People shuffled into the theater to escape the 30-degree cold outside while 12 microphone stands were perfectly aligned on the stage, with projected snowflakes on the back curtain and white twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling.
Twelve men gathered on the Buskirk-Chumley Theater stage Saturday evening and harmonized as one unit, making up the all-male a cappella group Another Round.
Audience members gathered from across the country to see the 20th Annual Holiday Concert.
“Overall the group never fails to sound really good,” junior Caitlin Morgan said.
Morgan had attended the holiday show her freshman year and said she was excited to see the performance again.
There were more than 200 people in attendance to see the young men all in thin black ties and white button-down shirts.
Another Round performed a total of 21 songs, both festive classics for the holiday season and others that were either the group’s classics or current national hits.
Covers included “It’s All Right” by Huey Lewis and the News, “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, “You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft and “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran, among others.
The group also covered “Indiana Christmas” by Straight No Chaser.
Another Round was derived from the group Straight No Chaser, which was created at IU by Dan Ponce and others in 1996. The group then became viral from a YouTube video in 2008 with the group singing a personalized rendition of “12 Days of Christmas.”
This led to a deal with Atlantic Records for the founding members, and a change of name for the a cappella group back on campus. Straight No Chaser still tours across the country to this day.
Another Round keeps the group alive on campus by touring throughout the country as well, including Saturday’s performance.
“The show helps to get in the spirit for the holidays,” Bloomington resident Kim Goad said.
The group has an adorable wit to them that is in every song, Goad said.
One song performed by the group was a parody of the song “Let it Snow” by Sammy Cahn, discussing what Jews do on Christmas.
In the song, lyrics included “We’ve all got nothing to do, when you’re a Jew, you’re a Jew, you’re a Jew,” making fun of all the Christmas numbers in the set in the all holiday show.
“A lot of school is very serious,” freshman member of the group Luke Bob Robinson said. “But on stage we get to let loose, have fun and be part of a brotherhood.”
Many families of the members attended the show to cheer the boys on, many sitting in the first rows of the theater.
After several of the songs, the boys would say “Thanks Mom” into their microphones, thanking them for their overly enthusiastic praise and cheer after each song concluded.
“Another Round is about singing with your best friends,” junior member Jake Forrestal said. “We are all with family and friends on this special night.”
The music and traditions of the original group Straight No Chaser have been passed down and preserved in Another Round.
“This is the season to be thankful for, and I could not be more thankful for this group,” Forrestal said.
