On Saturday, May 11 in Schwartz Auditorium, a cappella group Spur of the Moment presented "The Boot," an annual show that serves as a swan song for the group's seniors. Spur of the Moment proved to be energetic and in top form for the packed auditorium. The show started on time, and, dressed in their signature white shirt, tie and denim ensemble, Spur took the stage to big cheers. The group began with an upbeat piece, "Follow me" by Uncle Kracker. Aaron Fischlowitz-Roberts '03 soloed. If there is one thing I dislike when it comes to a cappella, it is over-zealous backup singers. Spur, for the most part, was not guilty of this, although in the next song, "Crazy" sung by Laura Brodin '05, the balance was a little off, and Brodin was almost drowned out.

Spur finished the set with En Vogue's "Never Gonna Get It," a funky and memorable song. The group seemed very "together" on this song, including the choreography. Soloists Leah Glashow '02 and Keren Salamon '05 did commendable jobs, although I thought Glashow's more soulful voice was better suited to the song.

To break things up, Spur welcomed Amherst Route 9, an all-male a cappella group from Amherst College. The group sang everything from ballads to rap, including a crowd-pleasing rendition of Blackstreet's "No Diggity," during which the soloist jumped off the stage and mingled with the audience. This was well received by the crowd, and made me laugh, as I for one, am not used to hearing rap come from an a cappella group.

This group also did a particularly good job with Linkin Park's "In the End," another song I would not expect an a cappella group to sing. There is also something to be said for singing in unison, sans solo, as Amherst Route 9 demonstrated with a well-executed version of Billy Joel's "Lullaby."

After intermission, Spur reconvened on stage and opened their second set in various costumes featuring a cave woman, a go-go girl and Ethan Baird '02 dressed as the Jolly Green Giant. The sheer humor of the costumes made me concentrate more on how they looked than their vocal stylings.

This set, however, was better than the first - the voices blended together well and the entire set was energetic, particularly on Everclear's "AM Radio" with Robert Tanenbaum '04 soloing. Also on "Everywhere," Shanna Zell '04 was able to capture a Michelle Branch-like quality in her voice.

The last quarter of the show was dedicated to wishing seniors Baird, Lex Friedman, Glashow, Ariela Maruri, Ariella Perkes and Jake Rubin a heartfelt goodbye.
Each senior was presented with a pitch pipe and then a boot, given to them by two tearful underclassmen. It was nice (heart wrenching even) to watch the seniors say their goodbyes, but they took so long that by the end I was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

The last song was the Stevie Wonder classic, "Signed Sealed Delivered." It was sung by Glashow and elicited the biggest cheers of the night. My one complaint was that show went on for a little too long, but the evening was still entertaining. When I left the auditorium I was smiling - a sleepy smile, mind you - but a smile none the less.