that thing live musicians do where they let the crowd sing the chorus

I saw Will Oldham last night, and three or four songs had a singalong. This isn't the same as Mellencamp getting an arena to sing "Jack and Diane", but it did really hit me that a few hundred people singing together is something you don't get watching a Tiny Desk concert on a laptop.

Nick Cave has done it the past few years with "Push The Sky Away" in concert. Again, this isn't having the audience sing along with the hit song, but it was really powerful.

And long ago I did see Mellencamp in an arena, and everyone sing-shouting "Jack and Diane" enjoyed themselves.

That seems cool! Esp the Mellencamp bit. That'd be an incredible experience

So my view...I enjoy the communal aspect of shows and fans singing the words of songs they passionately memorized together. It's the best. Before the Morbid Angel show was cut short, a fan abd I screamed the words to "God of Emptiness" in each other's faces.

So I don't mind when bands do "dropouts", where the band lets you fill in the ends of phrases, or start the chorus for them, like the audience is a hype man. Gives them a rest, it's good fun.

But it is a bit of a bummer to me when the singer takes the entire chorus off or close to it for the entire song. Like the way Metallica half-assed "Master of Puppets" in the 90s. Sometimes aging singers have to do it when they can't hit the chorus notes anymore, which I'm more sympathetic to.

If the song has an amazing chorus, I wanna hear the artist sing it at *some* point of the tune, even if not the whole thing

Voted Option 2.

Noel Gallagher votes for option 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=donaI1LXOgc

depends a lot on the act I guess, I mean if it was Scooter for instance I'd think the audience should be shouting along every word. when I saw Cake the singer did this a lot and it kinda worked. the songs are really easy to sing along to, cuz the singer himself has basically no range. but it's annoying when Sting does it, because it's not really easy to hit those notes!

My recent exploration of the Soda Stereo catalog led me to the learn the Argentine audience love to participate (see “Aguante Megadeth”) and so Gustavo Cerati and Soda Stereo were masters of this.

Meh

On 11 and 12 July 2009, during performances of the song at London's Wembley Stadium, Gallagher did not sing a word; instead, he stood back, played guitar, and allowed the crowd to sing the entire song

Why not turn off yr amp too, surely someone brought their own guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX-us7PEfkc
I don’t know how it will strike a non-fan but to me this is how it is done.

The version of this I like is when the singer for a hardcore band stretches the microphone out into the crowd at arm's length and random goons shout the words. The arena version is less fun, though I remember people singing along at the Tom Petty concert I went to.

Todd Rundgren did some stuff like this during his TR-i days, he'd let random members of the audience play guitar solos or take up the drums for a song. lets just say the results were mixed

My favorite of this is Coheed and Cambria doing "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3", where the entire band stops playing while the crowd screams "MAN YOUR OWN JACKHAMMER", then pops back in.

It works really well

Option 3. A concert is a communal experience. I enjoy singing with the band.

My favourite Embrace moment was when they did The Good Will Out at Glasto 98, with that horrible faux-Hey Jude 'nah nah nah' chorus at the end. I saw it on telly after the festival, and before that end bit kicked in, singer bloke shouted "sing it!" and held is mic out to the audience. And no one sang. He'd been waiting for that moment all his life, and fell flat on his face. Arf!

Whoops sorry, that was a post by Matt DC that I think of sometimes lol

Hahaha that's amazing

I'm totally fine with this. What I really can't stand is when the singer implores the crowd to say or sing something then says" I can't hearrrr you!" when in fact they CAN.

the best one – the ghetto, Donny Hathaway, on the live 72 album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLDI4PRIZhk

Tbf Hathaway isn't like asking for help he's making them work

I saw Roger McGuinn once and, while I did think the show was amazing, there were quite a lot of moments where he'd say "Sing it along with me!" and then the spotlights were turned on the audience. Could have done without those bits...

I also have to think of Shed Seven (I'm a fan, sue me). Leaving the chorus to the audience happens a lot with their song 'On Standby' where I can't stand it. They even released a live version of the song half sung by the crowd as a B-side once and it's dreadful, it really doesn't sound well and it's like they merely wanted to show off how big of a fan crowd they get. On the other hand, they usually end their shows with 'Chasing Rainbows' and the audience keeps singing the chorus over and over throughout the end of the show and even while leaving the venue - I find this really awesome.

