Scotland Presents “The Other Guys”

From classical Scottish tunes to Justin Timberlake’s latest hits, the Assembly Hall echoed with harmonies as The Other Guys, St. Andrews University’s all-male a cappella group, performed for the crowd this past Saturday evening, Jan. 18.The Other Guys, founded in 2004, has been one of the most active collegiate a cappella groups in Scotland for the past decade. This year the group, with Spencer Huffman '13 among them, launched a tour in the United States to celebrate its tenth anniversary and to promote the group and the university’s name.“Given the number of students from the U.S. who study at St. Andrews, it seemed like a good way to team up with the university to put the university’s name out there as well as our own,” Ted Haxby, head of musical arrangement for The Other Guys, said. “So it’s kind of a celebration, trying to push ourselves further than we’ve ever been before, but then at the same time really taking us right back to where it all started—where our inspiration was.”“It’s [also] something that we’ve always wanted to do, because a cappella really has its roots, or at least the form that we do it in, in the U.S.,” Haxby continued. “There’s always been a huge influence from U.S. a cappella groups and so its always been a sort of target—and with the tenth anniversary it seemed a pretty fitting time to do it.”Many students enjoyed The Other Guys’ performance, praising the group’s incorporation of dance and melodious harmonies.“It was an interesting mix between classical music from Scotland and modern music. They did a great job changing their songs to match their voices and adding in different parts,” prep Melanie Luperon said. “They all had interesting characters and added a lot of motion to it, which I thought was beautiful. [The Other Guys] really did a great job energizing the crowd.”

Lower Jacob Pressman agreed, and enjoyed the openers for the show—Exeter’s own all male a capella group, the Exeteras. “They were really well put together, surprisingly professional,” Pressman said. “Some of those guys in The Other Guys were really talented, but our Exeteras had a great show, too. I would definitely go again next year, really enjoyed it.”Along with the performance, The Other Guys hosted a workshop for PEADs, another Exonian a capella group, as well as the Exeteras. Huffman, member of The Other Guys and last year’s co-head of PEADs and Exeteras, reflected on his time in the workshop. “It was a little bit strange, but it was so much fun. We love conducting workshops, and conducting some of our old groups was great. I was so proud of them, and they sounded awesome, too.”Lower Malcolm Ogden was particularly impressed with their ability to perform, as well as sing. “The different dances and movements they did to accompany the songs really helped to sell their performance and my appreciation of their act,” he said. “I would definitely go again next year, especially if they can bring The Other Guys back. I was a huge fan of the overall show.”After the performance, Huffman shared his sentiments about his time back in Exeter. “Obviously, it was awesome. It’s a little bit hard to put into words, which sounds cheesy, but it’s true because this place is so awesome. And just to have the opportunity in the first place to come back and see all my friends and sing for them, that’s pretty special.”