Is it me or does anyone else get irritated when Jagger or other singers like Springsteen ask the audience to sing along on a song?

No love it. All audience participation is good especially singing along to you can't always get what you want. Christ man it's showbiz and rock n roll has always been showbiz not some navel gazing we're too cool for that kind of thing.

NickB

You can't always get what you want.....

www.myspace.com/thesonkings

I only mind it when Jagger tells me to be quiet because i'm singing very loud and out of key!!

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reg thorpe
Is it me or does anyone else get irritated when Jagger or other singers like Springsteen ask the audience to sing along on a song?

I don't remember any concert where singer doesn't ask the audience to sing along,it's a great thing!

Absolutely irritating - if we´re to sing it should be spontaneous!

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NickB
No love it. All audience participation is good especially singing along to you can't always get what you want. Christ man it's showbiz and rock n roll has always been showbiz not some navel gazing we're too cool for that kind of thing.

Don't get me wrong...I know it's showbiz and all...but it ruins the song for me sometimes; and sometimes it shows up on live recordings which gets even more irritating; maybe I just need a diaper change.

It's great if it's spontaneous, but if I'm asked to sing I want to be paid.

You would love Bob Dylan then. He never says anything to the audience. Not one word. Just plays music and sings, then leaves.

It's best when a band does it from the beginning of a song, the singer just doesn't start singing the song, the crowd does it instead. About all the singer does is perhaps cup his ear to let the crowd know it's OK to sing. The band will completely stop playing but the crowd keeps singing.

U2, Tom Petty & Bruce Springsteen have done this many times and not just for a couple of lines but 2-3 verses! This requires an audience that actually knows most of the lyrics and not just the chorus. When the entire crowd does this it's a great moment.

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mitchflorida
You would love Bob Dylan then. He never says anything to the audience. Not one word. Just plays music and sings, then leaves.

...and Van the Man; you're lucky if he even talks to the audience

I like the audience participation. If you don't, why not just watch the concert on DVD?

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mitchflorida
I like the audience participation. If you don't, why not just watch the concert on DVD?

Keith doesn't ask me to come up on stage and play a solo; why does the singers ask the audience to sing along? there is usually a guy next to me who can't sing for the life of him.

I HATE sing-alongs.
I'm fortunate though... I am one of the people who actually got to hear the Stones play YCAGWYW when it was a fairly new song... Among those who got to hear Mick sing the verses alone, and the choruses with just Keith on harmony vocals.

I also hate when people sing along with ALL the songs
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane. And I howled at my ma in the driving rain, But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas! But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's a Gas Gas Gas! I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag, I was schooled with a strap right across my back, But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas! But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's a Gas Gas Gas! I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead. I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled. I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread. I was crowned with a spike right thru my head. But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas! But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, It's a Gas Gas Gas! Jumping Jack Flash, its a gas Jumping Jack Flash, its a gas Jumping Jack Flash, its a gas Jumping Jack Flash, its a gas. I met a gin soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis, She tried to take me upstairs for a ride. She had to heave me right across her shoulder 'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind. It's the honky tonk women Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues. I laid a divorcee in New York City, I had to put up some kind of a fight. The lady then she covered me with roses, She blew my nose and then she blew my mind. It's the honky tonk women. Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues. It's the honky tonk women. Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues. It's the honky tonk women. Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues.

he always does a singalong on You Can't Always Get What You Want.

I guess you will have to live with it. Or write Mick a letter and tell him . See what sort of response you get.

Well there's the one sing-along on Love You Live. Are there any others?

I think Mick does the whole sing-along thing on YCAGWYW because he knows that the audience will be singing along. It's inevitable and he doesn't really have much of a choice anymore.

It's like Springsteen has the audience sing for multiple verses..why bother singing at all? Just let the audience sing the entire song if it's so enjoyable..

i liked the concert where he laughed in contempt at the audience
for coming in wrong on YCAGWYW and said "no no no - let me show you" -
and he did

i love the Rolling Stones

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with sssoul
i liked the concert where he laughed in contempt at the audience
for coming in wrong on YCAGWYW and said "no no no - let me show you"

When was that?

St Paul 2005 for one - i imagine that wasn't the only time [passing popcorn]

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with sssoul
[passing popcorn]

Thanks... I'll pass

Some popcorn made a piece break off one of my teeth last Christmas... That sticky caramel coated stuff that's in big tins in offices every year at this time.

By modern rock-band standards Mick is quite restrained about asking the audience to sing. Many lead singers these days, especially at festivals, are constantly shouting and nagging the crowd: Come ON, Isle of Wight, I can't HEAR you... every couple of minutes on every song like a bad game-show host. I hate it. With one or two specific exceptions (YCAGWYW is one, the "everybody-say-OW!" sessions between songs are another) Mick mostly just lets his own enthusiasm spark off any singing-along - and I personally sing better when I'm not being bullied into it.

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reg thorpe
Is it me or does anyone else get irritated when Jagger or other singers like Springsteen ask the audience to sing along on a song?

I don't like being asked. It should happen spontaneously. At least they don't ask us to wave our hands in the air like we just don't care.

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Green Lady
By modern rock-band standards Mick is quite restrained about asking the audience to sing.

not sure this is a "modern"/not modern thing... I was listening to a Stevie Wonder show from '79 the other night, and he schools the audience in how to sing several of the numbers.

I get confused when he says "come on"! I mean, where are we going?

Sure, let's have Mick announce, with a smirk and a wink: "Whatever you folks do, please do NOT sing along, as it might annoy the bootlegger standing next to you".

Went and saw Green Day a couple of days ago in Brisbane. They were very big on audience participation. They played for about 2 and 1/2 hours and had about 10 members of the audience on stage at various times. It was great at first but got a bit tedious after a while. They got 3 people up who could play instruments and got them to finish a song at one stage. It was a great show all round and dare I say as good as any of the 8 Stones shows I have seen.

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reg thorpe
Is it me or does anyone else get irritated when Jagger or other singers like Springsteen ask the audience to sing along on a song?

Hate it!

But worse is when LVs start clapping their hands above their heads and try to make everyone do that along with them. And most people do. Feels like a mindless Nuremberg Rally to me. Bono is possibly the worst.

This demanding the audience to behave as the people on stage wish them to is *not* standard today--it seems most prevalent in stale bands playing in over-large venues to mainstream audiences who want to be told what to do. Smaller more vibrant band wouldn't insult its audience by telling them what to do. It's like yelling "hellloooo Cleveland!!!" for a cheap crowd-roar.

I guess different things turn different people on in different ways, tho. It's probably best that we stick to our own kinds of shows. Those of us who resent being told "OK everybody -- sing along!" probably seem grumpy to those who like that kind of cue. And shows where the band expects each person will figure out what he or she feels like doing are probably confusing or feel "too cool" to others.

I don't like singalongs. Sometimes it's nice like the 'ooh ooh's on Sympathy or the 'yeah yeah whooo' on Brown Sugar. Singalong on Miss you is terrible

What annoys me far more is the clapping. Germans are very clappy. I was in Hannover once and my girlfriend warned me because she'd seen many a Rockpalast airing. But Bube why do you have to clap throughout every song.

I cannot sing or keep a rythm so usually I keep quiet.

Here comes the bus