Total Request Live

Tuesday night, I headed to 3030 in The Junction for a rare show by 7-member a capella band Retrocity. There were plentiful of fun arrangements of 80s music including stunning closer Mr. Roboto, although lately they have been doing more jazz-style covers such as A View To A Kill. But there were a couple of special touches tonight. For the first time, they took audience requests at various points and tried to do a short rendition on the spot. The more successful ones lent themselves to harmonies and instrumentation mimicry such as Beat It (M. Jackson) and Wouldn't It Be Good (Nik Kershaw). They tried with ones like Whip It (Devo) and Welcome To The Jungle (Guns'n'Roses) but they were more amusing than inspiring. But it wasn't just requests for the audience. Apparently, it was also an opportunity for members of Retrocity to push for rarely sung numbers. So we got two inspired cover of Lover of Mine (Queen) and a gospel song: Cross Over Jordan. That exquisite "choir" sound also appeared in a gorgeous Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen).

It's no surprise that a lot of people in the audience at their concerts are singers, too. The vocal talent on display is just an embarrassment of riches. There's usually a moment at their show when you wonder why these great singers are singing in a bar.