U2 cancelled its previously planned residency on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon after frontman Bono suffered a debilitating bicycle accident last year, however the band came back in a big way for several sketches on an episode last week. One featured the band, in disguise, playing its classic "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" in a subway station at Grand Central Station, one of the busiest transport hubs in New York City. Passerby didn't pay much heed until the band shed its costumes (which weren't very good to begin with) and played "Desire." U2 took part in a long musical tradition known as busking, or playing in a public space, generally for cash tips from those standing by (U2 didn't ask for money of course). They weren't the first major musical act to play in the subway...here are five other acts, from Avril Lavigne to Michael Buble who took to the underground.
Michael Buble
Performances at Lincoln Center are generally scheduled for the evening, so some commuters might have been surprised to see Michael Buble on the platform at 66th Street in Manhattan during their morning commute. The vocalist was out promoting his album To Be Loved and had joined with the city's seven-piece a cappella group Naturally 7. The collective sang The Jackson 5's "Who's Lovin' You" while fans, who immediately recognized the performer in his typical apparel, swooned (the song was also included on the album). Buble had high praise for the art of subway performance: "Singing in the New York subway is something that has been done for years and years and years, and I feel it's the most authentic, organic way to make music," he said. "You see some of the greatest musicians in the world come down here and play." Indeed, Michael. Indeed.
Avril Lavigne
So it turns out that Avril Lavigne wasn't famous yet when this clip was filmed, but it still serves as a nice reminder to fans of the pop rocker of her humble beginnings. The clip features the performer and two other musicians popping up on a subway (in an unknown city), performing before Let Go and "Complicated" made her the new big thing. It seems that Lavigne had higher ambitions from the beginning however...although she wasn't rich yet, she and her bandmates took the $16 they made while playing on the train that day and gave it to a homeless man at the end of the clip...suggesting that she didn't feel desperate and just wanted some live experience. The video is featured on her first DVD, Avril Lavigne: My World.
Jessie J
Although U2 wasn't messing around when it took to Grand Central Station for its impromptu performance, Jessie J one-upped them in terms of busy transport hubs. Any New Yorker can tell you just how sprawling the Times Square/42nd Street subway complex is (there are humorous rumors of tourists getting lost in its many tunnels). We're not sure exactly where the British pop star was standing within its caverns when she swung by during 2011, but those who were lucky enough to be in the neighborhood were thrilled. Jessie had just struck it big with "Do It Like A Guy" but still needed some push in the United States so she performed her then-new single "Who You Are." What makes this performance especially impressive is its a cappella nature...not requiring the typical pop backing.
Katherine Jenkins
Another Brit took to the subway to promote her new album, and this one was wearing a wig as well: Katherine Jenkins, a mezzo-soprano who has had crossover success in the UK, stayed in her homeland to perform in The Underground. The reasons for the wigs were completely different however: While Jessie J is best recognized while wearing her black-bob wig, Jenkins wore a brown hairpiece to hide her true color and her true identity. Not that it took travelers too long to figure out the ruse. Although most of the acts on this list did a few songs or less as part of the stunts, Jenkins played almost an entire concert set, singing her own singles, Welsh folk songs and even a cover of Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life." The performer, used to fancier stages, said that she enjoyed the experience as a whole: "I was really enjoying myself...On the first note I thought 'oh God, I don't know how this is going to work out.' It was quite an operatic number and I wasn't sure how it would be received. But by the second number people were stopping and I really enjoyed it."
Joshua Bell
Part of the humor in celebrity musicians busking is that viewers don't recognize them because of the context of the performance. Sometimes the obliviousness of passerby to an amazing performance is somewhat troublesome. Such was the case when Joshua Bell, a Grammy-winning conductor and violinist, set up shop at the entrance of Union Station in Washington D.C. and performed Bach's Violin Concerto, while subway riders hurried around him. He could have done much worse in a busy transport center however: Violinist Min Jin Kym didn't keep an eye on her case-holding a legendary Stradivarius violin and two bows...worth more than $1.4 million altogether-at a London train station and the box got nabbed. Fortunately the instrument was recovered more than two years after it went missing.
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