On Wednesday April 29th, a sold out Ziggo Dome welcomed the American a capella group Pentatonix into their hearts. The group formed in 2011 and made up of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee and Kevin Olusola, showed us why their musical talent has earned such a loyal following.
The show opened with ‘Dreams’, ‘Daft Punk’ and a medley of 90s songs, before moving into ‘White Winter Hymnal’. Perched on stools, the group created a rhythm by slapping their knees, building layers of sound using only their voices and bodies. Their years of working together were clear in the tightness of the harmonies, though there was also space for each of their individual voices to shine, with solo songs they built into their set. Mitch had the honour of opening with a song from his solo work as Messer.
Scott and Kirstin then took to the stage to perform a powerful version of ‘Creep’ that earned them a big round of applause. As the applause settled Scott encouraged the crowd to take part in a TikTok by moving their flashlights up and down and singing to certain words from ‘L-O-V-E’.
As Scott stepped off stage, Matt and Kevin took over with an instrumental song called ‘Showdown’. Kevin combined beatboxing with electric cello while Matt added a drum solo, as they turned the performance into a playful contest where the audience joined in with clapping and cheering challenges. The crowd only grew louder as the full group returned for ‘Papaoutai’, complete with simple but effective choreography and a T-shirt was launched into the crowd mid song.
The pace of the evening changed with Kristin’s solo being ‘Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti’ by Rosalia. You could hear a pin drop in the venue as she delivered high notes that brought genuine goose bumps. This was followed by ‘Where Is My Husband’ with the rest of the group, before Scott decided to get up close and personal for his solo. Singing his song from the barrier while handing out high fives and even signing a t-shirt, before getting back on the podium.
We stayed in a soft and sweet atmosphere for a while with the love medley, before leading into their new original song ‘Heaven On Earth’. The crowd then ironically fell completely silent for ‘The Sound of Silence’, a great showcase of the group’s impeccable harmonizing skills. Mitch kept things light with a joke about enjoying life while looking out over the crowd before introducing a mash up of ‘Golden’ and ‘Midnight Sun’.
‘Sing’ was announced as the final song, bringing a burst of energy with the entire crowd clapping and moving along. After leaving the stage, Scott returned alone for the encore, beginning ‘Hallelujah’ with the audience singing along to part of the chorus, as the rest of the group joined him on stage.
Scott tells the crowd they used to sing around one mic, old school a capella style, and so they brought that back for ‘Run To You’. The night closed with a fitting finale ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, that got the crowd singing along and cheering loudly. With one last thank you and a wave goodbye, the group exited, leaving the Ziggo Dome in a state of utmost adoration for this mesmerising a capella group.
