By MARY FLEMING
An a cappella group composed of seven BYU students from Mesa, Ariz., will perform tonight at the Wrapsody in Provo.
2-5-9 prefers to call themselves a band, said McKane Davis, a sophomore majoring in English. There are many a cappella groups, but 2-5-9 uses guitars in some of their numbers.
“We like to characterize ourselves as kind of laid back. We’re more concerned about having a good time,” he said.
Drex Davis, McKane Davis’ older brother, a senior majoring in philosophy, said they want the audience to enjoy themselves.
“The audience doesn’t care if your performance is impeccable, they care if they feel better than when they came,” Davis said.
He said they strive for audience participation. The group likes them to clap along in some numbers. They also perform songs like “La Bamba” and “Kiss the Girl” so the audience can sing along.
The group arranges all of the songs themselves. They also wrote some of the numbers they will perform, McKane Davis said.
Drex Davis said the group takes the music seriously, but not themselves.
Jeff Anderson, a sophomore majoring in accounting, said they love to dance for the audience.
“Our dancing is so funny. We don’t know how to dance and so when the audience sees us, they just laugh. And we laugh,” Anderson said.
The group’s good nature shows through in their theme song. They wrote it about themselves. In this seven part arrangement, the group tells how they get all the girls. They insist on being very good-looking and talk about how well they dance, McKane Davis said.
2-5-9 has been performing together for four years, after first singing together in a high school talent show. The group has made two CDs sold-nation wide in Deseret Book stores, McKane Davis said. One is religious and the other pop.
Two other a cappella groups will perform with 2-5-9 tonight: Edison’s Lunch Box and Norm.
Edison’s Lunch Box is composed of those from the former group Extempo, said Mary Jones, a BYU alumnus and member of Edison’s Lunch Box. Jones is the only female in the five-member group.
Jones said the group performs mostly jazz and pop songs.
“We have our own vocal percussionist who does all the background music. It really is amazing,” Jones said.
She said the group also does a lot of cover tunes from artists such as Stevie Wonder.
The performance begins at 8:30 with 2-5-9. Wrapsody is located on 117 N. University Ave. There is a $3 cover charge.
