Gobsmacked! continues at Underbelly until 31 August.
Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★
Created by the team behind the uber-successful The Magnets, this international cast of attractive young singers takes the audience through an hour of a cappella contemporary music.
Open auditions attracted more than 600 applicants and the seven performers (five boys and two girls) are clearly highly talented singers.
Star of the show is the beatbox champion – his solo spot is mightily impressive. In featured segments, looping is conveyed – where a sample of sound is taken, recorded, played back and built up in layers. I’ve seen live mixing onstage which adds to how impressive this technique can be, but here it is managed through the sound desk. The ‘wall of sound’ effect is echoed in the set – a floor to ceiling wall of ‘speakers’.
The audience in the packed purple cow was enraptured by this feel-good show, complete with party atmosphere song and standing dance for the finale, members of the cast spreading themselves throughout the audience (I contributed a line of ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’!).
It’s the first outing for this new group – there is potential here, once a sense of true ‘ensemble’ develops. At this early stage, its feels like the stage is packed with solo artists brought together, rather than a coherent group. Nonetheless, a crowd-pleasing singalong that will pack in audiences throughout the Fringe.
Fiona Orr
Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, TCB Group and Underbelly Productions
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/gobsmacked
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