Sold out show fills BCT

Friends and family of all ages waited in line to be seated at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater an hour before the Straight No Chaser Holiday Show started Friday.

The concert sold out on Thursday afternoon, yet there was still a line that wrapped around the side of the building as people tried to buy extra tickets from the box office.

At 7:30 p.m. the doors to the Buskirk were opened to the public, and within 15 minutes the entire auditorium was filled with eager fans awaiting the night’s
entertainment.

The lights dimmed at 8 p.m. and screams exploded from the audience as the 10 gentlemen from Straight No Chaser walked out onto the stage dressed in tuxedos. The first song of the evening was “Some Kind of Wonderful,” but before the men could even get to the lyrics in the song, the crowd was already going wild.

Shortly after the start of the concert, the men stood in a line and, one by one, introduced themselves to the audience. They warmed up the crowd by sharing stories and telling jokes, and near the end of their introduction, the members of Straight No Chaser began throwing free CDs of their holiday music into the audience.

The songs varied from all-time Christmas favorites such as “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Silent Night” to Straight No Chaser’s well-known songs such as “Africa” and “Insomniac.”

During the performance of “Africa,” the crowd was encouraged to get into the music by clapping and snapping in unison with the men on stage.

“There wasn’t a song they performed that I was bored with,” freshman Caitlin Jelm said. “It was my first time coming to one of their big performances like this, but it was amazing.”

A new song was introduced to the audience that night, created by Straight No Chaser’s music director, Andrew Brewer. He named it their “Disney Medley.” The song contained segments from numerous Disney classics, ranging from “Beauty and the Beast” to “The Jungle Book.”

“The Disney song was definitely my favorite,” freshman Kori Kelly said. “We’re all pretty much Disney dorks, so when I heard the song, I loved it.”

Another song that impressed the crowd was the theme song “Straight No Chaser.” The song had an upbeat jazz feel, and the men from Straight No Chaser were highly enthusiastic, showing off their fun choreography to the lyrics.

The show ended with an encore.

Senior Jesse Townes sang his last solo when he performed his rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly.”

“I’m really excited for our last show,” Townes said prior to Friday night’s performance. “I mean, obviously I’m nervous for it, because I want my last show to go well. And I’m kind of sad because I’ve been in the group for three and a half years, so I’m definitely going to want to keep singing once I’m done. But I have faith in the guys. I know it’ll turn out well.”

The last song of the evening was Straight No Chaser’s version of the “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Within the song, they remixed the lyrics to include segments of other Christmas favorites such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the melody of SNC’s classic “Africa.”

“The last song of the night sounded awesome,” freshman Kara Rebholz said. “It was arranged so well.”