8.1 The Rock in Rio concerts in January 1985 (James Taylor)
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This article is from the James Taylor FAQ, by Joel Risberg (jrisberg@shore.net) with numerous contributions by others.
8.1 The Rock in Rio concerts in January 1985 (James Taylor)
From Andre Valente (andre@lri.jur.uva.nl):
I was present in JT's concerts and almost all days from the festival
(10 days total) because I lived in Rio by that time.
- It started with JT alone in the guitar for a few songs, then with
the addition of two wonderful back-vocals (one male one female, both
black). This was the part I liked most. I prefer the slow songs (Long
Ago and Far Away, You Can Close Your Eyes, etc.) generally, and their
performance for so many people created an incredible effect: can you
imagine 200.000 people in a rock festival almost completely silent,
sitting on the ground? It was this magic mood that made the experience
incredible, and the origin of the magic was JT's music.
- The other instruments entered slowly, up to the moment where the group
was complete. Then followed "You've Got a Friend", "Fire and Rain",
"Mexico", etc. All the big hits, everything I wanted to hear. I think
he finished with "Up on a Roof", but I am not certain.
The fact that the audience was so big (the biggest from the 10 days of
the festival) was due to a large extent to JT. He was (is) very famous
in Brazil, especially for the generation that lived the 70s.
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