student blog

Take it from me… Take 6 is phenomenal! / Melissa

Long before I was born, Take 6 captivated audiences from all over the nation.  In fact, right as I was welcomed into this world, the ensemble performed in our beloved Hancher Auditorium in 1991.  For nearly three decades, this pronounced a cappella group has continued to revolutionize music and provide audiences with a unique music experience.  On March 24th, 2011, the group reacquainted its impressive live performances with the Iowa City community.  Even though this was my first time witnessing a Take 6 performance, it was quite easy for me to recognize the group’s endless range of talents, which highly distinguishes them from any other music ensemble.

In just ninety minutes on stage, Take 6 incorporated its musical influences, religion, personality, energy as well as some of their most celebrated tunes from the start of the members' successful journey.  On top of all that, each member of the group displayed a phenomenal vocal range.  I honestly have never heard such a diverse set of singers all on one stage before this performance. 

Their personality and energy was definitely the highlight of the performance.  There was not one dead moment in the entire ninety minutes.  All six performers took part in interacting with the audience and sustaining a contagious energy.  While they commented and sang about their religious backgrounds, they were continuously cracking the audience up.  When do you ever hear someone say they laughed at an a cappella performance? That just goes to show that it was in fact a unique experience! 

One aspect of the show that was particularly captivating for me was the fact that none of the performers seem to be the lead vocalist. They strongly withheld the essence of their group and remained in unison when it came to featuring both their personality and gifted voices.  Even though all six singers shared the same amount of stardom, the performer who caught most of my attention was the bass vocalist Alvin Chea.  Although they all proved to have incredible vocal ranges, Chea was by far the most unpredictable with his range because he was bouncing back in forth from the highest to the lowest possible registers.

All in all, I was deeply impressed and enthralled by Take 6’s Thursday night performance.   So impressed that I even “liked” their Facebook fan page and have been watching their YouTube videos for the past week. iTunes, here I come!

—Melissa Carroll

Take 6 Review / Jenna

When I first heard about Take 6, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I thought it would be an a cappella group that only sang gospel music and that sort of thing. So, I looked the group up and was pretty impressed by their musical talent and the fact that they were reviewed by The New York Times. I was pretty excited to be able to go the concert and see what the group did live, and I was more than impressed again!

Take 6's stage presence and chemistry were wonderful, and it made a fantastic show for the audience. It was so great to hear such a variety of music genres, my favorite being jazz of course, and it showed the genuine musicianship of the singers. I was having a blast at the show, laughing at their jokes, clapping when they wanted us to clap, but I was fairly surprised with the lack of audience participation. Here was this exciting show where the audience was encouraged to participate in the fun and be part of the excitement, and hardly anyone would clap along or dance. There was an awkward part after one of their songs, I don’t remember the song but it was really entertaining, and the whole right side of the audience was standing and the middle part of the left side was sitting down. I felt bad for Take 6, because they were trying so hard to keep things alive in the ballroom.

Take 6 had great energy no matter what song they performed. I was most impressed with their ability to blend. It gave me chills a few times! It’s also great that they are not afraid to express their beliefs, which is very admirable. Not only was the concert exciting, but it was great to see the two a cappella groups from campus, TakeNote and Intersection perform before and TakeNote after the concert as well. The performances definitely made people pumped to see Take 6! Overall, the concert had a cool and classy vibe and I was more than happy I decided to attend.

— Jenna Wilson