The Riff-Off returned for a sequel this past Friday as Tufts’ a cappella groups once again vied for the top spot at the musical competition.
This is the second Riff-Off that the Tufts University Student Collective has organized, with the first taking place in late November of last year at Breed Memorial Hall. This year, the event was held in Cohen Auditorium at the Aidekman Arts Center, with 10 on-campus a cappella groups taking the stage: Full Sound, Jackson Jills, Beelzebubs, S-Factor, Amalgamates, sQ!, Shir Appeal, Low-Keys, Ladies of Essence and Enchanted.
As with the customary "Pitch Perfect" Riff-Off format, the event was divided into several rounds in which the event’s presenters would provide a series of randomly selected themes. The groups would then perform songs relevant to that theme.
For the first prompt, “One-Hit Wonders,” Tufts’ Full Sound — an a cappella group specializing in Asian music — rushed onstage to perform Psy’s viral K-pop hit “Gangnam Style,” a performance that was met with warm laughter and applause. The Beelzebubs — the all-male a cappella group who famously served as inspiration for the Treblemakers in "Pitch Perfect" — followed closely behind in their signature red and black with We the King’s “Check Yes, Juliet.” The prompt closed with a performance from the Jackson Jills, Tufts’ oldest all-femme a cappella group, who stepped forward to perform Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.”
The second category, “Songs about Weather,” saw a performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the movie “Encanto” by Enchanted, an a cappella group specializing in arrangements of Disney music and tracks from other childhood media. Donning white shirts and jeans with a red rose in each hand, S-Factor — Tufts’s all-male a cappella group specializing in music from the African diaspora — crooned New Edition’s R&B track “Can You Stand the Rain.” The Low-Keys — an all-gender, non-audition a cappella group — performed the 1926 song “Blue Skies” by American composer Irving Berlin, famously covered by jazz legends such as Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. The category was closed off with The Weather Girls’ 1980s dance hit “It’s Raining Men,” performed by the all-gender a cappella group, sQ!
The next category was “Songs by Canceled Artists,” starting with the Amalgamates’ performance of “Don’t Speak” by Gwen Stefani’s rock band, No Doubt. The Amalgamates were followed by S-Factor, who sang Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls.” The group ornamented their vocal performance with vivid storytelling through dance, inviting a young woman on stage to dance alongside them while the lead singer held, once again, a red rose.
The Amalgamates performed the unexpected pop hit “Diet Pepsi” by TikTok star Addison Rae for the category “Songs About Drinks” while Enchanted performed “Le Festin” from the well-loved Pixar film “Ratatouille.” Next, Shir Appeal, Tufts’ mixed-gender Jewish a cappella group, stepped forward to perform Noah Kahan’s “All My Love.” The category was concluded by Ladies of Essence, Tufts’ all-femme a cappella group specializing in music from the African diaspora, who sang Beyonce’s 2013 hit “Drunk in Love.”
In honor of the franchise that inspired the event, the second-to-last category invited groups on stage to perform “Songs About Butts.” The Beelzebubs jumped at the opportunity to sing American rapper, and 2023 Spring-Fling headliner, Flo Rida’s “Right Round” with the added flair of pseudo-pole-dancing choreography. The Jackson Jills closed out the category with Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” beginning their performance by stepping on stage in line formation and promptly ripping off their matching green tear-away pants.
The night ended with the category “Songs by One-Named Artists.” The Amalgamates promptly responded by performing 1980s staple “Heart of Glass” by Blondie, and the category was closed off by a rather memorable — and explicit — performance of BTS member Jungkook’s song “Seven” by Full Sound.
As with last year’s Riff-Off, audience members were invited to cast their votes for the winner by scanning a QR code projected onto the stage screen. After five minutes, the results were read out loud: S-Factor claimed third place, the Jackson Jills claimed second and for the second year in a row, the Ladies of Essence claimed gold.
An outstanding celebration of Tufts University’s crown jewel, Friday’s Riff-Off demonstrated once again that the craving for a cappella among its students remains very much alive.
