On Wednesday night, I found myself in Fox Oakland Theatre, waiting for Pentataonix come on stage. Penta-who? Oh, you know. The season three winners of NBC's The Sing-Off. The winner of Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Capella at the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards AND who presented the Lifetime Achievement Award alongside Barry Gibb. The group with the fourth best selling album in the U.S. in 2014 for the Platinum-certified That's Christmas to Me (and ahead of them: Frozen, Taylor Swift, and Sam Smith, a.k.a., THAT IS HUGE).
I first heard of Pentatonix (a.k.a. PTX) when they did an a cappella version of "Telephone" from Lady Gaga. Being a Little Monster myself, I knew I had to watch the video. And? LOVED it. I was so happy that they did it live on Wednesday.
I was in complete awe, as they performed for about 90 minutes straight. There was not a single back-up track to be heard or instrument in sight (except for a cello in the middle of the concert -- more on that later), or special fancy effects to be seen. All we saw Pentatonix (with a screen in the background, a bleacher-like set-up on stage) and all we heard was every one of their voices, individually and together. That's it. And for the show to be enjoyable for that long, without any of that? Completely amazing.
One of the most impressive performances of the night was when they did the evolution of music. It was a 4-5 minute performance of approximately 36 song snippets/verses, starting from the ELEVENTH (!!) century through the present. (And the Backstreet fan inside of me was so happy to hear them have "I Want It That Way" in there.) Im. Pres. Sive.
Another amazing moment was when Kevin Olusola played the cello AND beatboxed at the same time. Just another example of how Pentatonix is just filled with nothing but crazy talented people.
Some of my other favorite moments (I think there were too many), would have to be:
- Beyonce Medley: Queen Bey, ya'll. AND it includes Destiny's Child.
- La La Latch: Because Sam Smith, duh. Mashup of "La La" and "Latch."
- Let's Get It On: HILARIOUS and very enjoyable because they brought a fan on stage (need to see it!). Impressive showcasing of Scott Hoying's vocals.
- That's Christmas To Me: Introduced as Christmas in February, with the fireplace in the background and everything. Then, they turned all of that off and did it off-mic. Just beautiful. (And also pictured above.)
Leaving the concert to head out for a late dinner, all I could think of was how impressive Pentatonix is, made of incredibly hardworking, creative, and talented members. That Grammy win, PTX? So well deserved. Bravo!