Review – Bradley Young Orchestra – St. Xavier University
On June 30, 2005 St. Xavier University held their Summer Concert at the Chicago campus to celebrate the end of their fiscal year and to also celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. The Bradley Young Orchestra(1) entertained the approximately 2,000 individuals from 7:00pm until the fireworks at 10:00pm.
Their sense of timing was fantastic. While partygoers were still arriving and having some food and generally picnicking, they started out with some classic swing tunes. Once bellies were full and folks began to feel the music, they moved on to some incredible Motown and hip-hop songs. At one point they must have had three hundred kids up and singing along. The patriotic numbers during the fireworks at the end were great.
The band is good. Musically and technically, they are very entertaining, and I would recommend them for a wedding or other large event.
The moment that still sits with me, however, is the moment where one of the singers stopped the song Voulez-vous Coucher Avec Moi? because she couldn’t stand to see all those pretty little nine year old girls singing the lyric and not knowing what they were singing. It was a little strange, after all, the song has been around for quite a while and with lovely items out there like that hideous tune, “Milkshake”, it’s rather tame. However, I was impressed to see performers with a sense of responsibility. The kids were unfazed when other lyrics were substituted, and I can imagine that a parent or two felt a bit better about all the shimmying and hip-grinding going on.
The combination of good performance coupled with people who apparently actually use their brains was refreshing.
The Bradley Young Orchestra plays Chicagoland and other areas. Click here for booking options and more information.
(1)I feel I should start this review with the caveat that my husband plays in the band. As you can imagine, there’s a whole conflict-of-interest thing going on that makes it unlikely that I’d post THEY SUCK ROCKS if they did. However, the plain truth is that the Bradley Young Orchestra plays some incredible music.
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