DeCadence, my collegiate a cappella group, turns 20 this year. I was in it from 2001 to 2005 or so. DeCadence is doing phenomenally well — they sound better than ever, and just won ICCA quarterfinals a few months ago with an emotionally powerful set and really tight choreography.
Today they hosted a grand reunion party at Willard Park (yes, I did just make that localwiki page… if I keep this up, I’m never going to get this entry in time for iron blogger). DeCadence founder Mark Skandera came from across the country (he was able to schedule a talk for the math department at berkeley on Monday to coincide with the DeCadence renuion!) and gathered us around and told us again how DeCadence got started — how as an undergrad at Brown there were a few thousand students and 8 a cappella groups and how he’d never had the time to join one; then when he got to Berkeley for grad school there were tens of thousands of students and only 5 a cappella groups; how the lists of auditionees for the 3 that weren’t women-only were super-long; how he formed his first small group out of these lists and people he heard singing in the shower at i-house; how their first rehearsal spot was a closet under the stairs at i-house with an out-of-tune piano.
There are people in current DeCadence who hadn’t yet been born when Mark formed the group.
That blows my mind.
Current DeCadence got us a cake and organized sandwiches and songs to sing and everything. We stood in an enormous circle and sang “Like A Prayer”, which has got to be the longest-running arrangement in the group’s history, since they still sing it today.
It’s an amazing, talented group. Our alumni group Spot the Octopus turned out well today — we meet every Monday for rehearsal, and our only performance opportunity is when DeCadence invites us to open for them, which they did for their Thursday concert a few days ago =) We sang Sorry, Kraken, and debuted Always for them, Fritz’s first major solo =D And DeCadence was amazing. Really together in all ways. They sound great.
This year we also celebrate a few new DeCadence babies from across the country, and the first actual intra-DeCadence wedding coming soon (Alangela). We kicked a bouncy ball at each other and there were shenanigans. Lisa and Tom biked away with Watson in a pannier, which was pretty much the cutest thing ever.
It’s much warmer and sunnier in Berkeley than it is out here by the ocean, in the fog.
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