Pentatonix, the a capella group that won a television singing contest way back in 2011 and recently took the world by storm, held their second tour at the packed Smart Araneta Coliseum to the enjoyment of their Filipino fans and we were there to cover it!
Composed of Avi Kaplan, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, and Mitch Grassi, the group was formed back in 2011, before they joined and won NBC’s The Sing-Off. It is their second time performing in the Philippines after their initial concert in Cebu and Manila last 2015 and hopefully more will follow as their performance is something that you really need to experience. I’ve been to many concerts before, but Pentatonix is one of the few groups that REALLY sound like their music videos on TV and You Tube.
This is probably the first concert I’ve been to where the adoring fans just screamed and I’m not kidding! With the anticipation for the concert, every movement and shadow seen on-stage was responded to with screams from their adoring fans. The Smart Araneta Coliseum absolutely erupted when the group opened with Cracked! Then, more screaming and singing happened for each and every song as the concert went on.
With a unique harmonic style accompanied by Avi Kaplan’s unique basso profondo range and Kevin Olusola’s beat boxing, it was hard to fathom that hour and half performance that just relied on their vocals and it was a tour de force of a performance one after another! Surprisingly, there were also seniors in attendance! Some lucky concert goers were also asked to go on-stage with the group to sing Misbehavin’, but without the group singing happy birthday to them first. Now isn’t that one of the best ways to spend a birthday? Instead of going to the concert to sing with Pentatonix, they actually sang to you!
The best moment and surreal performance of the night, though, is when Pentatonix asked the crowd to keep quiet before singing Light in the Hallway and the crowd shushed each other to complete silence before the group began. Not only could we sing to their songs, we could participate with them, as well.
I especially enjoyed their performance when they covered Cheerleader, but what really blew my mind was Kevin Olusola’s solo performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1, wherein he combined classical music with beat boxing. This is also the only part where they used an actual musical instrument. I hadn’t seen that performance on YouTube before, so it gave me goosebumps seeing it performed live on-stage. If you haven’t seen it yet, I do suggest looking it up on YouTube.
So, why is it called The Manila Sing-Along? Filipinos have a natural knack for singing, no matter how good or bad we are at it; and to sing-along with Pentatonix the entire night with their entire set list and in tune? That is one fact I know that even Pentatonix will not forget about their World Tour this 2016! I do hope that they visit our shores again as it was truly a very enjoyable night.
(If you are interested in what they performed, here is the set list: Cracked/ Na Na Na/ Cheerleader /Can’t Sleep Love/ Evolution of Michael Jackson Medley/ Love Yourself/Where Are U Now Justin Bieber Medley/ Ride/ Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1/ Radioactive/Say Something/Papaoutai Medley/ NO/ Misbehavin’/ Water/ Christus Factus Est/ Aha!/ Daft Punk Medley/ Rose Gold/ New Year’s Day/ Light in the Hallway/ Sing)