Final singalongs are overall possibly pretty okay. With Peter Gabriel, it is also very powerful to have a concert ended with a collective chant to Biko.

if it's a song you've played 200+ times then letting the audience get a line or two of it to themselves can be cool but yeah most of the time you feel like "there's a guy in here who's thinking 'I did not pay to hear everybody else sing'" so option 2 is what's up

How loooong to sing this soooong?

A. Until Bono comes back onstage

Phil Collins once bailed on a set after the first few songs, saying he'd lost his voice (had the AC on too high the night before) but he could have still drummed and the crowd would have been chuffed to take over the lyrics that they all knew by heart.

A lot of singing along at Crowded House last night, didn't mind. A couple of times the band let the crowd carry it, but crowd interaction is kind of their deal. Here's an example of it starting around 3:11, sounds lovely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmg_4-Q12Ug

Back in 1981, I think it was in Chicago that, for the first time, the crowd sang the entire first verse and chorus of "The River" at a Springsteen show, which became kind of a tradition and also, I suspect, made him pretty sick of singing the song.

hating on people at a concert for singing along to songs that they love is dumb

I once went to a show where I overheard this (paraphrased) conversion:

Person one: Are you going to jam with the band tonight?
Person two: I don't know, it depends on how things feel.
Person one (to his other friend): This guy here has jammed with so many people. Dylan, the Dead ...
Person three: Seriously?
Person two: Yeah, I always have my harmonica on me, just in case.

A little bit more of the conversation elapsed before I realized this dork apparently brings his harmonica to shows and *plays along in the crowd.*

It'd be a toss up between harmonica guy, the two bros talking loudly and the woman with the piercing voice.

Fuck, I meant that crowds would sing along to "Hungry Heart," not "The River." Bruce is going to raz me for that.

and also, I suspect, made him pretty sick of singing the song

pretty much why Scott Walker ditched "Jolson and Jones" from his set in his final days

hating on people at a concert for singing along to songs that they love is dumb

― I. J. Miggs (dandydonweiner), Tuesday, May 16, 2023 6:09 PM bookmarkflaglink

Who's doing that?

I don’t want live musicians telling me what to do except maybe “ON YOUR FEET OR ON YOUR KNEES”. also I would probably do anything King Diamond asked me to

Lol otm

Pretty sure Phil Collins finished with the audience singing "Take Me Home" when I saw him a million years ago.

Finished as in closed out the concert, not as in achieving orgasm.

voted with my heart

Funniest example of this will always be the live version of queen’s “somebody to love” with George Michael. I’m pretty sure he was taking the piss

voted with my heart

there are no kids in here, “achieving orgasm” was fine

Is there already a companion thread about uninvited audience singalongs? Some songs seem to invite especially the drunk part of the crowd to belt along to. Like Madness when they play Our House and everyone keeps going "OUR HOOS INDAMIDDA OF DE STREET!" even over the alternate chorus lines ('was our castle and our keep'/'that was where we used to sleep').
I also recall seeing Blur in Finsbury Park and more than one person loudly singing along to -the entire lyrics of- Parklife, so even the verses which are pretty much spoken word. Phil Daniels was on stage as a special guest, his vocals were completely indistinguishable from the crowds'.

Just one person singing along to a song can be terrible too. I had to resist the urge to strangle a guy once from singing along to Echo & the Bunnymen performing Ocean Rain. And hearing someone singing along to Neil Young's Heart of Gold once was terrible too. The guy stopped during the chorus, luckily, but almost too painful to watch, when he realised he was going for a different pitch and tempo than Neil himself and his singing along didn't work at all.

(not Heart of Gold, it was Old Man)

No option for this but the ideal one for me is the artist extending the final chorus - usually without music - for the audience to sing it. Saw Caetano Veloso do it for “Terra” and it sounded so beautiful I almost started crying. Also Radiohead for Karma Police tend to extend it for the audience to repeat the “for a minute there I lost myself” outro.

