Once again, they have proven that they know just the right ingredients to put on a crowd-pleasing show. Their 2001 Winter Jam drew a packed house for three different showings, and no one should have left disappointed.
Part of the Winter Jam's fun is that the Clefs invite other a cappella groups from UNC and beyond to attend. On Saturday night, the Loreleis performed, along with Duke University's Lady Blue, the Hullabahoos from the University of Virginia and the Beelzebubs from Tufts University in Massachusetts.
But even with excellent openers, the Clefs still were the main attraction. It's hard to resist a group of guys who sing songs by anyone from Michael Jackson to The Police, especially when they do it so well. What's their secret?
My theorizing has led me to pinpoint a number of reasons:
First of all, there is the "anticipation of a good song" phenomenon. Say you really like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." You own the CD and could listen to it whenever you want, but that's not as exciting. The serendipity of hearing the old favorite at an unexpected moment quadruples the enjoyment -- and hearing the Clefs sing the song makes it even more exciting, which brings me to the second reason.
The Clefs are a real, live boy group right here in Chapel Hill! Listening to them sing "Africa" is a vastly different experience than hearing the song on the radio. So maybe taken individually, the average Clef is just that -- average. But if so, none of us will ever know it. Put a group of singing guys together and their collective cuteness zooms way out of control. Girls are screaming, old ladies fainting -- the N*Sync phenomenon.
These boys clearly know how to woo an audience with their dance moves and funny expressions. Thought Michael Jackson knew how to moonwalk? So do the Clefs, as they proved during a rendition of "Billie Jean." In many ways, the show itself is just as much in the Clefs' stage presence as it is in their singing.
But the singing isn't bad either, and this is reason No. 3. The fact is, the Clefs are talented. So even if you don't really like "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the radio, the fact that this group of guys without instruments create such a full-bodied harmony suddenly makes the song good.
The Clefs' vocal abilities combined with their performance savvy practically guarantees an incredible show.
