Jamming During J-Term

Feeling a little Harvard-sick? This J-Term, look out for lime green socks and snazzy dance moves when four a capella groups bring a little bit of Harvard to a city near you.

As you sit at home, pajama-clad and well-rested for what feels like the first time in ten years, you may realize how quiet life is without Dins or Kroks serenading you at preposterously-named jams every weekend. But never fear! Some of Harvard’s a capella groups will be touring major cities in and out of the U.S. to fill your ears with music, your hearts with joy, and maybe their pockets with proceeds from selling CDs along the way.

If you’re from sunny Los Angeles (or staying with an L.A.-based roommate to escape the cold—good choice, by the way) you can catch the all-male Krokodiloes on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at Westwood Presbyterian Church on Wilshire Blvd. Check out the Facebook event to buy tickets. The Kroks will then hit Utah, performing at the Waterford School on Jan. 14 and the University of Utah on Jan. 18. They’ll finish up with some as-yet-unscheduled shows in NYC and head back to Cambridge on Jan. 22.

The Din & Tonics—and their famed lime-green socks—will be taking Washington, D.C. by storm from Jan. 16-24. Dins President Ari C. Peña ’10 is looking forward to having “a week away just to get to know each other better, and have some man time,” he said.

Dins Business Manager and baritone Dillon C. Powers ’11 said most of the gigs they’ll be singing at are private, but there may be a chance for students in D.C. to attend a show at George Washington University. He said students can check Facebook and the Dins’ Web site to see if that show will be happening or not.

Some co-ed groups are also hitting the road. From Jan. 18-23, the Callbacks will shower Puerto Rican inns, plazas, and the San Jorge Children’s Hospital with music. If you're going to be nearby, check out the schedule on their Web site. The members are looking forward to performing a brand-new Spanish-language song, singer Kristina F. Latino ’13 said.

The Opportunes’ plans are not yet quite so solid. “We know we’re going to New York, but we don’t actually know if we have any gigs yet,” Opportunes baritone singer Zachary N. Bernstein ’13 said. “We’ll have fun wherever we end up going.”

The Radcliffe Pitches is one a capella group that’s staying put until spring and summer (when they’ll hit Bermuda, Japan, and Thailand, among other destinations). But that’s not stopping Catherine E. Williams ’13, a first soprano in the Pitches, from supporting her fellow singers by attending the upcoming Kroks show.

“It’s nice to see your friends and have a little bit of Harvard at home,” she said.

But be sure to watch your step—if you’re not careful you might accidentally stumble into enemy territory, because we hear that the Yale Spizzwinks(?) (yes, the question mark is part of their name) and presumably some other Yale a capella groups are lurking around Los Angeles and other cities dangerously near you.