On November 19, 2013, there was a different kind of concert in Alton Auditorium. Instead of a concert where the performers sang, for the most part, the performers communicated in another language- sign language.
To open the concert, Stockton’s Stockapella sang “Demons” by Imagine Dragons and “Hurt” by Christina Aguilera while members of the American Sign Language Club signed along with the lyrics. After them, Stockton’s Stocktones sang “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” by The Police and “Let Your Heart Hold Fast” by Fort Atlantic. As an executive board member of the ASL Club, Rachael Wance interpreted the lyrics into sign language. Listening to the beautiful voices of Stockton’s acapella groups and seeing the emotion each performer put into their signing made the combination pretty movin
After the acapella groups performed with the ASL club members, there were many individual acts with people signing popular songs such as “Still Into You” by Paramore, “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus and “Love Somebody” by Maroon 5. Each signer performed in her own unique way and incorporated dance moves with the signing. The facial expressions that went along with each sign conveyed to the audience the feeling of the song. Sometimes they were over the top and funny, but other times they were painfully serious and added to the depth of the performance.
Midway through the concert the executive board of the ASL club performed their popular rendition of “Roar” by Katy Perry that has been previously performed at homecoming and the Multicultural Music Festival. Members of the audience signed along with them, myself included. It was a great experience, and it really created a sense of closeness in the room. It made the concert so much more meaningful to everyone. It was an amazing moment to see a large portion of the audience signing “Roar” along with the performers. Everyone was laughing and smiling and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The closing song of the concert was “Raise Your Glass” by P!nk, and it was the perfect way to end the concert. The performers who signed the song were so sassy and were just having a genuine good time.
Overall, the Signing and Singing concert was a genuinely unique experience that I would recommend to anyone. Instead of clapping like at a concert with singing, we clapped as was appropriate to a sign language concert- in sign language. It may be silent but it has the same effect on the performers as does clapping out loud. It makes them feel surrounded by love and appreciation. I truly enjoyed the concert and cannot wait for the event next year.