Concert Review: Straight No Chaser arranges and performs a 'brilliant' show

Straight No Chaser
Dec. 9
The Wiltern

It’s one thing to feel your seat rumble while you’re listening to heavy bass in hip-hop or electronic music. It’s another thing entirely to almost feel the same thing when that bass is coming from one person.

That is exactly what happened during “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” one of the highlights of a cappella group Straight No Chaser’s outstanding sold-out show at The Wiltern Friday night.

Dressed in matching suits and equipped with extraordinarily pure singing voices, the 10 men of Straight No Chaser seemed completely at home on the theater’s stage. The group proceeded through a long and varied set list, which featured specially arranged covers of songs from Elvis hits to more recent chart-toppers such as “Fix You” by Coldplay. All the while, different members of the group exchanged witty banter with the crowd to transition from song to song.

And, with the exception of a few pitch issues in a still-moving rendition of Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” and a slightly too-fast cover of Weezer’s “Buddy Holly,” there was just about nothing wrong with anything Straight No Chaser did.

More vocal highlights included soloists Michael Luginbill (whose voice soared effortlessly on “Like a Prayer”) and Jerome Collins, whose cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” truly did justice to the song, which, as one of the group members quipped, was responsible for the birth of a large portion of the audience.

Also impressive was the vocal range of Tyler Trepp, whose ability to sing into the stratosphere (completely on pitch) was stunning.

Though the group’s arrangements were simple, they were easy to follow and the warmth of Straight No Chaser’s choir-like delivery never faltered.

After the end of its set, Straight No Chaser quickly responded to roaring applause and performed an encore consisting of a Lady Gaga medley and “Twelve Days of Christmas,” the group’s variation on the holiday classic featured in the viral video that led to the group’s record deal.

The members of Straight No Chaser were on top of their game Friday night, and it resulted in a brilliant set.