INTERESTED in hearing Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” sung as Ella Fitzgerald would? Or Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” performed as if it came out in the 1960s? Or Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” done 1950s prom style? You can thanks to Post Modern Jukebox (PMJ), a vintage minstrel band which currently has over one billion views on YouTube and almost 3.5 million subscribers.
The group will be heading over to Manila for a one-night concert on Sept. 14 at the Kia Theater in Cubao, Quezon City. The concert is part of their ongoing world tour. Tickets go on sale starting 10 a.m. today at all Ticketnet outlets.
The band, created by music arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee, reimagines contemporary pop, rock, and R&B hits in the style of yesteryears, from swing to doo-wop, ragtime to Motown — or, as Mr. Bradlee himself puts it, “pop music in a time machine,” according to a statement.
“When I was in high school, I was getting into really like early jazz, stuff like ragtime and New Orleans music and things like that,” he said in the statement.
“You can imagine that most of my peers weren’t really into that kind of music. They didn’t play a whole lot of ragtime at school dances back then. So I wanted to be able to share this with my friends, and one thing I wound up doing since I had pretty good ears — I taught myself a lot by ear — I would just kind of pick out pop songs that they liked and turned them into ragtime or jazz and stuff,” he explained.
The group’s big break came in 2013 after doing a jazzy cover of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” which went viral, reaching over a million views in its first week, and climbing to No. 8 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart. It currently has 14 million views.
The band followed it up with Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” in the style of ’50s doo wop in 2014. That video currently has 18 million views.
Post Modern Jukebox’s choice of material ranges from the 1980s hard rock of Guns N’ Roses to the most current hits of today and the songs are performed by a rotating cast of musicians wearing clothes that match their version’s particular era or genre.
“I take pride in putting together the right powers and personalities to create a unique and amazing experience for our fans,” Mr. Bradlee was quoted as saying in the release.
“We want them to escape reality and join us for the most sensational 1920s party this side of The Great Gatsby. We want them to experience what it was like to be at the New Years’ Eve show that Sinatra would have hosted in the 1940s. We want them to feel the excitement of hearing the greats of Motown live and up close. Our goal is to give our audiences their favorite show again and again and still have it feel like the very first time,” he added.
Tickets are available all Ticketnet outlets, through www.ticketnet.com.ph or by calling 911-5555. Ticket prices range from P2,500 (Balcony) to P9,600 (VIP Gold Package). — Z.B. Chua

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