The a cappella group ended their tour on a high note: “You’re the best crowd we’ve had". Photo / The 13th Floor Veronica McLaughlin
The a cappella group ended their tour on a high note: “You’re the best crowd we’ve had". Photo / The 13th Floor Veronica McLaughlin
Review by Megan Watts
When you buy tickets to an a cappella concert, you think you know what you’re walking into. However, the crowd - me included - were still shocked that five people could make all that sound with no instruments at all.
Aficionados in a cappella, Pentatonix took to thestage and gave Auckland a big send-off.
The five-person a cappella band - no instruments allowed - has been hitting a high note for over a decade with three Grammy wins to show for it and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Made from the mouths of Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, Scott Hoying and Matt Sallee, Pentatonix is a sum of all its parts - a musical powerhouse to be reckoned with.
The a cappella band have been touring worldwide, with Auckland being their last stop on their list of crowds to please.
“We’re doing the finale. We’re ending it big here in New Zealand with our biggest show of the tour,” Hoying yelled to the arena.
“We’re doing the finale. We’re ending it big here in New Zealand with our biggest show of the tour”, Hoying yelled to the crowd. Photo / 13th Floor Veronica McLaughlin
The quintet entered into harmony with Sing, each taking time in the song to introduce themselves via a stage-stealing solo, and then went on to perform more of their original songs such as Can’t Sleep Love, Love Me Like I Don’t, and a medley from their album Lucky Ones.
“Lucky Ones was such a special moment for us because we could be vulnerable. It was the first time we opened up about how we truly felt,” says Maldonado.
The group’s music, like its members, is multifaceted. A viral YouTube video of Lady Gaga’s Telephone put Pentatonix on the map in 2010, and winning NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2011 catapulted them into musical success.
The group released their first single, a cover of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ Can’t Hold Us in 2013, which garnered over 90 million views - and the rest is history, as they say.
“We’re excited to be back in New Zealand ya’ll”, said Hoying, and boy, was the crowd just as elated. Photo / The 13th Floor Veronica McLaughlin
From there, they’ve covered classics, written their own hits, and even established themselves as the sound of the holidays.
The group had 92 recordings in the top 10,000 holiday tracks, marking them as the most listened to artists over the 2022 Christmas period - move over Mariah.
“We’re excited to be back in New Zealand ya’ll”, said Hoying, and boy, was the crowd just as elated.
The entertainers kept their crowd enamoured throughout the spectacle. From interacting with fans and doing singalongs with different sides of the arena, to videoing TikToks and sharing the genius of the band’s namesake: the pentatonic scale. However, mouths were truly aghast when Olusola did a solo performance of his own: beatboxing - while playing the cello.
“I love taking classical songs and mixing them up,” shared the talented multi-instrumentalist as he dove into a reimagined piece by Johann Sebastian Bach. Brilliant.
What was refreshing about the show was that it was not one kind of fan base - its reach was multigenerational. Looking around the stadium, you could spot a family’s treat outing on a school night, two gawky teenagers on a date, and a large herd of women over the age of 70 who were up on their feet all night with a glass of prosecco and phone torch (the wrong way around) in hand.
It was evident that Pentatonix’s music brought all kinds of people together from all walks of life.
The five virtuosos then proceeded to sit in a line and sing the magical White Winter Hymnal, adding percussion and synchronisation with an array of claps, clicks and taps that resembled the cup song from Pitch Perfect - the film that brought a cappella into the limelight.
The band’s 90s medley, which featured hits such as Rhythm is a Dancer by Snap! and Believe by Cher, had the arena dancing, while renditions such as The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel had the audience sniffling in the stands. There was a good array of mood swings to keep fans on their toes and just enough compliments to keep us blushing.
“You’re the best crowd we’ve had on tour,” says Sallee - and the audience erupts.
Grassi chimes in, “This is probably the most fun I’ve had on tour. Is that bad to say?
It was evident that Pentatonix’s music brought all kinds of people together from all walks of life. Photo / 13th Floor Veronica McLaughlin
“This next song you’ll definitely know,” and Pentatonix begin to sing Hallelujah, the Leonard Cohen ballad that garnered the band 705 million views on YouTube six years ago and marked them as a household name for years to come.
Pentatonix have a lot going for them, and their show was proof at just how far they’ve come - and how far they’re going.
While the film Pitch Perfect had its moment - and three movies - a cappella still has a voice in the music scene. Especially when Pentatonix are using their sound in so many different ways to so many different people.
