Straight No Chaser, Murat Theatre 12/3/09

I was trepidatious about going to see an acapella group perform. I’ve been in choirs, I’ve been in barbershop quartets, etc., but I’ve never really enjoyed the niche that modern acapella mens’ groups hold.  I feel that this particular style of music will only grow laterally. Simply put, there are human limitations that won’t allow a vertical expansion- and I refuse to call any acapella auto-tuning (a la T-Pain) acapella.

My sister is a senior in high school and has been recorded with choirs, including well-known national touring acts that she’s toured with, so I felt it was appropriate to invite her along. Not only did I want her to help me with some of the “newer” songs that I’m unfamiliar with, but I wanted her to be encouraged to see that music can be a viable career option (she’s planning on majoring in some sort of vocal study).

The seats were absolutely fabulous; sixth row, front and center. Unlike other similar venues such as Louisville’s Palace Theatre (one of my favorite places to see a show), the Murat doesn’t provide any intimacy between the audience and the artists for seats under and in the balcony. For a group such as Straight No Chaser (SNC), that’s not necessarily an issue, but it still plays a factor in the overall experience, particularly given that there are no musical instruments involved beyond voices.

The group opened with Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” I just saw Stevie back in October (hold your laughing, even he joked about it), and interestingly enough, he opened with the same song. It wasn’t a real attention grabber in my opinion. I quickly established that the evening may end up in what I feared most- a brochoir performance. The arrangement wasn’t very strong, but perhaps SNC was anxious and eager to be home performing for friends and family. After a rousing applause, the group bantered about how great it felt to finally be home in Indianapolis- the theme that carried through with nearly all of the downtime between songs.

The brochoir persona was further reiterated with their second song, another cover, by Jason Mraz. I did enjoy their arrangement of “I’m Yours” into Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” back into Mraz’s song. The vocal onomatopoeia beatboxing was impressive, and the group had clearly settled into their comfort groove. While a few people trickled in to the VIP section, Jerome shook his head and got laughs from the crowd. Sidenote- he was the most charismatic of the 10-member group and carried the greatest stage presence throughout their performance.

A stunning arrangement of “Africa” by Howie Day gave me goosebumps. With the exception of some of the holiday tunes, SNC’s performance of this song blew me away and saved me from losing interest in the rest of the concert. This version was so good, it’s worth paying the entire $12.99 for an album.

“Africa” was followed with another incredibly arranged cover. Blood, Sweat and Tears’ “Hi-De-Ho” was phenomenal. I was absorbed into the song and the soulful way they expressed themselves. It allowed the basses to demonstrate their vocal range- and as a bass myself, it’s always something we enjoy doing.

My second favorite song overall of the night was SNC’s cover of Lauryn Hill’s cover of The Flamingos “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” Everything about the arrangement was slick. The group killed it. I especially loved the way they transposed the song up a whole step for the last chorus. It was interesting, unexpected and very well done.

The group closed out their first set with their “Straight No Chaser Theme Song,” which was their first original song of the night. It was good, but nothing stood out.

SNC took a break from their normal album work to sing some Christmas songs off their new album. “Hey Santa!” was funny and lighthearted. The faux horns (performed by four of the members marching around on stage pretending their microphones were brass) was a great touch and made me chuckle.

The group then made fun of “Jingle Bells” and how overplayed the song is- so they vowed to perform it in under two minutes. It was a good arrangement that reminded me of one that Barbra Streisand covers. However, this was the first song in which I could tell the group was not deliberately off pitch. I’m not sure how obvious it would have been to the average listener, but both my sister and I picked up on it.

Sure enough, the pitch/tone giver device came out of the pocket of one of the tenors before they sang a Mission Impossible inspired cover of “We Three Kings.” The arrangement was good, and I thought SNC was having a good time with it.

The group then performed the bread and butter audience piece, another original, entitled “Indiana Christmas.” It was heartwarming, but that’s about it. Nothing impressive, but their “Christmas Can Can” was absolutely hilarious. I was laughing with the audience and their choreographed stage moves had the crowd in stitches.

Leading up to intermission, I wondered how long they would perform in their second set. There’s only so much acapella I can tolerate, and they had already been on stage for nearly an hour. Unfortunately, their theme song reminded me that there’s a distinct possibility that they really are just a brochoir.

The guys switched out their MadMen black ties for red ones before opening up the second set with “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” It’s not one of my favorite holiday songs, but they did alright. The arrangement was boring in places. It made me go back to my question at intermission: How long can an acapella group hold an audience?

