Since Glee, the popularity of a capella groups has soared – not least
American five-piece the Pentatonix. Yet
this British all-male, all-singing, all-dancing group released their debut
album back in 2001. This performance at the
Shepherd's Bush Empire was
the group’s biggest headline gig and a key leg on their current tour.
The tour, entitled ‘Homegrown’, shares its name with
the guys’ latest EP of all British songs, most of which were performed amongst
their substantial back catalogue. These
included a huge range of pop, jazz, barbershop and rock tracks, from Madness
and Shirley Bassey to Florence + The Machine, Rage Against The Machine and a
carnival/rave version of Adele’s Rolling
In The Deep. The more popular songs
were certainly more appreciated by the audience, but the guys’ original arrangements
were always musically complex and performed in note-perfect and unique renditions. The encore saw the guys piece together a
history of British pop music as selected by the audience that cleverly linked
different genres and songs for a finale that undoubtedly left the audience
smiling.
Described as a “six-man sound machine”, the guys’
voices blended beautifully in rich jazz harmonies, as well as sharing the
lead. The balance wasn’t always quite right, but this was more of a
sound engineering issue than the guys themselves – just have a listen to their
recordings to hear their voices melting as one.
Yet to do that would deny you the pleasure of their on-stage charm and
simple yet effective choregraphy. Fancy
footwork and even chair dancing only added to, rather than distracted from,
their performance. The high, reedy and
rasping vocal of Steve Trowell really stood out, whilst the rhythm section of Fraser
Collins on bass and the beatboxing Andy Frost provided a rock solid foundation. Frost even performed a virtuosic solo of
varying sounds, beats and tonal qualities that was a true vocal tour-de-force.
A boy-band with a difference, The Magnets are an incredibly
talented bunch who perform with impressive musicality and bring a sense of cool
to a capella singing.
4/5
Watch: Details of their tour can be found on their website.