It sounds really powerful when done in the right moment and it’s not just a lazy trick for artists that can’t hit notes.

Like Madness when they play Our House and everyone keeps going "OUR HOOS INDAMIDDA OF DE STREET!" even over the alternate chorus lines ('was our castle and our keep'/'that was where we used to sleep').

Never heard any live versions of this but I imagine the key changes must throw a lot of people too

Nice post, Moka

xps Songs where it's fun to say HOOS in place of the actual lyrics

what about when the band asks the audience to clap along and then everybody gives up about 3 bars in except for one person who does it for the entire rest of the song

this dork apparently brings his harmonica to shows and *plays along in the crowd.*

I would sooner accept a cellphone in my face with the flashlight turned on rather than this.

lol Josh i was looking for your post about that from a few years ago and couldn't find it, so thanks for sharing that again here. wild how little impulse control some people have.

"anybody ever go to an Eric Clapton concert with their own fucking guitar?"

I brought my own cello to a Yo-Yo Ma show one time

I brought my own human beatbox to a Doug E. Fresh show once.

I brought my own poop to a GG Allin show once

I went to an Ozzy Osbourne show and for some reason everyone there had their own live bat

Haha at a Pretenders show in Detroit in '87, they were performing "Brass In Pocket", and we in the crowd had no clue that Chrissy Hynde was gonna sing the final "Gonna use my..my..my..." and then drop out and expect us to finish up with "...imagination!" ourselves. Not too many did; it was a bit awkward.

Best quote from this tour from Geddy Lee "I didn't know YYZ had a vocal part"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eSlvoO3Vw8

Like Madness when they play Our House and everyone keeps going "OUR HOOS INDAMIDDA OF DE STREET!" even over the alternate chorus lines ('was our castle and our keep'/'that was where we used to sleep').

Never heard any live versions of this but I imagine the key changes must throw a lot of people too

The drunk part of the crowd (which is a VERY substantial part) just keeps doing the same thing, despite the key changes. I don't think it throws them. They're probably completely oblivious to any different lyrics or key changes.

Anyway, back to the main question. While I'm mostly leaning to something between options 1 and 2, I just remembered how Bowie invited the audience to sing along to All The Young Dudes and that was classic.

The worst ones are when the vocalist preps the crowd to get ready, even running through the chorus perhaps before they begin the song, like some high school choir stage rehearsal.

Jeff Tweedy once did this, setting us up for the Ooooo's and Aaaaahh's during the "Heavy Metal Drummer" chorus. I stood there thinking, "Farrar would've never put up with this business."

Yeah that's lame... I think it's cool if it's done as a low-key thing in maybe one song.

option 2.

i saw 5 mins of Primal Scream at a festival one time and Boaby held the mic out for the crowd to sing along to that song about getting your rocks off only to be greeted by total silence in response.

i saw Arab Strap one time and the audience started singing along. Aiden Moffat stopped the song and told the audience to go fuck themselves.

There is a clip of Justin Bieber teaching a European audience how to clap on 2 and 4 instead of 1 and 3.

Like he literally stopped the song and told them they were clapping wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1q4_GkgrE0

Regardless of how you view Mr. Biebs this is actually a worthwhile lesson and maybe more people should learn it

Aiden Moffat stopped the song and told the audience to go fuck themselves.

What a dick.

xp I saw some clip of Harry Connick Jr. on some TV show where the crowd was clapping on the 1/3 instead of 2/4, and he subtly adjusted the tempo of the song to align. No lecturing involved, though I guess spare the rod, spoil the audience.

That clip is great. The audience doesn't even know what happened...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UinRq_29jPk

(the best part is Connick's drummer throwing his fists up in the air after the successful 5/4 bar)

this dork apparently brings his harmonica to shows and *plays along in the crowd.*

STILL lol about this, especially after your responses.

DYLAN: Hey, Mr. Sound Man. Can ya turn down the harmonica in my monitor?
MSM: Actually, Mr. Dylan, I think you're going to want me to turn it UP.

Needs to be a 'jam section' in the venue where all the dorks can play along safely away from the rest of the audience. Harp, didg, flute, maracas, you name it.

Go to the ballet, start pirouetting in the aisles.

