Joe: BosTones Retreat

Joe Kain
Joe Kain

Hey everyone! For all of you who went to this past weekend’s Open House, I hope it was a great experience for you and I hope we sold you on coming to COM. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to meet all of you, because I wasn’t in Boston this past weekend.

As I mentioned in my bio, I am part of The Boston University BosTones, one of twelve a cappella groups on campus. We’re a premier co-ed group at BU, and we perform a huge repertoire of different music. We do “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson, “Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons, and an amazing Kanye West Medley based off of his new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. They have become my family at BU, and rehearsing with them is one of the highlights of my week. They’re also the reason I missed Open House.

It’s a Bostones tradition to go on retreat every spring. This past weekend, The BosTones went on retreat to Vermont. All 17 of us rented out an AMAZING house in Wilmington, VT. We left Friday morning, and spent almost the entire weekend learning new music and hanging out with each other. It was an awesome experience. Hanging out with all of them for an entire weekend was great because all of them are my best friends.  But we also made great progress on our repertoire, especially on our Kanye West medley. All in all, it was an amazing weekend with my best friends, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

For anyone who is even remotely interested in singing here at BU, I strongly encourage you to audition for The BosTones. Check our Facebook page and our website (www.thebostones.com) for more information on auditions in the fall! We’re always looking for new talent, and we’d love to have you be part of the group!

Tom: One Week Away

Tom
Tom Schrank

My spring semester run in BU On Broadway's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is almost coming to an end. We open in one week and I've never seen a process go so fast before. I remember way back in January when I was auditioning for the show and now we're just a week away from our opening night at Tsai Performance Center.

Sweeney Todd is such a hard show to put on, but it's such a fun show to be in the Ensemble of. I have three different wives throughout the show, I get my tooth pulled (you can get a sneakpeak of that scene in my COM Ambassador video!), and I get to play a lunatic (CITY ON FIRE!!!!).
At this point, my life is getting super stressful, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Right now, we are meeting everyday in our rehearsal space right after dinner until 11. Next week, we move into tech week, where I'll pretty much spend every waking moment of my life at Tsai Performance Center until we do our first opening night on Thursday!
Being involved with BU On Broadway's Sweeney Todd was one of the highlights of my semester here at BU. It kept me busy for a three-month rehearsal period and I met so many people in the past three months that I never would have met previously. Plus, what's better than a show about human meat pies? I mean, come on.

Anna: More Music, Please!

More music, please!

Anna
Anna McKeon

Boston may still be looking a little bleak this time of year, but don’t let the snow stop you from warming up with some fantastic music. I recently saw the incredible Joshua Radin at the House of Blues, and made a vow to take advantage of as many upcoming shows as I can….and you should too!

Luckily because prices are always cheaper in the winter and the majority of concerts in Boston are 18+, there are always a ton of amazing and often ignored music options for BU students this time of year. No matter if it’s dubstep, classical, pop, or anything in between, there are a ton of great acts heading this direction in the next couple months.

Here are a few of the shows I’m looking forward to the most, but don’t just take my word for it. Check out some of the venue sites at the bottom of this post and go see your favorite band…or even better someone brand new.

Cut Copy

House of Blues: April 4, 2011

Tickets start at $20.00

A fantastic electro-pop Australian band. Be ready to feel like you’re in the 80’s though…

Iron and Wine

House of Blues: April 19,2011

Tickets start at $25.00

Good folk music and an even better beard. Do you need anything else?

Naked and Famous

Paradise Rock Club: May 2, 2011

Tickets start at $16.50

Awesome New Zealand band who were recently the US iTunes download of the week!

Make sure to check out these links to find a local show you’re into. Summer lineups are even posted now!

House of Blues Boston- www.houseofblues.com/venues/clubvenues/boston/

Paradise Rock Club- www.thedise.com/rockclub

Citi Performing Arts Center- http://www.citicenter.org/events/

The Middle East Restaurant and Night Club- www.mideastclub.com

Boston Symphony Orchestra- www.bso.org

TT the Bear’s Place- www.ttthebears.com