Editor-in-Chief Nia Simeonova presents The Rolling Tones, a nominee at the King’s College London Students’ Union (KCLSU) Awards 2024. With the awards set for 28 May at the De Vere Connaught Rooms, Roar will introduce its readers to some of the distinguished nominees.
The Rolling Tones are one of King’s College London’s (KCL) award-winning a cappella groups. Their electrifying and fully professional performances have already taken them around the world and in 2022 they released their first album – ‘The Rolling Tones’.
This year, they received a nomination for ‘Event of the Year’ at the 2024 KCLSU awards for organising their signature event London UK A Cappella Showcase (LUKAS). Hosted at the beginning of this month, the event brought together eight groups, or around 80 performers. Contrary to other a cappella competitions, with LUKAS, The Rolling Tones give performers the opportunity to “perform in a much more relaxed and non-competitive space”. The society’s presidents Casey Lim and Ksenia Reimchen were the main drivers behind the event’s success:
“With around 110 audience members too, we packed the Greenwood Theatre and it was, as always, an incredibly memorable night. We had groups from Bristol, Sheffield and London all in one space – safe to say that it was the best kind of chaos, with some amazing performances to highlight for us exactly why we do what we do.”
Arguably the biggest competition in the a cappella world is the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). The Rolling Tones have used the opportunity to “[distinguish] one generation of Tones from the next”. This year, they picked three songs to tell the story of using female power to persevere and overcome hardship. They explain how they managed to do that: “Similarly to last year, we combined intricate harmony and rhythms with precise and well-thought-out choreography to enhance what we were trying to communicate through our performance.”
The group is currently preparing for their third time performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: “It’s always a chance for us to build connections with a cappella groups from all over the country, perform to an audience comprised of people from all over the world, and become even closer as a group.”
Learn more about The Rolling Tones on their social media and listen to their music on all streaming platforms. We wish them luck at the upcoming awards!
Keep up with Roar’s coverage of the 2024 KCLSU Awards on our Instagram on Tuesday, 28 May from 5:00 PM.
