LAURA LAPHAM — The Hilltoppers had their final concert for the year called “Out with the Old and in with the New”.
The concern gives an opportunity for the Senior members of Hilltoppers to give their final performances, and the new inductees to the Hilltoppers join the Hilltoppers on stage. The performance took place at Swasey Chapel and drew a large crowd that the thunderstorm on Sunday could not keep away.
The concert started with the song “Jamaica Farewell” written by Lord Burgess and originally sung by Harry Belafonte. The whole group excluding the new inductees sang the song together as an opening. The Hilltoppers then moved onto singing a beautiful, but rather humorous, rendition of Toto’s “Africa.”
After the opening, the group had skits that were more or less prepared by the leaving seniors about their time as being part of the Hilltoppers. Many of the skits involved reflecting on their time in the Hilltoppers, singing a sentimental song and some humor.
The first skit was a touching speech by Isaac Bergman ‘19 about being in the Hilltoppers, and how it was some of the most embarrassing, yet memorable moments that he had had on campus.
After the first skit, the group sang the song “Death of a Bachelor” by the band Panic! At The Disco, which was followed by the second skit.
The skit by Jack Marchetti ‘19 focused on another leaving, and he spoke about his time as being part of the Hilltoppers. He then sang the song “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin.
The Hilltoppers as a group then performed the song “Faith” written by George Michael and then another skit by Ben Gibbs ‘19 with the song “ Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers.
The group then sang while the senior members of the group left the stage and found the new inductees in the audience. The seniors then took their Hilltoppers patches from their blazers and pinned them to the new group members who joined the rest on stage. They kept singing a song throwing the new members into it on center stage. The Hilltoppers then sang “Baby Come Back: by the band Player, the song “Sixty Minute Man” sung by Billy Ward and his Dominoes.
After those songs, there was one more skit by two of the leaving seniors reflecting on their time with the Hilltoppers, and they ended the skit with Chris Fujikawa ‘19 and Mikey Rucker ‘19 singing an unofficial ending song, “Lay me Down.” The whole group, including the new members and the seniors were on stage for the grand finale.
Ben Gibbs ‘19 is a senior member of the Hilltoppers, and he described his time as a part of the group.
“Absolute pleasure to spend my college days with some of the most quality lads in the business. Standing up on stage and being able to look out into the crowd and seeing all the people that have positively impacted my life over the past four years was a feeling that I hope I never forget,” Gibbs said.
The concert was an enthusiastic performance by all the new and old members of the Hilltoppers, and it was a wonderful send off for the graduating seniors of the group.