When it comes to All the King’s Men, I have followed their burgeoning a cappella career from the group’s formation two years ago at King’s College London. Last night’s show, It’s Reigning Men (oh, I do love a pun), marked the end of the road for the group’s inaugural configuration of 12 affable chaps, and allowed for an introduction to the ‘new blood’. Quite simply, I can say that the show did not disappoint.

A cappella’s popularity in the UK is undoubtedly on the rise, and we are finally catching on to what those canny Americans have known for years; a cappella is awesome. Thanks, in part, to Oxford’s fantastic Out of The Blue on Britain’s Got Talent, and more up and coming independent vocal groups such as The Magnets and the Boxettes, All the King’s Men are part of what I hope will be a continuing increase in well-deserved recognition for one of the most innovative and challenging musical genres out there.

The set list for the show was packed with familiar and well-loved hits from beginning to end, starting with a Boogie Nights/I Don’t Feel Like Dancing medley. The titles of the songs are quite ironic since the boys seemed relatively incapable of stopping themselves from whipping out some dance moves that might more commonly be seen executed by a dad at a wedding. But that is a major part of the appeal; All the King’s Men have absolutely no qualms with looking like (adorable) fools onstage to win the audience over and get them clapping along, hip thrusting and cha-cha sliding and all.

The next song in the set was an impressive, almost choral arrangement of Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing’, sung by one of my favourite soloists of the night. There was no ostensible attempt to give the arrangement the rocky power-ballad feel of the original, but was rousing as it was. The harmonies were unbelievably tight, and the enveloping quality of the sound they produced was like receiving a big, musical hug. It was a huge change from gigs right after the group was formed, where, understandably, there would occasionally be some uncertainty of performance technique, particularly in the slower songs. However, in this performance, these kinks were undeniably ironed out. These boys were like the GHDs of the a cappella ballad.

Other highlights included a rendition of firm favourite, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, complete with zombie impressions and some choice moves from the infamous music video. There was even a fabulous adapted version of Vincent Price’s voice-over from the original track. The audience were laughing so much I was impressed that the boys were able to keep the tuning (relatively) tight and remain in sync with each other amongst all the whooping and cackling coming from the seats.

There was a song for everyone, from Stevie Wonder to the Beegees, Coldplay to Ricky Martin, there was even some Flo Rida thrown in with the soloists handling the rap with self-deprecating style and a twee joviality that Flo Rida could only dream of. Even the new members, in their short three-song section of the set, were already impressively well-rehearsed and confidently swaggered (although thankfully not Jaggered) about the stage along with the remaining members of the ‘old Men’.

One thing I will say is that All the King’s Men have a tendency to try to pack as much as they can into a particular song or, more commonly, a medley. There are a lot of musical ideas catapulted at the audience which, while I do love a good medley, occasionally had me wishing that they would chill out a little and trust that they can hold the crowd’s attention without skittering between several songs in one go – which they most definitely can. Especially when the transition between songs in some of the medleys wasn’t as smooth as it could be.

Having said that, the highlight of the night for me was the British-inspired Spice Girls medley, arranged for their East Coast tour of the US. The campness of the tracks was fabulously off the charts, and I think I, along with the rest of the audience, was suddenly transported back to my school years when I would watch the Spice Girls movie on VHS (how did we cope without Blu-ray!?), buy and swap those packs of photographs which would always comprise about ten of Baby Spice blowing a pink bubblegum bubble, and argue over who had to be Scary Spice in our amateur tribute act (having curly hair was a real disadvantage at this point in my childhood).

At the end of the night, the audience were on their feet, and the surprisingly sexy encore of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’, complete with a wander off the stage and into the audience, was a fantastic way to round off what had been a truly enjoyable evening. You can’t help but fall a little bit in love with each of the boys for their whole-hearted tomfoolery, not to mention the talent and innovative arrangements. I really look forward to seeing what the second generation of All the King’s Men have in store for us. I’m hooked.