Eight silhouetted figures stood against a backdrop of sunny yellows and oranges. Not an exact replica of the stage from NBC’s ‘The Sing Off,’ the colored floodlights sufficed for the former participants of the televised a cappella competition.

At 8 p.m. Saturday, The Backbeats performed in Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium. The California-based a cappella group traveled to the East Coast to showcase the talents that earned them a third-place spot on the second season of ‘The Sing Off.’

One ‘Sing Off’ fan, Ashley Harding, drove 20 hours from Prince Edward Island, Canada, to make the show. Harding says that she has been a fan of The Backbeats since day one.

Jordan Pharoah performed the late Michael Jackson’s ‘The Way You Make Me Feel,’ and group mate Kenton Chen joined him for a brief scat solo. The octet continued to perform contemporary pop songs like Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and Justin Timberlake’s ‘Cry Me a River,’ with breaks for introductions.

‘How many of you watch ‘The Sing Off?” a group member shouted out. The crowd responded with shouts and applause.

Eitan Nir and Kelley Jakle, tenor and soprano, respectively, performed a duet of Lady Antebellum’s ‘Need You Now,’ followed by what Kenton Chen, baritone, called a ‘vocal jam.’ Led by Todd Levin, bass, the group jumped from the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ theme song to Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ to Bill Withers’ ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ to ‘Telephone’ by Lady Gaga.

After a Lady Gaga medley, Courtney Jensen exhibited her talents as a vocal percussionist.

Using only her mouth, Jensen pretended she was playing a drum set complete with snare drum, bass drum and cymbals.

Later, the crowd became Jensen’s drum set. Jensen chose one section to imitate the sound of cymbals, a section to imitate the sound of the bass drum and a section to imitate the sound of the snare drum. As Jensen pointed to each section of the audience, each responded with the sound of a drum.

Jensen followed her crowd interaction exercise with a few solo beat boxes, including a recreation of the sound effects from the movie ‘Jaws.’

‘I thought the beat boxing was amazing. It was pretty cool,’ said Alicia Patten, who recently moved to Syracuse.

The Syracuse crowd witnessed something that no one else would have a chance to: the Backbeats’ first live performance of ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ by Coldplay.

After ‘Teardrop’ concluded, Jensen grabbed the microphone and called three fans onto the stage to participate in a competition to see which fan could make the ugliest face. The winner would receive a free album that The Backbeats signed. Although Harding lost the contest, she enjoyed the experience.

‘It was fun. It was nerve-racking, but it was awesome,’ Harding said.

The Backbeats’ last performance would have been Rachel Saltzman, business manager, performing ‘Born This Way’ by Lady Gaga, but the audience had different plans.

After receiving a standing ovation and requests for an encore, The Backbeats came out to perform Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide.’

‘It’s always fun to do a show,’ Saltzman said.

Associate Director of the Office of Student Activities Sarah Ross Cappella said the Pulse Performing Arts Series chose The Backbeats because of their unique sound, which reflects the season’s programming.

‘We picked them because they show a different side. It’s not just straight pop music or classical music or dance,’ Cappella said. ‘We don’t bring things that everyone already knows. We try (to) bring things that enhance people’s experiences.’

ajallen@syr.edu

Published on February 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm