This past Monday, April 29, ACBU hosted the New York based a cappella group Backtrack in the student center ballroom. Approximately 90 students were in attendance, including ACBU staff and Bradley performers.
Backtrack has over 110,000 YouTube subscribers and is comprised of five members: soprano Mallory Moser, alto Melissa Jordano, tenor Mike Hinkle, bass Jojo Otseidu and a beatboxer Johnny Buffalo.
They attended the 2017 International Championship of A Cappella Open and made it to the finals where Johnny Buffalo won Best Beatbox.
Bradley’s own a cappella group, Dynamix, opened for Backtrack, singing “Creep,” “I Like Me Better,” “This is Gospel” and a Pentatonix mashup of “Disclosure” and “Lalala.”
“It was great experience being able to open up for Backtrack,” said sophomore Dynamix member, Emma Hoyhtya. “The crowd was pretty interactive, which always makes it more interesting for us.”
There was a brief 15-minute intermission between the performances for a dinner catered by Portillo’s. Then, Backtrack opened up with the popular Ariana Grande song, “No Tears Left to Cry.”
Throughout the night, Backtrack covered “Never Forget You,” “I Want You Back,” “This is Me,” “Funky Town” and Beethoven, in addition to performing two original songs they plan to release on their EP.
They also hosted a beatbox competition between Jordano and an audience volunteer, freshman animation major Sofie Orlet. Orlet ended up winning against Jordano, receiving a high five, a sticker, a wrist band and a CD as prizes.
“I was really nervous when my friends pushed me up onto the stage, but it was honestly an amazing experience,” Orlet said. “I had just been talking to my friends about how much I loved Backtrack, so it was incredible being two inches away beatboxing with them.”
Some students said they were astounded with the caliber of performance Backtrack and Dynamix put on.
“I thought it was very well done,” said Stephanie Dierks, a junior actuarial science major. “It blew me out of the water. I don’t normally come to these things, but I really enjoyed this concert.”
Students interested in a cappella can attend the Dynamix show on Study Day, May 8. Backtrack tour location dates can be found on their website at https://www.backtrackvocals.com/tour-dates.
