Fans of a cappella music stream into New Brunswick’s State Theatre New Jersey this Wednesday, July 16, 2025 for a fresh Summer: The ’90s, Part 2 Tour performance by Straight No Chaser. Straight No Chaser is a nine-member a cappella group which originated in 1996 at Indiana University in Bloomington and went on to sell three million albums, earn two gold records, and amass over 1 billion streams on Pandora.
Inside the historic State Theatre auditorium, the lights dim and a video featuring ’90s-era commercials for products like Mentos, Chili’s, and Budweiser brings chuckles from the crowd. At the video’s conclusion, the members of Straight No Chaser — tenors Walter Chase, Jerome Collins, Michael Luginbill, Steve Morgan, and Tyler Tripp; baritones Seggie Isho and Jasper Smith; bass singer Luke Bob Robinson; and bass/vocal percussionist Freedom Young — take the stage.
Opening with “Larger Than Life,” the group croons, “Every time we’re down, you can make it right/And that makes you larger than life,” while executing synchronized dance moves on this 1999 Backstreet Boys pop hit.
The crowd applauds and Steve welcomes concertgoers, suggesting, “This show is our mix tape of the best of the ‘90s.” Here, the ensemble races into the upbeat 1994 Blues Traveler alt-rocker, “Run-Around,” where heads in the audience bop to the beat as Seggie, Jasper, and Tyler’s voices are featured.
Steve serenades the crowd on the Extreme ballad, “More Than Words,” before Michael, seated, takes over the lead.
Seggie asks, “Who is seeing us for the first time?” and explains the various voice ranges — tenor, baritone, bass, and percussion — to the newcomers. Afterwards, all of the voice parts are on display on Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” where concertgoers clap along to the country beat under colored lights.
Jerome and Michael soulfully handle the lead on Blackstreet’s funky “No Diggity” as music lovers wave their arms in the air to the beat. SNC follows up with Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose,” where Jerome’s high sweet tenor floats out over the choir and harmonies roll and intertwine to create a pop symphony of sound.
Concertgoers cheer and Jasper tells “dad jokes” about his colleagues — e.g. “Mike likes to limbo and he would show off his skills, but somebody actually stole his limbo pole. I mean, how low can you get?” — before introducing the group’s next number as a “guilty pleasure-type song from the ‘90s.” Here, he and Straight No Chaser perform 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up” where Steve sings the high lead on this alt-rocker while Freedom Young adds percussive drum shots and the crowd sings along on the “And I say hey-ey-ey/Hey ey ey” refrain.
SNC fans hoot and holler and Walter introduces the next song as a “Straight No Chaser classic from our college days” — “Are You That Somebody,” a 1998 Aaliyah tune from The Dr. Doolittle soundtrack.
To conclude Act I, SNC performs an animated medley of ’90s TV themes such as Saved By the Bell, Full House, The Golden Girls, and Friends, performed with upbeat choreography against a background of projected videos.
Following a short intermission, Straight No Chaser opens Act II with Jerome commanding the stage on SNC’s version of the rockin’ Annie Lennox tune, “Walking on Broken Glass,” which also features a countermelody performed by Mike and Walter and a tight bass sound provided by Luke Bob.
Steve talks to the audience about how relationships were personal — vs. digital — back in the ’90s before all nine SNC members sway behind mics on All-4-One’s 1995 ballad, “I Can Love You Like That.” They follow up with Seggie singing lead as he moves to the groove on a swinging rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby.”
Freedom asks the crowd, “How we feelin’ tonight?” before teaching music lovers how to create “high-hat,” “snare,” and “kick drum” sounds and dividing the crowd into three groups to perform the sounds as he improvises over them.
Jerome dances with Steve and Mike, crying, “Tell me what you want, what you really really want,” on the rhythmic Spice Girls’ pop tune, “Wannabe.”
Dramatic lighting enhances SNC’s rendition of Metallica’s haunting 6/8 ballad, “Nothing Else Matters.”
Audience members energetically sing and clap along to Rascal Flatts’ upbeat country ditty, “Life is a Highway,” after which Seggie thanks the audience for their enthusiasm and support, exclaiming, “That’s what I’m talking about, Jersey!”
To conclude tonight’s show, Straight No Chaser delivers on an upbeat ’90s hip-hop medley of songs including House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” Dr. Dre’s “California Love,” Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” Fresh Prince’s “Summertime,” and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.”
Concertgoers stand and cheer as the group takes a bow and exits the stage before returning to present a “Women of the ‘90s” encore medley which includes songs like Wilson Phillips “Hold On,” Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do,” Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman,” and Britney Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”
The audience stands and cheers and Walter responds by explaining how SNC always ends each show by singing their last song without microphones. Here, the vocalists snap their fingers as they perform an acoustic rendition of Semisonic’s power pop tune, “Closing Time,” where they croon, “Closing time, one last call for alcohol/So, finish your whiskey or beer/Closing time, you don’t have to go home/But you can’t stay here,” prior to bowing and exiting to avid cheers and applause.
Audience members comment on tonight’s Summer: The ’90s, Part II performance by Straight No Chaser. Declares Mike from North Brunswick, “I was surprised at the range and depth of their voices — I honestly was looking around for musicians playing instruments, thinking, ‘Maybe they’re not just an a cappella group’ — except they are, and they’re incredible!” Linda from North Brunswick agrees, exclaiming, “I loved them!”
Whereas Allison from Hillsboro remarks, “They were so funny and engaging tonight — they all have amazing voices and they picked just the right songs to highlight their talents,” Susan from Hillsboro explains, “I loved them — they’re all very talented and a lot of fun!” Carla from Teaneck concurs, adding, “They have great vocal harmonies, and I love how they created all the parts with just their voices, especially the drum parts. Also, I loved their dance moves, which reminded me of the moves of some of the great boy bands from the ‘90s.”
Neils from Monroeville acknowledges, “I’m a big a cappella music fan. Even though I didn’t know every song Straight No Chaser did, I knew most of them, and I had a great time. Watching them was a lot of fun and they made me feel like they’ve been having fun ever since they started the group back in college.”
Marissa from Old Bridge agrees, asserting, “They were amazing! This music is from my era so I knew every single song,” before revealing, “Today’s my birthday so it was a great way to celebrate the occasion, and I can’t wait to see them again!”
Lastly, Susan from Galloway, NJ, reveals, “This was my fourth time seeing Straight No Chaser,” explaining, “I’m a big fan of a cappella music and they’re so fabulous I brought my friend,” before her friend, Donna from Sayreville, insists, “I loved this show! Along with the music, I liked the dad jokes and all the funny bits,” prior to exclaiming, “It was an evening filled with great entertainment!”
To learn more about Straight No Chaser, please click on sncmusic.com. For more information on upcoming programming at STNJ — including RuPaul’s Drag Race Werq the World Tour 2025 on August 17, Howard Jones on September 10, and KC and the Sunshine Band’s Doin’ It World Tour 2025 on October 11 — please go to stnj.org.
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