September 19, 2014
Last week, Occidental was visited by one of England’s best British boy bands. Before you think One Direction secretly held a concert on campus while you were asleep, I’m referring to the amazing a cappella group, All the Kings Men. Equally as charming and good looking as 1D, All the Kings Men stopped by the Bird Studio on Thursday as part of their US tour. The a cappella group came to us all the way from King’s College London where the group was originally founded in 2009. Just like the Barden Bellas from Pitch Perfect, this year AtKM made it to the International Championships of Collegiate A cappella (ICCA); an impressive accomplishment unprecedented by any other UK a cappella group.
I showed up on Thursday with little knowledge of the group and not quite knowing what to expect. As soon as they started us off with a Lady Gaga medley though, I knew it was going to be a great show. It was all uphill from there as they performed a variety of upbeat and soft songs, each highlighting the voices of one or two singers out of the 11 men in the group. Each singer had his own individual style and dashing good looks that when put together made them a charismatic group to watch. The Men accompanied their stellar singing with matching choreography that made their performance more enjoyable. My personal favorite was their Jungle Book medley in which they performed “The Bare Necessities” (classic) and “I Wanna Be Like You.” Their funny monkey dancing was in wonderful contrast to the serious and formal feel of the Bird Studio. The audience laughed and clapped as The Men monkeyed around onstage. Interwoven with the fun were also softer and heartfelt songs. One such moment was when they sang a remembrance song in honor of those who passed on 9/11. It was considerate of them to pay homage to the victims of the 2001 American tragedy. The Men concluded their show with a spider-themed medley which revisited our childhood song “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and combined it with the Spiderman theme song. Throughout the show it was obvious that they were all in their element which made them all the more fun to watch. Sadly, their tour is over and they are now headed back to the UK but we await their return to the States.
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