The all-male a capella group took center stage at Spectrum Center on March 26 before the Hornets took on the New York Knicks.
By Oliver Fischer ‘19
Elon all-male a capella group Rip_Chord traveled to Spectrum Center in Charlotte on March 26 to perform the national anthem at the Charlotte Hornets basketball game against the New York Knicks.
Rip_Chord President Michael Reed-Price said they were put in good hands and had a smooth experience performing. “It was a very professional environment, being shuffled around backstage with the Hornets dancers and the referees were back there as well,” he said. “We did a quick sound check, they shuffled us on and they adjusted sound based on how we did.”
Some friends and family members of Rip_Chord joined the 14,487 large crowd to listen to it perform the national anthem. “It was really exhilarating having that many people watching us,” Reed-Price said. “It was exciting for our hard work to be displayed in front of that many people.”
Rip_Chord’s invitation to kick off the Charlotte Hornets game came after the group sent out applications to a number of teams months ago. “We sent some applications to various teams, kind of on a whim, of our video singing the national anthem,” Reed-Price said. “We got an email from the Charlotte Hornets saying ‘we’d love for you to come sing the national anthem,’ which was our biggest gig ever.”
Other notable Rip_Chord performances included opening for A Great Big World, the Grammy award-winning artist, in New York. They have also been featured in The Best of College A capella.
Rip_Chord was founded in 2006 as Elon’s first all-male a capella group and third a capella group in general. Since then, the group has released four albums — “Baby Back Rips” in 2012, “Underscore” in 2013, “Green Room” in 2015 and “No Brainer” in 2017.