Belt Up are an A Capella group who were featured on SkyOne’s Sing:Ultimate A Capella. They feature Wallis McDowall, Lara de Belder, Nic Chippetta, Brian Raftery, Ed Court and Macaulay Nicholson.

The song choice throughout the night was varied from an Abba Medley to Justin Bieber’s Despacito. There were also some inspired mash ups including a mega 90’s one where the Venga Boys featured heavily! This variety kept the show feeling fun, the pace never dragged and you were constantly pleasantly surprised at the next song they threw into the mix. We were informed on the night that they do all of the arrangements themselves, showing them not only to be talented vocalist but inspired arrangers.

All of the members of Belt Up stood out in their own right. Soprano, Wallis McDowall had a beautiful voice in her own right and turned her hand from singing lead vocals on Barbie Girl to Ariane Grande as well as being able to rap and hit some incredible notes. Natural front man Nic Chippetta is the groups tenor and he fronted the small amount of patter between the numbers with nice charm. A special mention must also go to Macaulay Nicholson who is the groups human beat box and didn’t let up nor let a beat slip throughout the show – no easy feat!

Most importantly though they consistently worked as a team, taking it in turns to sing lead vocals whilst the rest provided clever and often intricate backing harmonies. They were always well balanced and one vocal line never overpowered the rest.

I would have liked to hear a little more from them during their chat between numbers and for this section to be finessed a bit more, especially when the rest of the show was so strong.

I must also mention their guest act, Gareth Esson, a singer/songwriter who treated us to his own material, accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar. His music was a pop/soul blend and he had a beautiful voice and showed off some catchy and moving material.

Belt Up is a fun night at the theatre, especially if like me, you are a Glee and/or Pitch Perfect fan! A varied set list and talented singers make for an excellent A Capella group.

You can find out more about Belt Up on social media and will be able to find them @beltupmusic.

If you like this review you might also like my review of Fiver, Bare and Games for Lovers.