Sol Train’ was the title that Acasola group members agreed upon for their first funky performance held in a concert-like setting Saturday night at the Satellite Student Union.
After considering everything from “Corn Fest” to “Humerus: Not just a bone in your body,” the relatively new CSUN a cappella group decided to stick with what they thought would better suit a 1970s theme.
But instead of the music being reminiscent of the era, it was the costumes and d?cor that brought it all back, for the evening at least. Colorful balloons, ribbons, and disco balls complimented the group members who wore outrageous wigs, retro-style shirts and authentic bell-bottoms.
After introducing Acasola to an audience of about 70 people, the founder of the group, Chase Daluca, hustled back to join fellow group members at their rehearsal space. Five minutes later: nine performers, all wearing red T-shirts that read “Always Acasola,” entered the San Fernando room, cheering from the back door.
“Always Acasola,” the groups first song, which was performed by the group’s ten members, set the mood by cleverly making fun of a famous Coca-Cola brand song. Although the event was free, group members floated a donation box around the room collecting around $100 in tips by the end of the night in order to cover their overhead.
“If you have U.S. currency in your pockets and you wanna drop it in this hole, that’s fine,” joked Jared Wolf, president of the group, while holding the donation box in his hand.
After performing a few songs, including their signature song, which is a medley of Cher’s “Believe” and Gunther’s “Ding Ding Dong,” and playing a few pranks on each other on stage, the Acasola members invited over their guest group Fluid Dynamics.
Fluid Dynamics, a 5-year-old a cappella group, further set the mood.
Hailing from California Institute of Technology, Fluid Dynamics first met Acasola at a competition hosted at the University of Southern California in January.
“Fluid Dynamics was founded five years ago by Caltech students who wanted a serious, musically focused a cappella group that could be as amazing as all the fantastic Southern California groups sprouting up at the time, said Andy Matuschak, a Fluid Dynamics group member. This has been a fantastic year for us. We’ve grown a lot as a group and have had the opportunity to perform at a number of colleges, coffee shops and street corners.
A group of seven males and three females, Fluid Dynamics saw this concert as an opportunity of publicizing their group as well as their recently released debut album, “Making Waves.”
Acasola members were also pleased by the performance of Fluid Dynamics.
“I think we were all expecting something totally different,” Wolf said about Fluid’s group performance. “They totally blew us away?I wondered how they were going to sound. They totally took us by surprise.”
Francisco Gonzalez, a freshman, was among those cheering and clapping in the audience. For this being their first year and first concert, it was amazing, he said.
Mark Dalmacio, a film major, had previously heard them singing at different places on campus, but enjoyed the themed concert format much more.
“I have heard them singing below Sierra Tower,” Dalmacio said. “They really like what they’re doing and having fun,” he added.
Towards the end of the event, both groups sang the songs requested by the audience and received a standing ovation.
“We want to start a tradition,” Wolf said. “We want this concert to be a tradition. We have a lot of dreams and you can help us accomplish those dreams.”
