On Thursday, February 12, the Colgate Thirteen held their annual Valentine’s Day concert. The group did not draw as large of a crowd as they usually do, but they did not disappoint when it came to their performance. The show opened with the core thirteen members, and new members were brought out for the second half. Another new member, dressed as Cupid, made a special appearance.  

The concert opened with “A Teenager in Love” by Dion and the Belmonts with senior Joe Cohen as the soloist. It was a sweet song to start off with, but the crowd was definitely looking forward to more current songs. The second song they performed is always a crowd pleaser, “Thinking About You” by Frank Ocean with senior Luke Clifford as the soloist.

“One of my favorite songs that was performed was ‘Thinking About You,’ said sophomore Kylie Armo. “It’s a Colgate Thirteen classic and I love it every time I hear it.”

Other pieces in the first half included popular songs by John Mayer,  Zach Brown Band and Tom Lehrer’s “The Masochism Tango” that poked fun at the film “50 Shades of Grey,” which came out

this weekend.  

The entire ensemble opened the second half with Sam Cooke’s “Cupid.” Cupid was played by first-year Jabari Ajao. According to sophomore member Michael Zeitler, members of the Thirteen particularly look forward to this part of the show.

“My favorite part of the concert is when Cupid comes out because of the crowd’s reaction and he always puts on a good show,” Zeitler said. 

Ajao really got the crowd going, sitting with audience members, dancing with his fellow a cappella members and throwing candy to the crowd. His performance made for an interesting and entertaining night.

“Cupid was interesting this year, he was definitely different from past Cupids but Jabari knows how to entertain people so I thought he did a good job,” Zeitler said.

Since it was a Valentine’s Day performance, audience members were, of course, serenaded. The Thirteen’s staple serenade song is “Little Darlin” by the Diamonds and this evening the soloist was junior Danny Foussard. But seeing as this was a special night and Cupid was in charge, more than one lucky girl had a chance to be sung to. Cupid pushed for soloists to serenade audience members- pointing to girls and dragging soloists to their side.  Although they were a little embarrassed, all the Thirteen members were happy to oblige Cupid’s wishes if only for a few lines of the song. 

The show ended with a stellar performance by senior soloist Alex Wrobel of Shai’s “If I Ever Fall in Love.” Wrobel was totally comfortable on stage and it was clear that he was a senior, practiced member. 

This concert was the perfect way to kick off the Valentine’s Day weekend for single and coupled people alike. Cupid reminded everyone on his or her way out to, “spread the love.” Overall, the night was full of

 wonderful performances. 

“I would definitely encourage everyone to attend any and all Colgate a cappella performances— all groups are so talented and a blast to watch,” said Armo. “I went to the Valentine’s Day performance both this year and last year and both were great. Festive outfits, candy, the works. This year in particular, however, there were some especially sweet dance moves.”