THUD Bangs Out Popular Rhythms

THUD, The Harvard Undergraduate Drummers, brought in the noise, but lost the funk during their fall semester concert on Dec. 8 at Lowell Lecture Hall.

Their performance, “THUD! A Journey (On a College Budget),” started with a bang, literally, and moved into a revue of a number of songs, all performed using percussion instruments and the members’ bodies. The musical acts were loosely linked together by a narrative about the group that was humorous only because of how unrealistic it was.

There were several memorable pieces that greatly enhanced the show. The first of these was “Journey,” a number played on the marimba and vibraphone. The light melody of this piece made it stand out from the harsher sounds of other works.

“Buckets” which featured students from Roxbury Preparatory Charter School’s drumline was also truly engaging. Staged as a battle between the junior high school students and three members of THUD, this piece was the only one featuring a guest performance. The added variety greatly bolstered the show’s entertainment value.

The Roxbury Prep students played on their drum pads, buckets and garbage pans extremely well, with a level of coordination that exceeded that of most campus performing art groups. Their great skill suggested that they could have performed a more intricate and complicated piece.

“Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” was also a great holiday season treat. Featuring a compilation of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “Carol of the Bells,” this piece truly showcased the skills of the THUD members. The ability to recreate these popular melodies using only percussion instruments was amazing. It was as if they were able to create the sound of the rest of the sections of the orchestra, especially through the marimba and xylophone.

The inclusion of such familiar holiday tunes, along with a rendition of “Wipeout,” allowed the audience to better connect with the performance.

In “Samba” the audience was given a beat to clap along with while the song was played, allowing the audience to become more engaged with the show. The balance of popular pieces, and more obscure and new works was great, giving viewers something new as well as something known.

“Cups,” a THUD original production, ended the show. The performers used red solo cups in order to create beats as they sat around a table. The movement of the cups around the table gave the viewer something to focus on in comparison to the other pieces where all the attention was focused on the percussion instruments.

Sonali Palchaudhuri ’07 and Danielle R. Lehle ’07, co-music directors of the group, did a great job with the arrangements of the songs performed. Palchaudhuri’s personal compositions were also notable.

Isaac S. Shivvers ’10 performance throughout the show also stood out as one of the top drummers, particularly for his work on the timpani.

Still there was something missing from the production. The performance of “Basketball,” composed by Matthew B. Bird ’10, floundered in the execution, and at times the beat seemed lost. Also, in pieces that attempted to use the vocals of various members—be it through grunts sighs or moans—the projection was completely lost. Understandably it was a percussion concert, but the visual aspect and variety were obviously missing at times. The show could have benefited from guest performances from other groups on campus such as the 2010 Steppers, the Pan African Dance Troupe or the Korean Drummers. A Spoken Word performance over one of the beats banged out by THUD would have also been a welcome diversion.

Overall, “THUD! A Journey” was a great production and a pleasing forty-five minutes. THUD is comprised of mainly young performers from the Class of 2010, which means there will be lots of time to develop and experiment with various show formats. The future is bright for this campus ensemble, and the Harvard community should embrace this vibrant group.