After two postponements due to the pandemic, homegrown a cappella group MICappella will finally take the stage for their Love, MICappella concert.

The performances will be held on Friday Oct 1 (two shows at 6.30pm and 9pm) and Saturday Oct 2 (two shows at 5pm and 8pm) at the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands. The bilingual sextet will be performing original songs such as I Want Your Love, You Are The One, and Through Your Eyes, as well as covers like Ice Cream Dynamite and Fight Song.

They also promised a sneak peek of the first single from their upcoming EP.

For those unfamiliar with the group, MICappella was formed in 2009 and made their debut after they came in second at The Sing-Off China in 2012. Their current line-up consists of Peter Huang, Calin Wong, Juni Goh, Eugene Yip, Goh Mingwei, and Tay Kexin.

The group has released two albums — Here We Go (2013) and MICappella Reloaded (2016) — and most recently, a 2019 EP of the same name as their concert. Their mashup video of Those Years (from the Taiwanese film You Are the Apple of my Eye) and A Little Happiness (from the Taiwanese film Our Times) hit a million views on Facebook five days after its release in December 2015.

It's been a tough time for the group who not only had to postpone their concert twice this year, but also contend with the restrictions while rehearsing.

Through an email interview with AsiaOne, the group shared: "Honestly, our morale has taken quite a big hit from the constant changes because we had to adjust our plans according to new rules. Initially only five people were allowed on stage, so we rehearsed a full show with only five people on stage at any given time.

"We had to scrap that and revert to a six-man show when the rules eased up. This was great news but all that hard work rehearsing a five-man show went out the window.

"Rehearsing together has also been a monumental task ever since the start of Covid-19. As an a cappella group, it is virtually impossible to rehearse over Zoom or any livestream platform due to latency issues.

"Physical rehearsals are extremely important not just for our pitch accuracy and dynamics, but they also help to hone our group chemistry. On top of that, our rehearsals usually involve our sound engineer and the use of sound equipment. For this concert, we also roped in a show director to ensure the flow of the entire show."

With the group finally able to take the stage next week, they admitted that it feels surreal and there is a sense of disbelief. However, they've always maintained hope that they would be able to perform again.

They said: "To be honest, we have always been optimistic about live performances resuming, we definitely did not expect [the restrictions] to last so long.

"Our original plans for the Love, MICappella EP was to do our usual rounds of touring around the world, then coming back to Singapore to share our stories and experiences with local audiences, but the pandemic prevented that from happening. We are still hopeful, and we believe we will be able to take the stage again after this concert."

Though the pandemic threw a wrench into their concert plans, the group hasn't been resting on their laurels and they've been working on bringing new music.

"We have been consistently producing covers online, writing songs in anticipation of our upcoming Love, Life EP, working on recording projects and still hustling to get our music out. The train doesn't stop.

"Yes, there were times when we felt defeated, but as a group, we would huddle and brainstorm on ways that we can reinvent or reach out to our audience again. Our upcoming singles are written from the perspective of a letter from life to help us through these difficult times."

They added: "We know what it is like to feel stuck, to feel demoralised and exhausted from dealing with this pandemic. But we believe music can heal, it can bring hope and joy, and this is exactly what we want our fans to feel: that we are in this together. So fans can expect an honest performance from us. We will show our pain, our anguish, our hopes all with our voices, our music."

And we have three pairs of tickets to give away for their concert on Oct 2 for the 5pm show. To stand a chance to win, all you have to do is answer the question below.

Winners will be notified via email by a representative and prize collection details will be confirmed then.

bryanlim@asiaone.com

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