Whitman hosted a well known a cappella group called the House Jacks on Friday, Oct. 26. House Jacks consists of five men, one of whom could not arrive due to unforeseen difficulties during his travel. The four members who were present conducted the show.

The concert started with two performances delivered by Schwa and Sirens of Swank, two of the student a cappella groups at Whitman. Sirens presented their program that consists of well-known hits like Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again,” The Staves’ “Wisely and Slow” and Dua Lipa’s “New Rules.”

Schwa performed a potpourri that included “Ghostbusters,” “Danger Zone,” “The Time of My Life” and some other songs that were professionally put together by the members. Next, Schwa performed a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” – a romantic composition sung from the perspective of a woman left broken-hearted due to a romantic mishap. Schwa finished their performance with a combination of Kanye West’s “Runaway” and Radiohead’s “Creep.”

After the college groups finished their part of the concert, the House Jacks took over the stage space. Their version of Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” was their opening song, immediately setting the energy of their performance. The band continued with “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley and “Attention” by Charlie Puth. A cover of Justin Bieber’s “Let Me Love You” was sung by group member Gregory Fletcher whose voice was incredibly strong and distinct.

All these covers were impressive and versatile just like the group members themselves, who interacted with the audience throughout the whole performance. The beatbox solo delivered by the House Jacks’ beatboxer was highly intricate and improvisational; as well, the audience was invited to participate in the act which created a stronger bond between them and the group.

The House Jacks then performed “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by The Slits and “Let It Go” by James Bay. These songs, too, were welcomed by the public. The most unusual part of the evening followed these two songs – the group asked for requests that they could perform through improvisation. Then, when the list was full of requests, the band started fulfilling the promise – the songs ranged from “Uptown Girl” by Billy Joel to “Baby Shark” and “Despacito,” creating a diverse and extraordinary set.
To close the program, The House Jacks sang “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran and “Love Runs Out” by OneRepublic. The audience enjoyed the performance so much, they called for one more song, allowing the group to close out the show with an original composition.

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Katy Laliotis