Sunday, November 6, 2011

Astha-pocalypse! Concert and EP Release

If you've never lived on a college campus, you might not understand what a cappella is (yes, it's spelled that way). It's almost a known fact that any respectable college with a active campus has at least two a cappella groups. SLU just happens to have four, and everywhere there is an open mic night, they will be there.

I am by no stretch of imagination, an a cappella aficionado, but I really enjoyed this concert. It included five a cappella groups from both St. Louis University and Washington University.

It opened by Astha with the most appropriate song, Thriller by Michael Jackson. An excellent performance by soloist Julianna parker and and through the hall there was not a solemn face after Zach Strehlau belted out the thriller laugh.

The Green Leafs then made their appearance on stage. Greenleafs are an all-female a cappella group from Washington University founded in 1988. They sang Landslide by Fleetwood Mac and You and I by Lady GaGa.

our collective childhoods walked on stage when the Aristocats, Wash U's all-Disney group, hopped up on the wobbly platform . A fairly new group started in 2006, they still rocked out with the rest of them singing Son of Man by Phil Collins featured in Tarzan and Zero to Hero by Alan Menken featured in Hercules.

Astha made another appearance on stage and melted our faces with The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson and a remix piece that included Dil Me Jag, I Want You - Sur, and Savage Garden. I have been to my share of a cappella concerts and I have never seen three songs switched between during one performance. An excellent remix arranged by our own Courtney Koger.

A SLU a capella concert would not be complete with out the Bare Naked Statues, an all-male group founded in 2000. They covered Roxanne by the Police and Outside Villanova by Erik Hutchinson.

Right before the fiery finale, The Amateurs literally rocked the rickety stage in their red and black glory. They are a co-ed group in their 20th year and have many grand performances to their name.

Astha made their final appearance on stage with four beautiful songs: Settle Down by Kimbra, Jab Mila Tu/I'm Loving You - I Hate Love Stories/John Mayer, Fix You/If I Die Young - Coldplay/The Band Perry and Aahista - Bachna Ae Haseeno.

Astha A Cappella has been working on it's EP release for quite sometime in coordination with the KSLU Production Team: Jason Swierk and Raphael Knaub. It contains 7 mastered tracks and is quite an accomplishment for a bunch of volunteers

The EP will be on sale at future Astha Concerts that can be found through their Facebook Site.

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