The Beach Boys Christmas song was good. Brian Wilson would have been pleased. However, my interest was quickly dwindling and later evening plans were culminating in my head. The members would speak after each song, and sometimes rambled. At this point, I had become detached from the show.

“Gloria” was a good comeback. I liked the arrangement, but I didn’t think it was a good fit for the group. It would have been better suited for Boyz II Men or another R&B group.

The echo effect created on the trailing end of the word “syne” from their version of “Auld Lang Syne” was creative and it played off well with the rest of the song. Beyond that, there was nothing special about the arrangement or performance. They needed to boost the energy levels. I noticed that the majority of the audience was between their 30s-50s, and that they were enjoying themselves. That reminded me that I’m not their target audience, and while SNC is an extremely talented group, acapella is so limited.

There were some pitch issues with “Carol of the Bells.” The arrangement started roughly, but the group bounced back well and the rest of the song went well. It’s a song that really is meant for an acapella vocal group, and had they been stronger in the beginning, could have gotten my attention better than being flat in the beginning.

“Rehab.” Seriously? The conversation SNC had before they performed this was about how they want to bend the rules of acapella and branch out, but not with this song. The arrangement was not impressive, Jerome jumped into the audience and sang it, but this was the one they should have left out. The group was noticeably flat, and I felt as though Jerome was trying too hard to emulate Amy Winehouse, and without cocaine, heroin, and a ridiculous amount of booze and cigarettes, she can’t really be matched.

In my notes from the concert, I wrote “The guy’s aftershave next to me is horrific.” Glad that’s off my chest.

Another one they could have left out, even though it’s a crowd pleaser, was “In the Jungle,” a popular South African Song that was made famous by The Weavers. It was too cliché, and annoying. To make things worse, they segued into “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison back into “In the Jungle.” Honestly, when I hear these songs they are at karaoke dive bars behind gyros joints in dark alleys. Granted, SNC performed them well, I wish they would have left them for another show in another city. Did they extend their setlist because of the fact that they had a HUGE group of friends and family at the Murat? Probably.

There’s a little Cheers theme-song interlude where the group gets the audience to sing. They know they need to bring the crowd back in to the show. What better way than a sitcom medley? My sister and I had a fun time guessing which theme song was going to be next. The order went: Full House> Andy Griffith Show> Beverly Hillbillies>Diff’rent Strokes>Brady Bunch. It was fun, but once again, I find myself losing interest. They’ve performed for almost two hours now.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Under the Bridge” was neat. It was definitely not something I was expecting from them, and I enjoyed it. My only qualm was they didn’t incorporate the descant from the ending chorus, and I felt as though that was something the tenors were MORE than capable of adding. The talent and ability was there, so I was disappointed when they didn’t incorporate that part into their arrangement.

“You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three” into “All the Single Ladies” back to “You and Me…” was fun. The choreography had me laughing, I loved the bass’s walking boogie line (that sounded SPOT ON for a real bass), and the group was having fun again.

The curtains went down and the audience stood up. They came back and encored with an absolutely beautiful cover of “Stand By Me.” Brilliant arrangement, their voices matched so well together on the harmonies. It was perfect for that moment, home in Indianapolis in front of friends and family who have supported them from the very beginning- a moving homage.

It was announced that the show was sold out, and everyone cheered and applauded before the group sang “Back Home Again in Indiana.” Hoagy would have been glowing with pride at the arrangement. I wish they had sung more of their repertoire like “Stand By Me” and “Back Home Again in Indiana.” They were superb.

Another standing ovation followed and the group did their “Twelve Days of Christmas/ Christmas in Africa” medley that is funny. It was actually the first song of theirs that I had heard a few days prior to the show on one of the local radio stations. They then walked off the stage and came back without microphones and performed a moving version of “O Holy Night.” The arrangement was well done, and I especially liked the modulation before the bridge section into the section “Fall on Your Knees.” I had goosebumps and it gave me chills. I was grateful for being so close to the stage because I could better hear the intricacies of the harmonizing.

SNC is fantastic at what they do. They’ll hopefully bring an otherwise dying genre of music back to the record store maps. It’s great to claim them as Hoosiers, and they’re good performers. They did walk a fine line between a mens’ group and brochoir, but that’s to be expected. Overall, it was a very good concert. They had put countless hours into performing, and it was obvious that this has been their favorite show by far. I can see why they are right next to John Mayer’s latest album on the top downloads on iTunes. If you get a chance to see them, don’t pass it up, regardless of what type of music interests you. They throw in some songs that we wouldn’t expect to be performed in an acapella manner, and their musicianship and tightness as a group makes for a good show.