Music connects us.
At concerts, we can share in a powerful emotional experience with other concertgoers we’ve never met before - music.
So let’s start by watching a famous example of people clearly having an emotional reaction to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Watch this YouTube video, of the enormous crowd at a Green Day concert in London singing along with the recording of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as they wait for the show to start.
This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube.
It should be pointed out that this was recorded in 2017, a little over a month after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, and that the crowd was making something of a show of solidarity with each other in a time when going to a concert could, sadly, be dangerous.
Because of this the crowd response seems euphoric, particularly joyful.
Music has many uses, but one of the very important things about music in everyday life is that we use it to help us feel emotion. When we sing with others we can feel something similar to the emotions that they feel, at the same time. This makes us feel connected (DeNora, 2000). Think about another group singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in a restaurant, sometimes we just can’t help ourselves and join in even when we don’t know them.
Use the comments link below to share what you experience, as a viewer, when you watch the Youtube video. Even if you weren’t there in Hyde Park in July 2017, do you feel something of the euphoria? If so (or if not), why do you think that’s the case?
DeNora, T. (2000). Music In Everyday Life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
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