Jede Epidemie hat ihren Erreger. Nun ist der A-cappella-Gesang nicht gerade mit einer Seuche vergleichbar, doch wer schon einmal das US-Quartett "The Bobs" erlebt hat, kann sich vorstellen, warum es seit 19 Jahren und mittlerweile zehn Alben Scharen derartiger Ensembles beeinflusst hat. Im Rahmen der Reihe "Vocal Heroes" im Schlachthof demonstrierte die "New Wave a cappella"-Truppe, was sie zu Originalen des unbegleiteten Gesangs macht.
Unbegleitet? - ach was! Wenn es sein muss, zaubern "The Bobs" mit ihren  Stimmen ganze Orchester auf die Bühne. Was Richard Greene, Matthew Stull, Joe Finetti und Amy Engelhardt jedoch zu einer der komplettesten A-cappella-Formationen macht, ist ihre Vielseitigkeit. Sie müssen sich nicht um komische Show-Elemente bemühen, denn ihr herrlich trockener Humor ist angeboren. Ihre Chorsätze und Instrumental-Simulationen sind perfekt, die Cover-Songs clever arrangiert, mit Myriaden kleiner Stimm-Gags durchsetzt und nicht an die typischen Genres gebunden. Und schließlich: "The Bobs" zählen zu den ganz wenigen Vertretern ihrer Zunft, die neben der brüllkomischen Parodie von Evergreens auch die Kunst beherrschen, ausgezeichnete Stücke mit reichlich durchgeknallten Texten (wie die New-Age-Verulkung "Slow down, Krishna") zu schreiben - eine Aufgabe, die vor allem vom Bass Greene übernommen wird.
Die Kombination dieser Elemente macht einen Auftritt der Bobs zum atemberaubenden Ritt durch die Facetten der Vokalmusik. Da verwandelt sich der Vierer beim Ray Charles-Klassiker "Unchain my heart" allmählich in eine aufgekratzte Latino-Percussion-Truppe, nimmt mit "Summertime" wild die Gershwin-Kurve und muss hilflos mit ansehen, wie sich Tenor Finetti abwechselnd in einen wilden Trompeten-Solisten oder einen Funk-Drummer verwandelt. Unterdessen zeigt Sängerin Amy, wie eine Rock-Gitarre richtig jault und eine Amerikanerin im "Wördö Brämen"-Trikot mit herrlichstem Akzent die Aufforderung zum Durchdrehen eins zu eins übersetzt: "Entschuldigen Sie, können Sie Rock mit mir?" Zwischen einer rasendschnellen, vertrackten Version des Beatles-Songs "Helter Skelter" und einer Art Marching-Band-Variante von "Caravan" legen Bass Greene und Tenor Finetti mal eben eine reichlich abgedreht-melancholische "Free-Jazz"-Einlage hin, die sogar schön klingt. Würde ein imaginärer Vogel bei der Rock 'n' Roll-Version von "Psycho Killer" vielleicht noch herumflattern - mit der Bobs-Interpretation von "Light my Fire" ist er garantiert abgeschossen: Denn die Idee, den Doors-Hit in einer traditionellen Madrigalform der Renaissance zu singen, ist einfach umwerfend. Ein durch und durch aufregendes Konzert.
(André Hesel)

