Do we have any Queen fans in the crowd? Because today we have a fantastic rendition of their famous rock opera, Bohemian Rhapsody, for you! It even features air guitars!
It’s performed by UC Berkeley’s men’s octet a cappella group!
Party time! Excellent!
Berkeley actually has quite the active a cappella scene!
There’s a whole Facebook page dedicated to Berkeley a cappella live shows!
“Can’t make Sproul performances for a cappella groups because of class? Feeling sick and can’t get out of bed? Here’s your solution!” -Berkeley A Cappella Live Streams
The student body loves it!
As of 2020 there’s at least two major a cappella groups at Berkeley:
DeCadence and Drawn to Scale!
“DEcadence? DeCaDANCE? DeKAWdence? No matter what you call us, DeCadence (“duh-KAY-dence”) is a student-run, co-ed a cappella group from UC Berkeley that loves to add some music and fun to your day. We sing indie, pop, jazz, and any other genre that comes our way, often while sporting our iconic gold capes.”
“[Drawn to Scale] are a co-ed a cappella group founded at UC Berkeley in 2008. DtS is a diverse group of caring, dedicated, and talented students who come together to share in their passion for performing and love for one another. They continuously strive to maintain a high standard of musicality while bringing music to life in innovative and exciting ways.”
And that’s exactly how we get fantastic concerts like this! The student body loves the a cappella scene and having fun with a cappella as a way to destress from school!
But just because it’s fun doesn’t mean it’s easy!
With an octet like this, that means there’s a different job given to each individual.
Knowing how to arrange all of these people takes some in depth music theory knowledge!
These guys seriously out did themselves with this show!
Not only is it really great to listen to and truly skilled all throughout, but they also had fun with it and made the whole song absolutely hilarious!
Throughout the video you can hear how uproarious the crowd gets from laughing so hard!
During the big breakdown in the song, in which Mike Myers is famous for headbanging in his cult classic Wayne’s World,
the group erupts!
The group is now divided into a flurry of singers mimicking the guitar solo, air guitarists having the time of their lives, and
a Tom Waits style vocalist you has more than a little fun with the pitch!
And that is only one moment of hilarity among many!
The group seems to have some joke or another to deliver for each part of the song, all while showing off their skills!
And they look so very classic while delivering.
They have their school colors on, sporting their best semi-casual attire. The school uniform look really adds to the feeling that there is a deeper culture of a cappella at Berkeley spanning back generations!
But Bohemian Rhapsody was a nice song choice to both modernise the a cappella competitions while sticking to certified classics that are (essentially) objectively good songs!
After all, Bohemian Rhapsody is considered one of the best songs of all time!
Yes, that’s right,
in a top 500 list from Rolling Stone, Bohemian Rhapsody shows up at #166!
That’s pretty impressive considering it’s already a list of the cream of the crop!
And according to Forbes, Bohemian Rhapsody has
also emerged as the most streamed song in the world!
“Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” is officially the world’s most-streamed song from the 20th Century.
“Not only that but Universal Music Group (UMG), has revealed the iconic single by the British rock legends is also the most-streamed Classic Rock song of all time.”
So yeah, it was a pretty safe bet to pick this song to ensure everyone loves the performance!
The tough part would have just been creating the arrangement and having the musical know how to make it work!
You can watch the video for yourself below, and I highly recommend you do for some good laughs and a quick return to a classic with a fresh take!
Seriously, this video just has it all, and the internet would agree with me! The video already has over 3 million views!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
