able to adopt this idea without seeming like a copycat.  SNC was one of the first.

With adoring fans packed to the rafters of the Lied center, it was evident that Straight No Chaser had a loyal following in Lawrence.  Audience members from 5 to 95 packed the house for a high energy musical review.  Singing everything from Bebop to hard rock and a smattering of holiday tunes, the group had something for every generation.  They announce the pieces periodically throughout the show but relied heavily on the audiences' previous knowledge of the iconic pieces.  Everything was familiar but sounded fresh when given the SNC treatment.

The group got its start at Indiana University in Bloomington over ten years ago.  They still have their boyish charm and youthful optimism but their sound is fuller and more mature.  The school of music at Indiana fields some of the finest talent in the United States, so it isn't surprising that the group has chops. Throughout the performance, their voices become drum sets, electric guitars, keyboards and basses. They wail back-up vocals that rival the Beach Boys and even the Supremes.  Grinding and winding their harmonies as they modulate, the group would unexpectedly change tempo and styles with ease. 

What is surprising is that they have managed to stay together and still have fun.  Their comedic jabs and jokes between songs attested to their long friendships and the audience became part of their exclusive clique. A particularly entertaining portion of the show was their TV Theme Show medley.  Pointing their microphones into the audience during key verses of songs we all knew by heart, they turned the piece into a retro sing-a-long.  They even scolded us when we couldn't come up with a line in the Cheers theme.

With their special shaken, not stirred, mix of pop tunes and Christmas carols, Straight No Chaser is easy to swallow: smooth and full with a bass kick at the end. 

REVIEW:
Straight No Chaser
A Vocal Celebration of the Season
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Lied Center at KU
1600 Stewart Dr. , Lawrence, KS
For more information call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu

Disclaimer: Megan Browne Helm was a Baby Jay Mascot at the University of Kansas from 1988-1989. She is also a former member of Octarium.

By Megan Browne Helm

Classical, Vocal and Theatre Contributor

Megan Browne Helm grew up singing, dancing and acting.  Inspired by Emma Kirkby as a high school student in St. Louis she went on to study voice and sing with the Collegium Musicum at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio where she also had a radio show of contemporary classical music on WOBC.  At the University of Kansas she had the pleasure of working with former Kings’ Singer, Simon Carrington in his Collegium Musicum and Oread consort. Years later, she was a choral fellow at the Yale School of Music’s  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  She is currently singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus under the direction of Charles Bruffy. 

 As a freelance music and culture writer her work can be found on KCMetropolis.org, presentmagazine.com, the Lawrence Journal World, Shawnee Magazine, Leawood Lifestyle Magazine and KC Parent.  She was one of 26 journalists in the country chosen as a NEA Institute Fellow for Classical Music and Opera at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. 

Her current interest is how classical music remains relevant through active collaborations with artists in different fields, including science.  She also sees a connection between classical music, travel and food as a way to engage all of the senses in a 360 degree cultural experience.  She blogs at raworganum.wordpress.com.