Where's the band?
The Bobs, a rollicking a cappella quartet, kicked off the Hop's "A Cappella Hall of Fame" series last night in Spaulding Auditorium. Over the next two years, the Hopkins Center will showcase several a cappella groups such as The Flirtations, Sweet Honey In the Rock and Zap Mama. The Bobs made themselves a tough act to follow last night.
The Bobs are Richard Bob Greene, Janie Bob Scott, Matthew Bob Stull and Joe Bob Finetti. Greene, who wrote in his program biography that his voice is "very, very deep," has indeed a very deep voice. The quartet was supported by his phenomenal low notes as well as by the amazing percussive skills of Finetti, who imitated an electric guitar, a trumpet and a full set of drums, complete with cymbals.
Stull, who is billed as "The Marlboro Man of the 90s -- "he's pc and smoke-free," -- sang a rap song a cappella, which the group referred to as "ac rap." (You say it out loud). Scott, describing herself as "the woman of the group," displayed her vocal range and tatoos in a barbershop quartet version of "White Room" by Cream.
Their encore, "Share a Load," told the story of a couple who meet and fall in love in a laundromat. A song styled as a public service announcement addressed the problem of human spontaneous combustion-- "a terrible problem that happens to people like you and me."
As part of the Hopkins Center's attempt to utilize visiting artists as resources for students, Greene and Finetti held a workshop earlier on Tuesday with members of The Dartmouth Dodecaphonics in Collis Common Ground.
"They definitely had some valuable information that we could use," said Andrea Meacham '97. "It was generous of them to jam with us."
For more information about the Bobs and their concert schedule, call (510) THE-POOP. Yes, the poop.
"We tried to get THE-BOBS," said Greene, "but somebody already had that number. Surprisingly, nobody had THE-POOP."
