2014 Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame

[Freypower]

I would have thought Cat was more of a baritone than a bass?! His voice is low compared with Art's, I guess....

[Prettymaid]

Yay Soda!

From the videos of his performances that I watched, the crowd seemed to be into him. Is that how you saw it? As far as that goes, was the crowd really into everyone's performances, and who's performance got the biggest crowd response? Who's got the least?

[sodascouts]

Everyone got standing ovations and lots of cheers after the songs.

When it came to reactions DURING the songs...

Peter Gabriel was on first and I think that handicapped him a bit. A lot of people were still coming in. We were all clapping along but no one was up and dancing. I think he got the least crowd response to his performances.

There wasn't much of a response to Cat's first song, but "Wild World" got people moving. "Peace Train" got a lot of cheers, and some people stood... then more people stood... and by the end most of the audience was standing and clapping along. Some were waving their hands. Heck, I even threw up a peace sign.

When it came to the Linda Ronstadt tribute, people were swaying to the first two songs, but didn't start getting up and dancing until "It's So Easy." However, the crowd went wild when they were all out there together! Everyone was on their feet! They stayed up for "When Will I Be Loved."

The E-Street band just about wore everybody out when each member (there were 8 - Clarence Clemons was represented by his wife) took about 5-10 minutes to make their speech. I kid you not. Thanks to them, the ceremony took an hour longer than planned. I love 'em but it got freaking tiresome! However, once the "E Street Shuffle" started, there were enough Bruce fans in the house to get up and dance... especially at Bruce's urging (at one point he shouted "GET YOUR A$$ES OUT OF YOUR CHAIRS!") lol! Many people remained standing for "The River" although it's quite slow. Like I said, there were a TON of Bruce fans there.

I guess people were so exhausted that by the time Hall and Oates came on, which was after 11:00 (Daryl Hall said as his opening line, "lucky for you, there's only two of us" LOL) - they didn't get a lot of people rocking out to their songs.

Finally, Nirvana. This was SO epic for anyone who understood the significance of the moment - Kurt's death was 20 years ago; the other two guys had not performed Nirvana songs publicly since his death (they did play with McCartney a couple years ago). They were not my favorite band by any means, but I remember the huge influence they had on my generation. I remember how my little sister got into trouble for buying Nevermind and the way my friends and I all rocked out to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" when it came on the radio. So, you had an interesting dynamic as everyone around my age went absolutely CRAZY at this historic moment, and by contrast a lot of the older people were like "This is crap" and were moving towards the door. Whatever the case, there was a lot of moving around! You should've seen me - I was getting into it - pumping my fist and screaming along with Joan Jett (subbing on that song for Kurt) "WITH THE LIGHTS OUT, IT'S LESS DANGEROUS! HERE WE ARE NOW - ENTERTAIN US!!!" Thinking back to high school.. Ah, the nostalgia!

Now, Nirvana did something really unusual - they had women singers come out and front their band in place of Kurt, a different one for each song. Joan Jett fronted for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and did a great job. Kim Gordon from the Sonic Youth performed on "Aneurism" and I think she must have been super-drunk or high because she actually fell during the performance and I couldn't make out what she was saying when she talked into the mike because her speech was so slurred. It was like she was literally having an aneurism! Bet that gets edited out, lol. St. Vincent sang on "Lithium." Lastly, Lorde fronted the band for "All Apologies." Interesting choices... some worked better than others.

[Prettymaid]

Thanks Soda. I enjoyed hearing about the different vibes during the performances. I realized afterwards that I probably should have asked this question in the R&RHoF thread. More people would see it there.

[sodascouts]

Good point. I'll move 'em over.

ETA: Done!

[Tiffanny Twisted]

Ok I am so hooked on its so easy with glenn and the girls
he did a great job with his speech classic

Daryl Hall....what can I say such a talented guy but ....some times he just comes across as a egomaniac..(JMO) and John Oates is a classy guy

[bluefeather]

Wow you had a seriously cool but probably a bit tiresome night Soda

BRUCE

[tjh532]

For anyone who wants to catch the whole night, DirecTV is having a free HBO/Cinemax weekend. It will be showing the concert this Sunday morning

[Lisa]

Thanks for the narrative view of the ceremony!
Daryl Hall an egomaniac?
Maybe Daryl Hall is an introvert with a wonderful tenor among performing extraverts!

[sodascouts]

Darryl Hall's "there's only two of us" was taking a subtle dig at how long the E Street folks took with their speeches... and I completely agreed with him! I mean, I understand that they all wanted their time in the limelight, but they needed to be considerate of the other honorees whose time they were eating up.