Sitting in limbo ... I mean Orono ... recently, listening to The Bobs, I was reminded of the fable about the blind men and the elephant. Each man touched a different part of the elephant - tail, trunk, leg, tusk - and got a completely different idea about the animal. What would these blind men, I wondered, think about The Bobs, not your traditional vocal group? The quartet [...] had started off their concert at UMO singing Unchain My Heart, when suddenly a jazz trumpet solo issued forth.
A trumpet solo, a cappella? And who was playing the maracas? Plus, as the concert continued, who was playing all those other instruments? A blind person in the audience had to be asking, "Is this really an a cappella group?" In a word, no. Call it odd cappella. With electronic drums, pedal steel guitar, electric guitar solos, and other strange noises, all done solely with microphones ad vocal pyrotechnics. [...]
... you always know at a Bobs concert that 1) you'll hear something you've never even imagined - this time for me, a traditional English madrigal version of The Doors' classic Light My Fire [...] And 2), from time to time during the show, the four will get into group discussions, and it's like they've forgotten the audience is even there. I've never seen this with any other band.
At UMO, Joe said two great things before the intermission - first, telling people in the audience unfamiliar with The Bobs, "Don't be frightened," and then, his seemingly heartfelt comment, "If we get too slick or professional for you, please stop us." That first part of the show closed with Matthew singing Mr. Duality, his split personality rap song "because we heard [Bangor] was a big rap community." And a spirited ensemble version of the old Louis Jordan classic Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens. [...]
The second half of the show proceeded along similar (eclectic) lines, with a spirited mix including Helter Skelter, their best-known cover along with Psycho Killer; the Duke Ellington tune Caravan; a "Gothic doo-wop song" about working at the Post Office; the group's 'message song' Spontaneous Human Combustion; and a fine version of Particle Man - originally done, I was informed by the man is seat K-23, by They Might Be Giants. [...]
Also, in yet another unexpected announcement, Matthew requested that any of the several a cappella groups scattered through the audience might reverse the tables and entertain The Bobs, at a post-concert concert to be held out in the lobby.
For the grand finale, Purple Haze, Joe incited the crowd with his best Caspar (the Friendly) Milquetoast voice, asking, "Are you prepared to rock?" But before proceeding, Matthew handed his mike to a woman in the audience who had a question. "This isn't going to be like Light My Fire, is it?" In a word, no. More like - although it sounds unlikely - a cappella Hendrix, including distortion, feedback, wild flailing, and everything a great guitar solo needs except an actual guitar.
A large portion of the subscription audience, new to witnessing The Bobs, seemed stunned, but others of us had expected as much. We'd seen Joe last year at the Left Bank, as Eric Clapton doing White Room. So why shouldn't he also be Hendrix?
All of which led to a rousing standing ovation and, for the encore, a kind of Andrew Sisters arrangement of the old Bobs' favorite Cowboy Lips. Then we moved out into the lobby, which is a whole different story.[...]

Kick yourself if you missed The Bobs.

- Richard Sassaman

The only bad thing about attending a concert by The Bobs is trying to explain the experience to your friends the next day. My friend Will, for example, seeing The Bobs for the first time called them "a cappella B-52s."
I usually resort to a summary that sounds like a bad Hollywood pitch meeting: "Well, picture what would happen if you put Bobby McFerrin, Tom Lehrer, the Nylons and a pinch of Monty Python in a blender and hit 'puree'."
Freely accessorize any description you settle on with words like "vastly talented," "side-splittingly funny" or "delightfully zany" and you've got The Bobs, who brought their a cappella with an attitude to the Edison Theatre last weekend.
Few other quartets, instrumentless or otherwise, could entertainingly sell songs such as "There's a Nose Ring in My Soup" or "Vapor Carioca" (the latter a tune about chronic flatulence). Nor, one imagines, would many try.
The Bobs put a slight spin even on tamer tunes. "Late Model Love," a sultry walk through the used-car lot of romance (featuring the newest Bob, Lori "Bob" Rivera), and "Mr. Duality," a rap song about a guy with multiple personalities, are reminders this isn't your typical vocal group.
Joe "Bob" Finetti's gift for vocal instrumentation (most notably his electric guitar solo in a cover of "Purple Haze") and goofy stage style are either freakish or genius. With the loose-limbed, leisure-suit clad Finetti, it's a tough call to make. Richard "Bob" Greene's twisted lyrics are only half of the group's appeal. The rest can be chalked up to consummate vocal craft and a real sense of showmanship. Standing ovations are almost a given among St.Louis audiences, but at Saturday's concert, The Bobs' was well-earned.

Brad L. Graham