Few people in their mid-20s can say that they have an album in the works and three international headline tours under their belt. Fewer still can say they’ve done it while completing a four-year undergraduate degree.
This, however, is the case for many of the 15-strong all-male acapella group that is Trinitones. As the rest of us whiled away the summer on J1s, soul-searching junkets in southeast Asia or family holidays, they represented Trinity in an ambitious tour of the west coast of North America.
The West Coast Best Coast Tour, as Trinitones called it, spanned five cities and two countries. The group’s universal appeal is seen in the contrasting venues they performed in, from Vancouver Pride, to an Irish Bar and then on to a Yacht Club in Los Angeles.
In an email statement to The University Times, the group’s incoming director, Patrick Kennedy, recounted the 20-day trip: “This tour certainly delivered all we hoped from a great American road trip. The miles were filled with tasteful banter, questionable renditions and friendly welcomes, in particular from groups we met in Portland and Berkeley, and was the perfect way to mark the end of a successful year.”
This was the group’s third international tour in as many years. A very successful fundraising campaign in 2017 allowed them to travel to Australia for their Tour of the Land Down Under, and was followed by a 10-date expedition across the US in the summer 2018. The 2018 tour saw a number of standout moments for the group, including a performance of the national anthem at the Yankee Stadium before a baseball game.
Trinitones were founded in 2012 by the College’s music department and rose to international fame in 2018 when their pre-Trinity Ball George Ezra cover went viral, amassing hundreds of thousands of views. The group is constantly changing, and its members come and go as they begin and end their respective college careers. This year is no different, with the departures of co-directors Andy Keenan and Evan Holland. Kennedy describes the 2019 tour as “a fitting farewell to four of our best, including our two seasoned directors, all to whom we wish the best”.
Aside from their schedule of live performances, Trinitones have another project in the works. In an exciting development for the group, their first studio album was announced in May. As is their style, it will consist of a collection of their own arrangements of popular songs, and is to be recorded and put together between their schedule of live performances. The album will be released by the end of the year.
They performed twice at this year’s Electric Picnic, including in a collaboration with the Dublin Ukulele Collective.
