'The Brits Are Coming': All the King's Men Tour America
All the King’s Men (ATKM), the vibrant male a cappella group from King’s College London, have recently returned from their highly-successful tour of prestigious east coast US universities and schools.
Long before ‘Glee’, a cappella groups have had a long tradition and following in the US. ATKM were in awe of the reputation of their US counterparts and welcomed the opportunity to showcase their uniquely British take on a cappella.
The groundbreaking tour saw ATKM perform at Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, British School of Washington, Washington International School, Princeton, Colombia, Wellesley College and Tufts, during a hectic 10 day schedule.
Straight off the plane, ATKM were whisked away to Georgetown for their first performance hosted by the Georgetown Chimes. With an audience of over 500 people, the atmosphere was buzzing with anticipation for King’s a cappella group. Henry Southern said; ‘The performance [in Georgetown] was fantastic! It was great to meet a top quality a cappella group and hear them perform.’ Flo Akinmade added; ‘We were nervous after the amazing displays of a cappella that went before us, but we got up on stage and gave it our all to a wonderfully ecstatic reception.’
See a full slideshow of the tour on iKing's.
The tour dates were not entirely limited to educational institutions, however. The group continued to perform whilst on the road and impromptu guerrilla shows were performed to pleasantly surprised members of the public on top of the Rockefeller Building, Times Square and even at the ticket desk of Washington’s Union station.
All in all the tour was a great accomplishment for ATKM, for them individually to experience a cappella culture in America and to perform to more than 2,000 people; and more broadly, for the group to promote King’s in such a unique fashion.
Charlie Ransley said; ‘We have formed many lasting relationships with students from a range of American universities’ and Henry Southern commented; ‘The hospitality of all the universities and a cappella groups was my highlight of the trip. Their kindness and generosity was overwhelming.’
Charlie Ransley added; ‘Because a cappella is so big in the US, the performances were just a really great way into the social life of the universities we went to. Our personable, confident style of performance really opened up our audience and our offer to talk to students after the show was taken up everywhere we went- even if it was just to hear our English accents! Overall, it was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience; I would definitely do it again!’ Cameron Carr added; ‘The entire tour is probably something that one might describe as a once in a lifetime experience, one that I have had the pleasure to take part in entirely!’
All the King’s Men are excited about the ‘USA Tour 2011: The Homecoming Concert’ on 20 March at the Great Hall, The Strand; where the Cornell Hangovers will also be performing on their own tour of the UK. For more information on this event, please visit their facebook page, or the All the King’s Men’s website.
After winning the London regional round, All the King’s Men are also due to compete in the National final of The Voice Festival UK on 12 March at Greenwood Theatre on Guy’s Campus. The men shall be up against other a cappella groups from around the country, including; Cadenza from Cambridge, Augmented 7 from Birmingham, Oxford’s Out of the Blue and The Accidentals from St Andrews.
Tickets for The Voice Festival are available at:
www.thevoicefestival.co.uk