I was in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar and these people in the audience had the audacity to make themselves part of the play. they decided to portray witnesses at the crucifixion and began vomiting on the floor

Are there bands that attract Rocky Horror-esque crowds to their shows? Shouting out stuff on cue, blowing confetti on a certain note, etc.?

Don't Phish fans do stuff like that for some songs?

in my imagination this is basically what a flaming lips show is

Are there bands that attract Rocky Horror-esque crowds to their shows? Shouting out stuff on cue, blowing confetti on a certain note, etc.?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4vFjS67sm8

Maybe more pop acts do this? Rock bands less so I guess. ICP, probably.

I remember Travis from Dismemberment Plan was initially cool with audience participation but then had to clamp down.

We were at the 9:30 one time and he said like, "Hey look, guys, I know we used to let you do stupid shit during 'Ice of Boston' but it has gotten out of hand so now I am asking you NOT to do stupid shit during 'Ice of Boston.'"

I don't even remember what Saud shit was, but I remember that moment vividly.

Another time, Barenaked Ladies had to ask people not to throw macaroni at them ("If I Had a Million Dollars") because they were unsurprisingly tired of getting hit in the face with macaroni.

That said, it's possible that Barenaked Ladies did, in fact, richly deserve to be regularly hit in the face with enriched pasta. I will leave that up to the reader to determine.

Amon Amarth do that thing where they ask their audience to start 'rowing' like on a viking ship

Pretty sure Gwar and Ululating Mummies had various audience-participation stuff back in the day.

Like, there was a Mummies show where we were all asked to bring a kazoo

Amon Amarth do that thing where they ask their audience to start 'rowing' like on a viking ship

TBF, this was a thing that drunk Europeans started doing at Wacken and other big festivals and the band thought it was hilarious (which it kinda was, the first time the footage popped up on YouTube) and have subsequently encouraged it, which was the wrong move IMO. In fact, I think there's actually a song about rowing on one of their more recent albums, which is officially a sign that things have Gone Too Far.

I liked it when I saw Half Man Half Biscuit live and the crowd did the 'fucking hell, it's Fred Titmuss' bit from Fucking Hell It's Fred Titmus, but that's more shouted than sang anyway

Where is the “the band should just let me sing, I’m in good voice today” option

S/D songs about rowing

sometimes if the singer is a little flat i bring my casio to the show to play the note and go "ahhhhh, right here, match my note"

on an unrelated note, casios do not fit very snugly in one's ass

I'm with James Taylor on this subject: "If you feel like singing along...don't".

thanks to the ILM end of year poll i went from never having (knowingly) heard Paramaore to falling in love with them and going to see them live within a matter of weeks.

i do love their bring the fans on stage to sing the song thang that they do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdKqLt_7kTU

I didn't realize until reading about it a little while ago that "audience members yelling inspiring lyrics at the performer or at each other" was a thing. I can't think of a situation where I would consider it appropriate for me to do that at a show.

watching the krakow videos of peter gabriel the other night and he's doing a fair amount of this which makes me annoyed in advance of seeing him in october.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

The only time this kind of behavior is even remotely acceptable is when it’s done by screaming teenage girls, like on “Sunny Afternoon” on The Kinks Live at Kelvin Hall.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Nice post from Regina Spektor of an audience singing "Fidelity" at a concert this weekend.

(the music on that ^^ plays on my phone but not on my browser, for some copyright-y reason)

Posted from a friend about the Tinariwen show:

There were goofy hippy dancers, dressed-up Tuareg dancers who hollered at the top of their lungs, and there was a solid line of people making videos with their shiny-screened I-phones right in front of me throughout the show. One of them also had a whistle, having apparently confused the concert with a soccer game. So there was ample opportunity to be distracted by the hell of other people, but I did my best to practice tolerance... except for when I told the guy with the whistle, "you know, that's really loud."

fwiw, I didn't notice or hear the whistle, but still.

On the live version of James' Sit Down from the early 90s, there was someone incessantly blowing a whistle while the crowd sang the chorus ad infinitum. Also a guy with an airhorn. Or maybe it was the same guy with both noisemakers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv2yYKiB8lQ