If you haven’t gotten tickets yet to see Pentatonix when they come through Philly, you might be out of luck. The vocal group’s Sept. 10 show at Union Transfer has been sold out for weeks.
Sold-out shows have come as no surprise since the group got a major bump in popularity after appearing on — and winning — NBC’s recently canceled a-cappella singing competition “The Sing-Off.”
“It was quite an experience,” said Mitch Grassi, the group’s openly gay member, describing the group’s appearance on the show. “We all worked so hard for this one thing. It taught us discipline, responsibility and the importance of rehearsing. It taught proper musicality and to be humble and proud of who we are.”
But increased name recognition doesn’t mean the hard work is over. The music industry these days is about slickly produced pop fair and isn’t necessarily geared toward groups that perform renditions of hit songs using only their voices for instrumentation.
“I don’t think it’s widely recognized but we’re trying to break that mold,” Grassi said. “Hopefully we can get our original music on the radio. That’s one of our main goals. Our tour is mostly covers but we’re working on original [material] and hopefully we can debut a few during the tour. We perform more modern songs. It’s never going to be flawless like the studio version but we think that is what makes it more special. It’s more real. It’s raw. You can appreciate a live singer more than an auto-tuned singer on the radio.”
Still, the group is getting some positive feedback from fans and a few of the artists they covered on “The Sing-Off.”
“We did hear back from Sugarland. They said that they really enjoyed our cover and were really impressed.”
Pentatonix’s online-only EP, “PTX, Vol. 1,” is available now. If you can find a way to get tickets, Pentatonix performs 8 p.m. Sept. 10 at Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St. For more information, visit www.pentatonix.org.