K-Chuck Radio: A Pentatonix kind of day…

Date night tonight.  Off to see Pentatonix at SPAC.

And when it comes to date night, I do not skimp.

I’ve done SPAC concerts in the past – and if at all possible, I avoid getting lawn seats.  Because, let’s face it.  When you’re sitting on the lawn, you can barely see the stage.  And you’d better hope it’s not raining.

No.  When I go to SPAC, I purchase amphitheater seats.  My date deserves to sit in a seat and SEE the artist performing.

And with that in mind, we’re going to see the five-member vocal harmony a capella group Pentatonix.

You might have heard of them.

Actually, the first time I heard of them was when they did a medley of several Daft Punk songs.

Apparently Pentatonix are great students of music history… which should be evident by this video, “Evolution of Music.”

Now it’s not the case that Pentatonix works exclusively without musical instruments … although their oeuvre is the human voice and all its complexities, that doesn’t stop them from collaborating with artists who do use strings or horns.  For example, check out their cover of “Radioactive” with guest violinist Lindsey Sterling.

It was said that Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” was impossible to perform live in its entirety, in that the operatic portion was created with hundreds of vocal overdubs in the studio.  Although I don’t think that Freddie Mercury would have a problem if these guys took the stage and belted out the operatic section without blinking an eye. 😀

Okay, here’s another one of their pop “Evolution” medleys, this time they go through the entire Jackson 5 / Michael Jackson catalog in six minutes or less.

And if Pentatonix couldn’t win me over before all this vocal harmony deliciousness, they found a way to collaborate with the most awesome fantastic vocal group of all time, Manhattan Transfer.  Damn.  Nine voices like this and I already want to decorate the house for the holidays.

And if you ever wanted to hear Pentatonix singing with one of the greatest female country singers of all time – no, not Taylor Swift, you damn millennials – scope out this version of “Jolene” as performed with Dolly Parton.  Damn that’s awesome.

Hey, do you remember that rap hit from a couple of years ago about the guy who bought a bunch of clothes at the thrift shop and cursed throughout the song?  Yep, Pentatonix covered that one as well, and this version is totally safe for work.

Okay, one more.  This is Pentatonix putting together an entire jukebox medley with a Wizard of Oz theme, in a collaboration with Todrick Hall.

In other words, in case you haven’t figured out by this blog post, I’m “pre-gaming” for Pentatonix tonight.

Date night.  It’s an awesome feeling.  😀