Review: Well-Strung Pops with Effervescent CD Release Concert at Feinstein's/54 Below

Well-Strung, the popular string quartet that is also a boy band, launched their second album POPssical with a CD Release Concert at Feinstein's/54 Below. The show was a reworked version of their cabaret revue titled POPssical, and included new surprises mixed in with the familiar favorites. As always with the gifted group, the guys played their instruments with virtuosic integrity and provided stirring vocals, especially during melodious harmonies.

One thing that makes Well-Strung such a joy to see live is their unique arrangements that perfectly blend pop and classical music together. With their knowledge of music and experience, the inspiration for these arrangements can happen at any time. "Music runs through your head, or you're listening to the radio and something just clicks and you just get inspired to throw some things together," says Trevor Wadleigh.

Despite kismet sometimes working in their favor, deciding to blend pieces together still requires incredible skill and artistic knowledge. Looking at the liner notes for their albums, one will find that each of the members arranges songs for the band. According to Edmund Bagnell, this skill "developed out of necessity to a certain extent." Working with arrangers like David Levinson is a great joy for Well-Strung. But, "we just found that it worked most easily when we did it ourselves," says Bagnell. "So, our need to arrange kind of just stemmed from, 'Oh, if we have this problem, we need to figure out how to solve it.'"

The members of the band have found three different ways that they can begin making their whimsical mash-ups. "With [Edvard] Grieg and 'Wrecking Ball,' both pieces have a similar mood so we can kind of juxtapose them," explains Chris Marchant. "And with 'Blank Space,' the main solo line went directly over the main solo line of 'Partita.' So, those two just kind of land together. Then, the other kind would be like Pachelbel's 'Canon in D' and '21 Guns,' which have a similar chord progression, so we can go back and forth between them." These different aspects allow them to experiment as they play and craft arrangements.

For the concert, their sprightly and fun arrangement of "Call Me Maybe" (Carly Rae Jepsen, Joshua Keeler, Tavish Joseph Crowe) and "Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major BWV 1048, 1st Movement" (Johann Sebastian Bach) got the audience pumped and was a great way to kick off the evening. Wadleigh's sexy whisper of a voice and Marchant's quiet intensity made the blending of "String Quartet in F Minor 2nd Movement: Assez vif. Trés rhythme" (Maurice Ravel) and "Somebody That I Used to Know" (Luiz Bonfa, Walter De Backer) a delight. With a ton of Diva-tude and a charming personality, Daniel Shevlin lead the group on an impressive rendition of "Bill, Bills, Bills" (Kevin Briggs, Kandi Burruss, Beyoncé Knowles, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson, Kelly Rowland) that also featured fantastic vocal harmonies.

Showing off their skills as deft chamber musicians, Well-Strung held the audience captivated with an alluring rendition of the intricate "Divertimento in D Major" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Their take on "String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 27 Poco Andante" (Edvard Grieg) and "Wrecking Ball" (MoZella, Stephan Moccio, Sacha Skarbek, Lukasz Gottwald, and Henry Russell Walter) was as epic as ever. Likewise, the band made the whole house smile with their arrangement of "Blank Space" (Taylor Swift, Max Martin Shellback) and "Violin Partita No.3" (Johann Sebastian Bach) and with the beautiful mash-up of "With or Without You" (Bono) and "Try" (Busbee, Ben West), which was the first song the guys arranged together.

After a video interlude of "Chelsea's Mom," the band took the stage with their uplifting version of "Overture - The Marriage of Figaro, K.49" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) and "I Gotta Feeling" (The Black Eyed Peas, David Guetta, Frédéric Riesterer). Following that was their comical and completely acted out take on "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, "Taz" DiGregorio, Fred Edwards, Charles Hayward, James W. Marshall), which keenly interpolates "Concerto For 2 Violins in D Minor BMV 1043, 1st Movement" (Bach).

Inspired by the unending struggles of the world, Well-Strung brilliantly mixed "Canon in D Major" (Johann Pachelbel) with "21 Guns" (Billie Joe Armstrong) to create a heartfelt and entirely spellbinding number. If this manages to be the lead single from their unannounced third album, it can't get here fast enough.

Next the boys did their sparkling mash-up of "Palladio Suite, Palladio I, Allegretto" (karl Jenkins) and "Royals" (Lorde, Joel Little). With intense emotionality and power they played "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) with effective beauty. Again showcasing their skills with intricate and complicated music, they moved the audience with "String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, 4th Movement" (Antonin Dvorak). And they brought the show to an effervescent close with their hilarious "Frozen Medley," which features "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" and "Let It Go" (Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez). Lastly, their ebullient encore of "Do Re Mi" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) left the audience howling with laughter and in high sprits.

If you missed Well-Strung's CD release party, do not fear. "We're definitely starting to tour," says Marchant. "Our next tour show will be later this month in Vegas, which we are very excited about. Then we have several other tour dates in the fall." Additionally, you can catch Well-Strung on NBC's The Today Show on October 13, 2015. Also, the guys are working on a holiday themed show, A Well-Strung Christmas, which will play Feinstein's/54 Below on December 9, 10, and 14.

For more information about Well-Strung and where you can catch them live, please visit http://well-strung.com. Also, be sure to follow the guys on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

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