Vintage Twelve’s debut at the fringe was a resounding and harmonious success.
In the ringing acoustics of St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, a cappella quintet Vintage Twelve took to the stage to perform an array of songs ranging from Purcell to The Beatles. With three warbling sopranos and an alto, reminiscent of The Andrews Sisters, a smooth singing tenor and a very jolly bass, the group’s arrangements were a delight to hear.
Chronologically working their way through their repertoire, the programme opened with the ‘Sounds of Britain’, including a lovely version of ‘The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond’ which soprano Fiona Mortimer said she hoped would get the audience all ‘relaxed and patriotic’. Judging by the teary-eyed front-rowers, it certainly did. The next stop on the programme was jazz. With plenty of shoobadoos, perhaps an unfair amount loaded onto bass Andrew Carvel, renditions of an energetic ‘I Got Rhythm’, a spine tingling ‘Funny Valentine’ and many other great jazz tunes, it was the strongest part of the group’s set.
The final part of the set was popular music. Although there were some great arrangements, they didn’t quite have the fluidity of the previous songs. Tenor Stuart Murray Mitchell, an excellent baroque singer and tuning fork maestro, struggled slightly with the higher pitches of songs such as Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’. However, lending a slightly operatic timbre to them wasn’t all that bad.
It was hard to tell they were newbies, probably only noticeable by the occasional feet shuffling and eyes-fixed to the page moments, Vintage Twelve put on a good show with plenty of songs you’ll want to sing along to.
