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| A photo of the stage from our seats. |
After thirty five minutes of performing, act one ended. That's right, act one was shorter than the time the group made us wait for them to start. At that point, I was furious, especially given the fact that act two of a performance is always short. If that was going to be the case, this was going to be an incredibly short concert prolonged only by the extreme and unprofessional delay levied upon concert goers. I sat in my chair, which I paid a ridiculous amount of money to occupy, fuming; hoping and praying that act two would break the mold and be longer than act one.
Act two started, and the group as a whole seemed to be a little bit more in their stride. They were a little more relaxed and interacted with the audience a little more, which brings me to another point: the group didn't seem very friendly, both with the audience and with each other. Like I said before, I've seen my fair share of concerts. When you go to a concert, you're not just going to hear the music, you're going to hear stories and anecdotes from the performers. It isn't just one song after another, they take breaks to share stories about the songs: what they mean to them, the thought process behind them, maybe little funny quirks about them you wouldn't get from just listening to the song. It's also an opportunity for the performers to share stories from their personal lives and really connect with their fans. I can't even begin to tell you all the information I learned about Hugh Jackman during his concert in July. i left that performance loving that man even more than I already did (if that was even possible). I left the Pentatonix concert, however, feeling very conflicted about my feelings towards the group. I still loved their music, but I struggled with reconciling that with their actions during the show. The biggest thing I noticed was the lack of interaction with the audience. Often, they would go from one song to the other with either no introduction or something like, "This is one of our favorite Christmas songs to perform, we hope you like it too. If you know the words, sing along. This is (insert name of song here)." That's it, nothing else. At one point during the concert, Mitch did go out into the audience briefly to ask audience members their favorite Christmas movie, but it was minimal, and he was back on stage within a minute. At another point, the new bass singer, Matt, went out into the audience as well, but it was also minimal. Each time, they only spoke to one audience member only a few rows back, and then they returned to the stage. It's not as if the group members were interacting much on stage either. As a whole, they seemed fairly stiff around each other and really didn't talk to each other. The only two I really saw talking were Matt and Kevin (the beatboxer). Everyone else kept to themselves and barely acknowledged each other during the concert. It was all very strange.
On our way home, Nicholas and I talked about the concert. We decided not to go to the stage door because we got the feeling that the band wouldn't be that friendly to meet (not to mention we had no idea where it was). We also discussed the strange dynamic we saw up on stage. We both concluded that we got the feeling the band members didn't entirely get along. Very early on in the concert (the second or third song), I also had this gut feeling that the band wouldn't be together for that much longer. It's unfortunate to think about that, and I feel that the audience should never get that vibe from a group performing. Not only are we paying good money to hear the group perform, but we are also expecting an upbeat performance where the group looks like they get along. They at least have to pretend to do so while on stage. All of this has shed new light onto why Avi, the original bass singer, might have left two and a half years ago.
Okay, now that I've gotten all of that out of my system, I can finally talk about the music. When it came to just the singing, Pentatonix did a great job, not that I would expect anything less. They really are a wonderful group with a lot of talent. The overwhelming majority of their concert was Christmas music, with a random other song thrown in here or there, but those songs all had some sort of Christmas connection. I took a lot of videos, way more than I probably should have. I'll include a few of them, but you can find all of them on my YouTube channel (there isn't much on there, I'm not going to lie).
The first song I want to talk about is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". I'm not a big fan of this song. In fact, this is the only version of this song that I like in any capacity. I enjoy the upbeat nature of it, how it seems to jump up and down (if that makes any sense). What I love the most, however, is the end. The song builds up to an exciting crescendo where Pentatonix then speeds up the song faster and faster with a strong beat underneath. It's fun, exciting and unlike any other version of this song you'll ever hear.
On their latest Christmas album, Pentatonix takes on "Making Christmas" from my favorite Christmas movie: Nightmare Before Christmas. It's a fun song, and that's definitely reflected in the performance. If you pay attention to the image projected on the screen in the background, you'll notice it's a traditional Christmas scene with a twist: it's covered with spider webs and other spooky decorations. It was a lot of fun to see it performed live, and it's a fun, unconventional Christmas song to listen to as well.
"Mary, Did You Know?" is Nicholas' favorite Christmas song by Pentatonix, and it's easy to see why. With its beautiful and simple scenery and the absolutely haunting harmonies, their YouTube video of this song blew up all over the internet. I feel like this is such an underrated song. Those who know it, love the message asking Mary if she knew the little baby Jesus would have such a huge impact on the world as she cared for him and loved him just as a human, nothing more, nothing less. It is sobering to think about and often reminds us of Christ's humanity, not the fact that he is seen by many as the Savior (I'm trying my hardest to remain as politically neutral as possible here). If you've never heard the song, you definitely need to check it out. I feel like it's gained more of a following in recent years, but the song itself is 35 years old. This means it's still a fairly newer Christmas song in the grand scheme of things, and there are plenty of people who aren't familiar with it. I do believe it is going to become a classic, just like "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World" in the coming years.
This song was one of the few times where Pentatonix really talked to the audience and a little about themselves as a band. Scott explained that when they first started their group, they had no idea where to find a beatboxer, so they did what most people do today: they turned to the internet. They typed "beatboxing" into the internet, and the first video that popped up was Kevin beatboxing while playing the cello; both of which are incredibly challenging tasks to do individually, let alone together! They sent Kevin a message on YouTube, and he got back to them explaining that he was a little busy at the moment with finals: he was in his senior year of pre-med at Yale. They let it go, but Kevin got back to them two weeks later saying he had a little bit of free time, so he flew out to Los Angeles, and the rest is history. Kevin demonstrated his "celloboxing" as he calls it, and it did not disappoint! He also does it in Pentatonix's cover of "Radioactive" with Lindsey Stirling, which is just as amazing. What I would love is to see him do something with Piano Guys. I feel like they could make something really fun and magical happen there. Hopefully, we'll see that happen in the future.
Before you watch the next video, you should know that it is not the best quality (not that any of my videos are top notch quality). It was the second song in the encore, and Scott and Matt were near us dancing in the aisles with members of the audience. I kept pushing Nicholas to get closer since the people who sat between us and the aisle already left, so you're going to hear him complain too. I wanted to get closer because it looked like fun, and Scott's my favorite member of the band. So, I apologize ahead of time for that.
The song I really wanted to hear Pentatonix perform was "O Come All Ye Faithful". It was my Pop-Pop's favorite Christmas song, and while I've always enjoyed it, I've come to love it even more ever since he passed away. This version, however, I don't think he would have liked at all. It's fun, upbeat and exciting. A wonderful twist on a classic song. I knew, however, that it would be difficult for Pentatonix to perform this song, because it ends with an entire choir singing along, not just the five of them. I remained optimistic though. Unfortunately, they didn't perform it. I wasn't too bummed out, as they had a wonderful collection of songs that they performed. I have embedded the music video below, and you should definitely check it out.
Overall, the actual music was fantastic. When talking to my co-worker this morning, however, she had an excellent point: you can listen to the music whenever you want, when you go to a concert, you're going for the experience. This experience was extremely lackluster. I hope that Pentatonix was just having an off day of sorts, and their concerts usually aren't like this, because I would definitely like to see them again. It will probably be a while, though, because I spent a lot of money no this concert only to have a series of disappointments.
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