2023 Fool Moon Acappella Festival roundup - with photo gallery
The 2023 Fool Moon Acappella Festival was held between October 6-7 at the IH Event Center in Szeged. This is a short sum-up of the event that was held for the 16th time and attracted a full house on both days.
The world's best a cappella group in Szeged
The festival kicked off with a strong first day, featuring the international superstar group Naturally 7. The world-famous formation, called "the best a cappella band" by Quincy Jones, attracted audiences from all over Hungary — people traveled all the way from Pécs and Budapest to Szeged to see Naturally 7 live.
The group, originally from New York, has shared the stage with the biggest stars in music in the last 20 years, including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ludacris, Lionel Richie, and Coldplay, among others. Naturally 7 accompanied Michael Bublé on 3 world tours, giving nearly 500 shows together. This was the second time they gave a concert in Hungary, although their first performance outside of Budapest.
The musicians of the group felt that "a cappella" cannot describe fully what they do on stage so the phrase “Vocal Play” was created to more accurately depict what Naturally 7 does when they transform their voices into actual human instruments.
The 1,5-hour concert featured a colorful repertoire from evergreen movie themes to Eminem's Lose Yourself and Bob Marley's Get Up, Stand Up, and received not only a standing ovation but made about half of the audience get up from their seats to dance through the last few songs.
Hungarian Acappella Day
It has always been Fool Moon's mission to introduce newly formed ensembles to the audience but at the same time to feature the best of Hungarian a cappella at the festival, hence the second day, October 7, was dedicated entirely to Hungarian a cappella singers and groups.
First, Voice Drops from Budapest gave a free concert in the 150-person IH Café, performing their latest project, born from the fusion of Hungarian folk songs and contemporary jazz.
The program continued at 8 p.m. at the main concert hall of the IH Event Center with two well-known performers of the Hungarian beatbox scene. Szeged-born musician-producer 'FMaN' Tibor Attila Molnár, frontman of the Tha Shudras band, performed his unique looper technique, while János Fekete 'Jammal' used beatboxing to tell stories imitating the sounds from everyday life.
The organizer and host of the event, the 5-member Fool Moon formation closed the event with their 'Vocal Recall' show, in which they revived their favorite soundtracks — often from their childhood — with sophisticated pop music arrangements, humorous transitions, and videos. Hence, the a cappella version of the iconic Bud Spencer and Terence Hill movies, the soundtrack of the NeverEnding Story, and Toto's Africa were just a few on Fool Moon's repertoire to close the festival in style.
Summary of the 2023 Szeged Acappella Festival
The Acappella Festival, organized by the Fool Moon band, has been running in Szeged for 18 years now, with a two-year shutdown during Covid. Fool Moon was formed in Szeged back in 2001. During the 20+ years, the band has established a very dedicated audience in Szeged and all of Hungary.
"I think two brilliant days are behind us. Yesterday was perhaps the most outstanding day in the life of the festival because Naturally 7 is a world-famous band, and what they did on stage yesterday is hard to put into words, it was so brilliant. In Szeged, the a cappella genre has a patronage, an environment, that helps renew this festival year after year. I always watch faces after concerts. Yesterday and today, everyone left smiling," said Erika Kolonics, managing director of the IH Event Center.
"This year's 18-year-old Fool Moon Acappella Festival would never have been possible without Erika Kolonics and her team," said Miklós Németh, leader of Fool Moon. As he told the audience during the concert, it is especially true for this year's festival that it would not have been possible without the effective support of Erika and the IH Event Center, considering that Naturally 7 is the biggest and most famous band ever invited to Szeged during the 18 years of the festival.
Photos: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify
