Take 6 concert

Deciding on which Mosaic Music Festival performance to attend when on a budget was a tough choice. There were so many good acts to choose from! But one act I knew I couldn’t miss for sure was Take 6, an a capella gospel group. I’m not familiar with their music, but have a couple of their songs on jazz compilation CDs, which I enjoy very much.

It was a fantastic concert; and I was very glad to see that they weren’t ashamed to proclaim their faith, but at the same time didn’t take the preachy high road and try to beat you over the head with Jesus. Instead, they let their songs be the message, and kept their banter with each other and the audience light and fun. I liked their interactions with each other, especially when they engaged each other with mock song battles, and also their attempts to get the audience to hum along.

They sang mostly songs from their latest album, like You Can Make It – Get Victory, I Need You, Feels Good and More Than Ever, but also brought out some classic secular songs, like Smile (the only song which was accompanied by instrument on piano) and Just In Time, and a snippet of Michael Jackson’s I Wanna Rock With You (complete with Michael’s dance moves, to hilarious results). But my favourite of the night was a beautiful rendition of the hymn Lamb of God (also in their new album). That one song alone makes me want to buy their album.

While extremely enjoyable, the concert wasn’t without its faults. At times, the balancing of the sound wasn’t too good, and some voices came out more than others (more of a sound engineering issue). There were a couple of songs which, to borrow an American Idol judge’s favourite phrase, were “pitchy”, as if the group weren’t too sure of the key they were singing in, and were sort of wavering in between keys. This happened mostly when they were singing songs which involved many key changes and more complex harmonies. Also, at times I felt the group’s banter was a little too rehearsed, and while I laughed at their antics, I wished they could have been a little more spontaneous.

Of course, I’m just being really nitpicky here, and on the whole, I loved their concert and wished they could have sung longer than the 1.5 hours they were on stage. They were given a standing ovation by the audience, who seemed to be made up of mostly fans, and the group wasn’t allowed to leave the stage until they had given us 2 encores.