Oxford a cappella groups: Belles (****) and Gargoyles (*****)

There is a grand tradition of barbershop a cappella music in American colleges; Yale and Harvard do it brilliantly, for instance. At Oxford, understandably, there are a few troupes who do this sort of thing. One do it with women only and, though I started thinking it would turn into something feministy with Peggy Lee’s Fever and Tina Turner’s Goldeneye (“I’ve found his weakness”), it turned into a decent if flawed show. Some of the mimes of trumpets and fiddles were unnecessary and there was no cohesive choreography, just like the ultimate bordello where twelve writhing girls chose to communicate their angst in song. Mission Impossible meets Gwen Stefani’s Sweet Escape was joyous, and the buttery quintet Close to You the show’s highlight. It worked better when fewer girls were on stage (an oxymoron, I know…) as when Alicia Keys’ Fallin’ was treated sensibly, and I had no idea that Duffy’s Mercy, one of the biggest hits of the last five years, ripped off Stand By Me by Ben E King. The end song which mingled Annie Lennox, Rihanna and Gaga was sublime, and cancelled out the show’s weaker moments. Praise is to be given to the girls for arranging the parts themselves (get the strip club out of your heads…) and for the harmonies, which were flawless and should be stuck to more than trying to make it stagy.

The Gargoyles (pictured) were stunning. They’ve won competitions and have their own dinner jackets. Their show was a masterclass in how to use the human voice and the finest American music of the early twentieth century. With superb scat, a fine version of Ticket to Ride and an even better Somewhere Over the Rainbow, one seems to float away with the harmonies and key changes, as if it’s music to eat Maltesers to. They could do stagy, too, creating a boat with arms for oars as they did Kiss the Girl with requisite Caribbean accents that made the “yeah, mon” of the Belles’ I’m Yours look anodyne. Beatbox-assisted tunes Just the Two of Us and Night and Day sat alongside their own Alicia Keys cover, the awesome If I Ain’t Got You. Dave Brubeck’s Take Five had its big finish which made them encore with Quincy Jones’ Austin Powers-assisted Soul Bossa Nova. Everything about this show was perfect, and not choreographed to merely mechanical. The big smiles on their faces were transferred to the audience, and they proved themselves as good as, if not better than, the Americans. Think of the Gargoyles as the British version of America getting the Beatles. Quid (and quids) pro quo…

Oxford Belles and Oxford Gargoyles
C
14:45, 15:45, 4-30 Aug