Pentatonix, by far the most popular American a cappella group, turned their concert at Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta into a sprawling sampling of music genres from R&B and country to rock and classical.
The quintet’s ample skill sets were on full display, be it original music, faithful covers, remixes or medleys.
Baritone Scott Hoying played unofficial host and anchor as the group pivoted between newer songs like the anthemic “I Rise” and the peppy “Love Me When I Don’t” and familiar hits such as the Cranberries’ “Dreams” (soprano Kirsten Maldonado rocked that one) and Radiohead’s “Creep.” The group recently performed that latter song on Fox’s “The Masked Singer” dressed as colorful sushi.
Hoying made sure the audience joined in at various points, especially during an attempt at a Tik-Tok musical moment featuring 15 seconds of complicated harmonies. “Buckle up Internet,” Hoying jokingly said. Did it work? Even after doing it three times, “I still messed it up,” he said. “But that gives us character!”
Credit: RODNEY HOr
Credit: RODNEY HOr
Midway through the set, they brought opener Lauren Alaina out to belt a playful version of “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
But the highlight of the night came courtesy of beat-boxer Kevin Olusola, who was discovered by Hoying more than a decade ago on YouTube playing a cello and beat boxing. Olusola reprised his cello-playing days with mesmerizing remixes of Bach’s Cello Suite 1 and Beethoven’s Fifth.
Credit: RODNEY h
Credit: RODNEY h
Near the end of the night, in pure Atlanta pandering mode, Olusola switched into a Michael Vick Falcons No. 7 jersey and South Carolina native and bassist Matt Sallee put on a Hank Aaron 44 jersey, noting he had been at Truist Park the night before to see the Braves beat up on the Yankees.
They then sang a medley of karaoke sing-a-long songs including Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” before concluding with Montell Jordan’s “This is How We Do It.”
But then came the big surprise: Jordan himself popped out on stage to do lead vocals on his own 1994 classic while Olusola and Sallee provided a beat-box backdrop.
Pentatonix finished their pre-encore set first with a head-bopping medley of 1990s dance tunes by the likes of Eiffel 65 (”Blue”), ATC (”All Around the World”), Haddaway (”What Is Love”), C&C Music Factory (”Gonna Make You Sweat”) and, of course, Cher (”Believe”). Then they concluded with a solemn interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” a staple of their tours in recent years.
While some families began leaving before the encore as the clock edged past 10:30 p.m. on a school night, those who stayed were treated to an emotional read of the 2008 Rescues love song “My Heart With You.”
While Pentatonix was prepping for “The Sing Off” in 2011, pre-fame, Hoying said that particular song gave them “solace and peace.” They avoided covering it in concert until 2021. The five singers stood around a lightbulb and a 1940s-era replica microphone and sang a cappella so softly, the entire crowd of 10,000-plus was forced to stay absolutely silent as they absorbed the group’s harmonies.
But they knew they had to conclude the concert with something a bit more upbeat so they opted for a tried-and-true winner: Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Mitch Grassi, donning a mustache that made him look like a smaller version of Freddy Mercury, channeled the late singer’s aching vocal performance and his bandmates ably backed him up.
Credit: RODNEY HO/hr
Credit: RODNEY HO/hr
Earlier in the evening, In a multi-colored fringe-heavy dress, Alaina gave a shout out to many of her friends and family from Rossville near Chattanooga who drove down to see her.
The season 10 “American Idol” runner-up provided the crowd with an eight-song summary of her career that now spans 12 years, three studio albums and several major country hits.
Her vocals were on point and her spirited personality in full display as she went solo on the playful “One Beer,” a 2020 duet with Hardy, and 2017′s “What Ifs,” a duet she did with her high school classmate Kane Brown.
She introduced two newer songs: “Don’t Judge a Woman,” a pensive ballad she dedicated to her mom in the audience, and “Thicc as Thieves,” a barn-burning ode to body positivity and TikTok friendly dance steps that interpolates fellow Georgian Luke Bryan’s 2011 No. 1 hit “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).”
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