IU Soul Revue sings for packed audience at Bear's Place

IU Soul Revue performed in front of a jam-packed crowd Wednesday night. The concert, held at Bear's Place, 1316 E. 3rd St., attracted both young and old.\nThe group, which consists of 7 singers and 14 band members, all IU students, kept the audience's attention from the beginning of the show by mixing group performances with solos.\nTyron Cooper, the group's director, also joined in by playing the guitar to accompany the singers. Cooper kept the audience involved by talking to them during the performances and asking them to do a call and response. Cooper sang out a lyric and the crowd sang it back. \n"This part of the concert was fun because it made me feel like a part of the group," sophomore Willean Stewart said.\nThe crowd cheered on the group as they performed songs from soul artists such as Barry White and Regina Bell. Members of the audience greeted the group with standing ovations and thunderous applause, often dancing in their seats or even getting in the aisles to dance. \nThe show received rave reviews from many audience members. \n"It was inspiring, I'd never miss another one of their shows," said Bloomington resident George Murphy.\nThe group did a variety of R&B and soul music. They performed songs that got the audience dancing, such as "Step in the Name of Love" by R. Kelly. They also played love ballads that held the crowd's attention. \nThe members of the group displayed as much energy as the crowd. \n"I love performing and I was not nervous at all," said sophomore J.C. Stephenson, a second-year member of Soul Revue.\nThe group got the audience interested in the show by performing with energy, often dancing in unison as they sang. Also, some of the group mingled with the audience while other members were doing solos. The men of the group also performed a song just for the women. \nSome concert-goers saw an educational aspect to IU Soul Revue's performance.\n"It was nice." senior Alan Bacon said. "I feel that they are maintaining the educational aspect of the music by presenting different factions of African-American music." \n-- Contact staff writer Angela Graves at agraves@indiana.edu.