Pentatonix brings festive acapella to Louisville Monday, Dec 13 2021 

Christmas and Christmas music and Concert and Destiny Smith and Evergreen Tour and Features and holiday and Kevin Olusola and KFC Yum! Center and Kirstie Maldonado and Matt Sellee and Mitch Grassi and music, and Pentatonix and PTX and Reviews & Previews and Scott Hoying and song cover and Tour Catherine Brown 11:08 am

By Catherine Brown–

Three-time Grammy-winning acapella group Pentatonix decked the halls at the Yum! Center on Dec. 11 with their headlining “Evergreen Tour.”

I went with my best friend, Destiny Smith, a junior nursing major whom I frequently reference in my opinion articles. 

I was fortunate enough to score 2 floor seats located directly in front of the sound booth —the premium spot to hear the quintet hit high notes and belt out holiday carols.

The concert was slated to start at 7 p.m, but doors opened at 6 p.m. After grabbing our jumbo pretzels and settling down in our seats, we waited for the group to appear as Christmas music played in the background.

I noticed that the audience of this concert was significantly older than I would have imagined. Sitting all around us were older adults dressed in festive holiday dresses and ugly Christmas sweaters, all of whom had come to listen to this diverse group of young acapella singers perform some of the classics and even their own original music. 

A few minutes before the band finally appeared on stage, a handful of the audience started chanting “PTX! PTX!” over and over again. Sure enough, at around 7:45 p.m, the lights went down and the audience started yelling and cheering. A video appeared on the large screens next to the stage with the members singing “It’s Been a Long Long Time.” 

Shortly thereafter, the curtains raised and the acapella group was standing there on stage singing their acapella version of Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”

The show continued with classic holiday songs like “Joy to the World,” “The Little Drummer Boy,” and “We Need a Little Christmas.” They even sang my personal favorite PTX cover “Mary, Did You Know?” which had tenor Mitch Grassi belting out notes that you have to hear in-person to believe. Even then, I couldn’t wrap my head around the sheer strength behind his high notes.

Interspersed between songs, each band member gave a short speech about how glad they were to be in Louisville and how enthusiastic the audience was during each song.

Baritone Scott Hoying even detailed the history of the group’s origins, including the beginning of Pentatonix starting in high school with members Hoying, Grassi, and mezzo-soprano Kirstie Maldonado. Hoying joked that this was his “pretending-to-be-straight era,” which earned laughs from the audience.

Kevin Olusola, Pentatonix’s vocal percussion and an Owensboro native, shared how he felt like he was back home with the band being in Kentucky. Olusola then led the audience into a moment of silence in memory of the devastating tornado on early Saturday morning that devastated much of western Kentucky. 

The band then led into a beautiful cover of the Christian hymn “Amazing Grace.”

“I can feel the warmth and the kindness just emanating from everyone in this room,” said Mitch about the fact that everyone can be together in one large area again since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a brief intermission, during which I bought my Evergreen Tour t-shirt from the crowded merch stand, Pentatonix reemerged with a dazzling costume change and launched into their beautiful cover of “Hallelujah” by the late Leonard Cohen. 

They finished out the concert with a charming and hilarious cover of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” sung primarily by the group’s newest member, bass Matt Sellee as well as original songs from their latest album, “Evergreen” and a modern version of the classic “12 Days of Christmas.”

But I wasn’t the only one who knew that that wasn’t the end. Despite some of the audience taking an early leave, the lights in the arena hadn’t even come up yet. We all cheered on Pentatonix to come out for an encore, and they did so. They turned off their mics for a cover of the song “My Heart With You,” and their voices projected loud and clear around the room. 

They ended with a jazzy rendition of “Joyful, Joyful,” and the curtains closed for the final time that night.

The combination of holiday music, stage sets, and the sugar cookie aroma filling the Yum! Center arena (which Mitch commented on) created an atmosphere of holiday festivity.

I’ve been a fan of Pentatonix since I was 14. Since then, I’ve forced my family to watch dozens of their music videos and even saw them open for Kelly Clarkson on her 2015 “Piece by Piece Tour.” This concert was a privilege to attend and I can only hope they return to Louisville again in years to come.

 

 

Photos by Catherine Brown // The Louisville Cardinal

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Outdoor Concerts around Louisville, KY Tuesday, Apr 13 2021 

Concert and Family Fun and free and inexpensive and Kentucky and Louisville and outdoor and Parks and Southern Indiana and spring and summer and teens and Tweens loufamfunbrandy 1:00 am

Outdoor concerts make for great family fun, no matter the type of music. Outdoor concerts are typically free events and open to the public. Louisville is known for having a great music scene! Every spring and summer, several outdoor venues across Louisville and Southern Indiana host a variety of concerts. Here is a list:   Wednesdays WFPK Waterfront Wednesdays on [...]

