Barbershop enthusiasts, rejoice!
Since Glee, I’ve been completely obsessed with acapella barbershop competitions.
What’s not to love?
These groups have got it all; smooth harmonies, synchronised dancing, over the top facial expressions, the general feel-goodness, and cut-throat competitiveness.
The recent Barbershop Harmony Societies, 2016 Nashville International Convention competition was tight. As usual, the standard was incredible and each team brought their finger-clicking,pitch perfect ‘A game’.
The Barbershop Harmony Society is the world’s largest and boasts an impressive 80,000 active singers worldwide. The convention is in its 78th year this year and appears to be going from strength to strength.
Without a doubt, one of the stand out performances came from Team New Zealand, called Vocal FX who performed a vocal melody of funky pop hits including Bruno Mars’s ‘Uptown Funk’, soul legend James Brown ‘I Feel Good’, and ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’.
And get up they certainly did, stunning the audience half way through their performance with a powerful and explosive rendition of the ancient Māori war dance, the Haka.
The Haka is a traditional war cry that was performed before a battle, to show the strength and prowess of the ancient Māori. In times of peace, the Haka is performed as a mark of respect and acknowledgement of New Zealand’s history. It is most commonly associated nowadays with the All Blacks, New Zealand’s stellar rugby team.
The crowd was audibly impressed by Vocal FX’s homage to their ancestors, you can hear gasps and claps that almost lift the roof off the stadium.
Although team New Zealand failed to win the competition, they did come in a very respectable 6th place and people will be talking about this particular performance for years to come. Here’s hoping we’ll be seeing more of these guys very soon.
You can watch the electric video here
