Pentatonix 'excited' to bring California Christmas show on Nov. 14 to Acrisure Arena

There’s an abundance of Christmas albums and touring acts during the holidays, but one stands out for offering a unique take on holiday classics: acapella band Pentatonix.

The five members of Pentatonix first made a name for themselves in 2011 after winning the third season of NBC's "The Sing-Off," but it was their viral YouTube videos that fueled their rapid growth. In recent years, the group has emerged as holiday touring act enjoyed by fans of all ages who fill arenas to hear both Christmas classics and originals.

The band has released six Christmas albums since 2014, and earlier this year, the group released its fourth Christmas compilation, "The Greatest Christmas Hits," featuring 23 previously unreleased songs and eight new tracks. The record includes covers such as “White Water Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes, the famous “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” from the 1966 animated holiday special “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and classic carols.

Pentatonix will perform on Nov. 14 at Acrisure Arena as part of its "The Most Wonderful Tour Of The Year." During a recent interview, beatboxer and vocalist Kevin Olusola said the band has never done a California Christmas show, so the Pasadena native’s family is “really excited” about the show.

“We’re really excited and liken it to another experience we had as one of the first acts to perform at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Everything was so unbelievably new, it was shiny and had this beauty to it,” Olusola said. “What we love is to be able to collaborate with the staff there and give them our thoughts for ways they can continue to make their experience for the fans better.”

Olusola said the tour will celebrate the “fullness” of the band’s career. In 2022, Billboard referred to the band as “Today’s Most Popular Holiday Act” after 92 of its recordings appeared in a list of the top 10,000 holiday tracks.

“This (tour) is celebrating a Christmas hits album, so I think everything we’re going to do visually is going to center around that. So, think bigger, greater, more energy, more fun and all the hits you absolutely love from us,” Olusola said.

Planning for each holiday tour starts in January

Pentatonix fans who attend a show each holiday season probably assume the band takes a long break or heads south like Santa Claus to relax in a tropical climate. But the end of each tour marks the period where work begins for the following year. The band regroups in January to decide on a new album concept and an idea of what the live production could be for those shows.

By summer, the band — comprised of Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee and Olusola — has already recorded an album or selected songs for the tour and the final details come together.

"It's a year-long conception process, but we want people to feel like this is a show that is on the same level as Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber because we want to give them a feeling they aren't just coming to a Christmas show," Olusola said. "You're coming to see something that is truly spectacular that you're going to enjoy with your family and friends, and leave feeling ready for the Christmas spirit with a wow factor."

When asked how he feels after a tour is over, Olusola said "exhausted for sure, but more like a job well done."

"I think the thing that fuels is is we've had an opportunity to serve. My mom always told me that the meaning behind Christmas was never about what you receive or what you obtained, it's about how you can serve others in a meaningful way," Olusola said. "It's fulfilling for us to able to serve so many people with our Christmas show every single year while they're getting prepared for the holidays, making memories with their families and getting to hear songs that will be nostalgic for them 10 years from now."

Not a typical Christmas show

With the exception of holiday touring acts such as Mannheim Steamroller or Trans-Siberian Orchestra, most pop and rock holiday concerts feature a winter wonderland-themed backdrop or Christmas trees framing the stage. Pentatonix takes the term "festive" to new heights with dazzling visual production.

Last year, the band toured with what Olusola referred to as an "amazing snowflake" that the band and fans loved so much that it's included in this year's tour.

"If there's something that works, we keep it because the fans will still like it, especially for this tour where we're doing different markets we've never been to before. We've never been to Palm Desert, so we're excited to show them these things fans love from previous years," Olusola said.

Not just Christmas music

Even though Pentatonix is renowned for Christmas albums and concerts, the band has recorded covers of rock songs such as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive," Lorde's "Royals" and more. "The Greatest Christmas Hits" also includes covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose," which is unusual as non-Christmas songs.

Pentatonix' 2015 self-titled album featured all-original material and so did the band's 2021 album "The Lucky Ones."

"All the songs come from a real place," Hoying told USA TODAY in 2021 about the band's sophomore release. "'The Lucky Ones' ... I was a terrified, closeted gay person in Arlington, Texas, and hiding it my whole life in school and creating this character."

Advantages and disadvantages of being an acapella band

The vocalists of Pentatonix all have powerful singing voices that are only amplified together in a large venue setting. But according to Olusola, there are advantages and disadvantages to singing acapella, whether its with five people or 500 people.

"The nice thing about five is the harmony is set, you only have root, third and fifth (music notes) to think about and I think that makes it easy to figure out where your partner is and for the team, because you're just focusing on those people," Olusola said. "But the hard thing is if something goes off or is flat, they can go flat real quick because you're focusing on one other person who's off-key. It takes a lot of focus, perseverance and mental fortitude to be able to do it."

‘The Masked Singer’ inspired a new creative direction

After the band’s appearance on the ninth season of “The Masked Singer” earlier this year, the production behind the performances inspired a new creative direction for Pentatonix.

“We realized after doing ‘The Masked Singer’ when we added production to our songs, nobody knew it was us,” Olusola said. “We thought it was fun to try stuff and see the reaction. That’s what people love about us — our harmonies and what we do in that space that nobody else does. There are going to be songs where you hear lots of instrumentation, but you’re not ever going to lose the iconic harmonies you love from Pentatonix.”

'Beauty and magic' in the music

What can you expect from a Pentatonix concert? Olusola emphasized beautiful singing but said the band isn't "dancing like crazy."

"We want you to experience beauty and magic in the music," Olusola said. "There's a lot of music that doesn't bring families together, but I think with our music, that's what we've always seen, and it's been beautiful to see. One of the things that makes me so excited, and this happens often, is when there's been a great-grandmother, a grandmother, a mother and a daughter who come to our VIP and say 'this is the only music that brings all of us together and that all of us wanted to come see you all in a VIP experience.' That's something special."

If you go

What: Pentatonix concert

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14

Where: Acrisure Arena, 75-702 Varner Road, Thousand Palms

How much: Tickets start at $39.50

More information: acrisurearena.com

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pentatonix 'excited' to perform on Nov. 14 at Acrisure Arena