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Viral sensation Rico Nasty to perform at SAB’s Spring Concert Thursday, Apr 1 2021 

Concert and Features and Reviews & Previews and Rico Nasty and SAB and student activities board and virtual Tate Luckey 1:00 pm

By Grace Welsh

Tonight at 7:00 p.m., the University of Louisville’s Student Activities Board will host their annual spring concert, featuring rapper Rico Nasty. The forty-minute performance, done virtually through Microsoft Teams, will be free for U of L students who sign up through SAB’s Engage portal. After the show, Rico will be doing a 20 minute Q&A session, with questions provided by SAB.

Yasmean Fogle, SAB’s concert chair, is excited to bring a strong female artist to campus.

“We haven’t had one in a long time, and I felt like this was somebody that everyone could enjoy. Sometimes it can be hard to target a specific audience,” Fogle said. “But we think everyone can love her performance.”

After not being able to host 6LACK as planned last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fogle is excited that students will be able to experience the show in their own way and engage in the performance as if it were real.

With tracks like “Smack a B****,” “OHFR” and “Jealous,” Rico has shown that she is an artist who is both exciting and relatable. Social media platforms like Tiktok, have aided Rico in becoming a viral sensation.

In choosing the artist for their spring concert, SAB’s executive board combed through a list of 25 potential artists provided by a well-known production company. Fogle and her team decided on Rico Nasty for based on her talent, well-rounded nature and ability to entertain.

“I think she’ll have a great show because she is super energetic and does whatever she wants, which is a great look,” Fogle said.

Graphic Courtesy of the Student Activities Board 

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School of Music duo share acoustic folk sound online Friday, Sep 18 2020 

arts and Cardinals and Concert and Features and Louisville and music, and SAB and SAB Live! and student musicians and the brothers' mother and UofL Joseph Garcia 12:30 pm

By Tate Luckey —

One University of Louisville duo is bringing authenticity to their music in hopes of connecting with listeners. 

Murphy Lamb and Andrew Chapman, both U of L School of Music seniors, started their band, The Brothers’ Mother, around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, the self-described acoustic folk duo have cultivated a debut EP, Oasis, and multiple live streamed performances.

The pair, whose influences range from bluegrass and country groups like Tony Rice and Nickel Creek, to old school contemporary christian singers like Rich Mullins, have an authentic, folk sound that includes acoustic guitar, delicate harmonies and lush piano tones. 

“We have a real simple, ‘stripped down’ vibe,” Lamb said.

Lamb and Chapman know too that if there’s a time where authenticity is needed, it’s now.

“We wouldn’t exist if the pandemic didn’t happen,” Chapman said. The roommates-turned-musicians recorded all their songs on nothing more than a USB mic in their apartment. 

“We had been playing music for a while, but didn’t start writing until the pandemic,” Chapman said. 

They collaborate on both ends of the songwriting spectrum, meaning both can come to each other with ideas or lyrics.

Like a modern-day Lennon/McCartney, if Chapman comes to Lamb, he usually has a lyric or concept he needs to flesh out. If Lamb comes to Chapman, he almost always has some sort of chord progression or musical idea. 

The recording process itself is where both share a mix of excitement and nervousness.

“It was actually pretty convenient because of the limitedness [of the setup], but also super challenging because we hadn’t done it before or had had a time limit,” Lamb said.

Their 5 song EP, Oasis, is about getting to know someone and their feelings. An underlying theme present in their songs is a fostering of familial connection with the listener.

“‘Making it is not a goal of mine or Andrew’s,” Lamb said when asked about their future careers as musicians. “We’re just hanging out and writing songs.”

Chapman agreed, saying his biggest goal is to make the type of music people will love. His favorite song from Oasis is “Feeling Known.”

“To me, the whole idea is about a connection through music,” Chapman said.

Oasis is available on all streaming platforms. The band recently performed live in the Red Barn as part of  SAB Concert Committee’s  “SAB Live!”  You can catch the recap of that performance on Youtube here. Interested in keeping up with The Brothers’ Mother? Follow them at @thebrothersmother on social media.

Photo Courtesy // The Brothers’ Mother

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New Lens 2020 Wednesday, Mar 11 2020 

21C and Concert and Events and new lens and new music Daniel Gilliam 11:05 am

90.5 WUOL and 21c Museum Hotel are proud to announce New Lens 2020. Here are some highlights coming up this season: April 5: Featuring “Seven Last Words of the Unarmed” by Joel Thompson (for a chorus of tenors and basses, strings, and piano) a setting of the last words of unarmed black men before they […]

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