( * subtitled: Events you’d like to have been at. )
I’d like to ask Doper’s to present links to their fave clips showing crowds having a good time at concerts, or more specifically, joining in with the song being played. I’m not entirely fixated on the examples being confined to gigs, and would be equally happy to hear clips from football matches, for example.
Anyway, here’s one of my own faves being played at 2 different venues. Those not particularly into the song might want to skip forward to 6.00 approx on the first link to just hear the communal singing bit. James
I get that, gonzomax, but there are certain moments of spontaneity that overtake all that “I want all youse on the left to shout ‘WHOA!’, and all youse on the right to shout ‘YEAH!’” crap. Have you ever heard the audience joining in with Crowded House on Weather With You, for instance?
Or for an almost religious experience, try and have a listen to a typical crowd at a rendition of The Green Fields Of France by The Men They Couldn’t Hang!
Well, I didn’t post anything at first because the OP specifically asked for links and I couldn’t find anything linkable for my personal favourite… so there.
If you’re willing to forgive the lack of links, though, check out Kings of Convenience covering Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty. It’s a rather pretty acoustic cover, and then as you get to the end of the track, you can hear the audience singing and clapping along to the chorus. Should be readily available through various MP3 download sites if you search for it.
It pains me to say it, but I agree with gonzo. I paid good money to see a show and hear a singer, not listen to a bunch of drunken, stoned, tone-deaf “fans” sing the song instead. I second the “sit down and shut up” sentiment.
(2 exceptions: The aforementioned Jimmy Buffett concerts, where being a Parrothead means knowing the words better than Jimmy does, and Bruce Springsteen, where some audience feedback is essential to the peak of the show.)
Tom Petty had a live recording of “Breakdown” where he performs the opening guitar licks and the audience sings the entire first half of the song. Petty responded, “You guys are going to put me out of a job.”
Jimmy Buffett concerts are pretty much all sing alongs. And a huge amount of fun, even if you are sober. (Not too many people are in that state by the time the concert starts.)
I don’t have a link, but I was at a non-singing concert where the audience was doing the words. I saw Jeff Dunham in Ft. Wayne, IN last November and he brought out Bubba J, a puppet he was not originally using on that tour. People had been asking where he was, so Dunham brought him out. He also got out a piece of paper and apologized, saying he was rusty since he had not done that bit for quite a while.
When he started the bit, so did the audience. Dunham and Bubba J looked at each other, then out at the audience, then Bubba J said, “That was weird.” The audience continued to do the bit with Dunham, including using Bubba J’s redneck accent. We only missed one line, which was better then Dunham did. Bubba J made fun of him because we knew the bit better than he did. By the end of the bit, we were cracking him up. It was a fun concert.
