First let me explain the headline. I'm not lazy or unimaginative, but there's a Faith No More song called "We Care a Lot" in which the band enthusiastically gang-shouts, "We care a lot!" over and over, and I couldn't get it out of my head all throughout the Brandeis Cares charity concert, held in the Levin Ballroom last Thursday night. Brandeis Cares-a benefit show sponsored by Tympanium Euphorium for the not-for-profit AIDS charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS-was not your average concert. BC featured many of the campus' top performance clubs trading places and tackling each other's chosen trade. The promise of impending disaster was reason enough to go observe.

But there was no disaster to be found, save a malfunctioning lighting rig. The intriguing pairing of campus a cappella heroes Starving Artists and the Japanese Student Association opened the festivities with good feeling. First, Starving Artists backed up the enthusiastic (though vocally.inexperienced) JSA, before singing a song of their own, debuting their rendition of Ben Folds' "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You." Finally, the two groups engaged in what appeared to be the Japanese version of the Macarena, known only as "Awesome," complete with happy-clappy choreography and the now apparently obligatory Soulja Boy dance moves. (I swear I will murder the next group who does that. Seriously, we get it. Who at these meetings is saying "Hey! I'm a goddamn genius! Let's put some of the moves from that Soulja Boy dance in our dance routine! No one's gonna see that coming!"?)

Afterward, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams took the stage to introduce the rest of the festivities. Energetic as always, Adams brought his typical swagger and charisma to the emcee slot.

Next up to the plate was the Juggling Society's somewhat uncoordinated collaboration with the all-female a cappella group Up The Octave. For the first half of their performance, a large crowd wandered the stage, with groups of two or three engaging in their own individual juggling routines. While some of it was certainly interesting to watch, it did not bear the mark of a carefully calculated plan. The quality of the performance, organizationally speaking, improved tenfold as Up The Octave performed one of its own pieces, followed by a joint group vocal venture. Then for a change of both style and culture, the African Dance Club took the stage and stomped its way back and forth across the floor, possessed by the beat. After that lone number, the audience engaged in an impromptu mass dance performance led by the group's drummer.

Improv group Bad Grammer took the stage next to waves of cheers from the audience. Beginning with some of its own (surprisingly competent) a cappella, into which the group managed to inject a great deal of humor, BG revved up the crowd's chuckle engines before shifting into an even higher gear with fluid and engaging comedy.

Finally, Rather Be Giraffes took a swing at its own brand of improv and actually managed to hit a double, maybe even a triple, with a set of games borrowed from Bad Grammer's arsenal. After whipping up the crowd with laughter, they performed a pleasant rendition of Madonna's "Like a Prayer," accompanied by numerous crowd members quietly singing along in their seats.

So, it may not have actually had a whole lot to do with AIDS or social awareness, but it sure was a good time, and that's all that anyone can really ask for on an absolutely freezing Thursday night at good old Brandeis.