The University boasts nine collegiate a cappella groups, all of which came together on Saturday at Foellinger Auditorium to perform their annual Acatoberfest concert.
Acatoberfest is hosted yearly by No Strings Attached, a competitive co-ed a cappella group formed in 1994.
Renna Klimes, junior in LAS and music director for No Strings Attached, is in charge of everything related to the group’s musical performances.
“I put together our sets, and I run the rehearsals alongside my assistant music director,” Klimes said. “So for our set, we actually open and close the show. We start with a spooky song; the one we’re doing this year is called ‘Murder Song’ by AURORA.”
This year’s Acatoberfest was dubbed “Murder on the Dance Floor,” an ode to the popular song by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The concert’s emcee donned a trenchcoat and fedora, embodying a detective persona that stayed true to the Halloween theme.
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Acatoberfest is most groups’ first performance of the year, debuting their new members who auditioned at the beginning of the semester.
“I’ve been a fan of the XChords for a while, so it’s really cool to be a part of this group and to make music with some really cool guys,” said Logan McNichols, Xtension Chords member and freshman in FAA.
The Xtension Chords and No Strings Attached are two of the nine groups that performed. The other seven are denoted in order of concert appearance: Girls Next Door, The Other Guys, Chai Town, Off The Record, Illinois Rip Chords, No Comment A Cappella and Illini Awaaz.
“It’s our first real opportunity for everyone to show how their years are going with all their new members,” said Collin Fox, senior in Engineering and president of The Other Guys. “Everyone just gets to have fun with it. It’s a good time of year to hang out with everyone and see them perform.”
Acatoberfest is the only event of the year that features all nine groups, offering a time of both camaraderie and musical passion.
“The goal of this event is really just to share the amazing community the a cappella groups have together,” Klimes said. “It’s a really good opportunity for us to boost morale with the other groups and get to perform with them.”
Sofia La Velle, junior in LAS and business manager for the Illinois Rip Chords, runs all technical aspects of the concert’s operations.
“In terms of Acatoberfest, I feel like the business manager mostly communicates the logistics — what mic number each person is, making sure everyone is on time, who’s there for call, is anyone late,” La Velle said.
Given that this is most groups’ first major performance of the year, preparation for Acatoberfest begins as early as over the summer.
“I think we’ve been talking about it since the summertime,” Fox said. “That’s when we first come together as part of our ‘aca-council,’ as we like to call it. It’s a lot of preparation, but it’s exciting.”
Klimes has been hard at work preparing No Strings Attached for their performance, focusing on refining their technical skills as a group.
“Everyone brings something different to the table, but as a group, we worked really hard on our dynamics — our quiets and our louds, our crescendos and decrescendos — because bigger dynamics are a lot more impactful on stage,” Klimes said. “I really hope that’s able to come through in our set.”
Backstage jitters aside, the groups took to the stage for their mic check with excitement, later translating rigorous hours of rehearsal time to creative, diverse sets.
“I’m really proud of the guys in my group,” Fox said. “We’ve stayed true to what we’ve got.”
