Rock Choir

On its tenth anniversary, QPAC’s Community Choir is this year paying tribute to Rock ‘N’ Roll with songs from The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel, through to classic groups of the eighties Queen, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd. An eclectic selection of material that encompassed hard rock to soft-pop rock.

With over 200 voices at his disposal, choirmaster Timothy Sherlock’s choral and musical arrangements gave four-part harmony life to this classic repertoire at times nearly blasting the roof off the Concert Hall.

A particularly good Queen medley got the ball rolling which included “We Are the Champions”, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Will Rock You”, which was followed by a Beatles medley that seemed to include every one of their hits and finished with a rafter-shaking “She Loves Me.” 10 CC’s “The things we do for Love” and The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” brought the decibels down a notch or two until percussionist Steve Stiller raised them up again with some great cajonhand-drumming to Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady.” Best of all however was Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” in full four-part harmony flight it was simply outstanding and rocked the hall.

The Youth Choir took centre stage for Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll”, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” and Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock ‘N’ Roll”, whilst Jack Biggs, Clancy Enchelmaier, Lauren Kingham and  Samantha Stratton busted some great vocals and moves on The Doobie Brothers’ “Listen To The Music.”

Glenn Frey’s (Eagles) hit recording of “The Heat Is On” was the backing used for Merge Dance Theatre artists stylish routine, and Prince’s “Purple Rain” with a wild vocal by Zac Parkes and some blistering guitar work by Tom Collins gave the audience a chance to join in and wave their glo-sticks.

As in previous year’s Sherlock hosted a Rock Choir quiz which allowed for some funny audience participation, but it was the kick-ass band, led my Tina Liu (Piano) and Brendan Murtagh (Keyboard) that were the highlight. With brilliant guitar and brass-work they weren’t just the support group but a star in their own right of a very enjoyable show.

Peter Pinne