Music by David Guetta piped through Whitley Auditorium  March 12 as students and family members piled into their seats for Sweet Signatures’ annual Acappallooza, bringing them to a full-on rave.

Each year, Sweet Signatures, one of Elon University’s all-female a cappella groups, organizes the event and invites all a cappella groups on campus to join them for a festival of music and fun.

“It’s a fun way to celebrate each other’s talent in an energetic and uplifting setting,” said senior Hailey Harn, treasurer of Sweet Signatures.

In addition to the six groups from Elon, Sweet Signatures welcomed groups from the University of Maryland, North Carolina State University, New York Univerisity and even a group from a local high school who recently competed in the International Championship of High School A Cappella.

This year’s theme, which was voted on after the group proposed ideas, was Raveappalooza. At the door, concertgoers could purchase glow sticks and everyone was encouraged to wear their best neon attire.

Whitley Auditorium was decked out in neon balloons and “RAVEappoolza” was spelled out across the stage in big neon letters.

Tickets were $10, and the cost mostly went towards putting the event on. Whatever remained went toward Sweet Signature’s recording costs, which they will use to record their album in the coming months.

“It has honestly been such a ball preparing myself for this concert,” said freshman Maggie Scanlon. “I am excited to perform but I am so much more excited to hear the other groups perform. Those people rock so much.”

As the club music faded out, Sweet Signatures took the stage to introduce the show. They jumped around and pumped up the crowd for the upcoming two hours of pop and EDM singing and dancing. 

Dressed from head to toe in bright colors and festival face paint, the group opened with a mash-up of “Roses” by The Chainsmokers and “What Do You Mean” by Justin Bieber, and prepped the stage for the night ahead.

Up next was the crowd favorite, Rip_Chord, who performed a mash-up of “Beautiful Soul” by Jesse McCartney and “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton for the first time in front of an audience of a dozen swooning fans.

Fresh off of their appearance at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) tournament, where they took third place, Vital Signs slowed it down with Justin Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.” 

After the first three groups finished their set, the first visiting group was welcomed to the stage from the University of Maryland — PandemoniUM. 

But, the guest group that had the crowd begging for more was Grains of Time from NC State who performed their rendition of “Jealous” by Labrinth. Jordan Williams took home the award for best solo performance at the ICCA South Regional Finals last month.

NYU’s original all male a cappella group, Mass Transit, may have forgotten the theme as they weren’t dressed for an EDM concert, but they brought the party. The group’s seamless incorporation of beat boxing allowed them to execute songs from Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Justin Bieber and their eccentric dancing and crowd engagement had the audience cheering them on from start to finish.

“The guest groups tend to know about the event from past experiences or word of mouth,” Harn said. “[They] are always excited to come down.”

All groups chose at least one song that was newly released or one that would have the crowd screaming and singing along. Smooth Progressions sang The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face,” while Twisted Measure premiered one of Adele’s newest songs, “Under the Bridge.” Shirley Tempos decided to bring everyone back to their Christina Aguilera fan-girl days and sang her 2000 hit “Come On Over Baby.”

Sweet Signatures also premiered its new single and music video, “Wild Things” by Alessia Cara that the group recorded in January. This is one of the first times the group has released a single, as in the past they stuck to a schedule of one album every other year.

The all-female a cappella group closed the night with “Youth” by Troye Sivan.

“The show was amazing,” said freshman Emiliana Lanz. “Going to things like this makes you realize the talent Elon students have to do what they are passionate about.”

Freshman Molly Kearns, a member of Shirley Tempos, said the audience’s energy really impacted the performers.

“I thought it would be very similar to Make-A-Wish,” said Kearns. “I think the key difference was the energy level. Maybe it was the theme but it was just so much fun to shout and cheer from the balcony for the other groups and of course, to perform some of our favorite high-energy songs.”