On Friday November 29, the Grammy award-winning band the Queens of the Stone Age are playing at Forum. If at this stage of the month you are lucky enough to have saved the equivalent of the price of a five-course meal, by all means go and have fun. You might be interested to know, however, that at the same time on the other side of town in a much more intimate setting at Planeten, you can see the queens and kings of song and dance from the Copenhagen Glee Club perform their version of songs by the likes of Adele, Lady Gaga and Medina for the price of a store fadøl.
The Copenhagen Glee Club, whose members call themselves ‘Gleeks’, was founded in 2010 by music student Nina Kragh. Originally the club was a project for her final thesis, but due to its popularity, it quickly evolved into an independent performance group that now consists of 20 or so 20-something vocalists supported by a three-piece band.
For those of you who are over the age of 15 and are in the dark as to what glee music is, in its traditional form, a glee is simply a three or four-voice a cappella song. The first glee club was founded in 1787 at Harrow School in England. Glee singing societies grew in popularity in the 19th century and eventually evolved into barbershop music and other collegiate a cappella clubs.
The type of music under-20s associate with glee however would be virtually unrecognisable to Harrow’s old boys, and it is markedly different from even the most energetic of barber shop performances. Indeed, Kragh founded the club in order to dispel the myth that all choral singing was boring, sang only by stiff-lipped, stone-faced fuddy-duddies. The club’s guiding principle is to demonstrate how this genre of music can appeal to younger audiences.
With this in mind, Kragh, who now manages the group, took her inspiration for the project from the popular US television show Glee. The show, which has won four Golden Globe awards, is now in its fifth season and grosses an average of 3.5 million dollars per show. Its post-Superbowl tribute to Michael Jackson’s Thriller netted an astounding 26.8 million dollars.
While most musicians have been pleased with the outcome of their Glee makeover, the TV show has caused a stir among some of the more stubborn factions in the music world. It is a tribute to the success of the revived genre that rock legends such as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Slash from Guns ‘n’ Roses have recently joined the Kings of Leon and Feeder in the ranks of musicians who have refused to license songs for Glee.
This side of the pond, the Copenhagen Glee Club could only dream of this publicity. However, despite humble beginnings performing at corporate Christmas parties and private functions, over the last three years the club has developed a significant following thanks to its unique rearrangements of some of the most successful pop songs of this decade.
Last year, the club made its first appearance on national television, and in September it was the closing act at the six-hour Copenhagen Music Festival. Other notable performances have included a flash mob on the Metro and a surprise concert at the European Congress for Tropical Medicine and International Health held at the Tivoli Hotel and Congress Centre.
So far the Gleeks, who are known for their energetic performances, have received nothing but praise. Their performance on Friday is the culmination of three years of hard work and promises to be the biggest and best so far. For a snip at just 50 kroner, you can’t afford to miss the opportunity to listen to your favourite songs after treatment in the Glee machine.
Glee Show-Off
Planeten (Huset i Magstræde), Rådmandsvej 22, Cph K;
Fri Nov 29 & Sat Nov 30, 20:00-22:00;
tickets: 50kr,
www.billetto.dk;
www.facebook.com/copenhagengleeclub
