Danny Gokey – Milwaukee Bucs Home Opener – Video

I never noticed Danny’s lisp before. He sounded pretty nervous…but this is a tough song to sing.

I thought that Danny sounded good on all of the performances. He does well with live performances, IMO.

Bet that was a trip for him. Maybe I’m jumping to the conclusion that since he is from Milwaukee he likes the Bucs.

I’m sure he was nervous and I hate to be the B that is so nit-picky, but mastering the lyrics to this song is a MUST. In the last line, he said “for” and it was like a needle screeching across a record for me

On a happier note, the commentators were so adorable in their gushing over him. It’s nice to hear him getting some love

wrong thread

Danny will always be mediocre for this non-fan. He stressed so much to the National Anthem. He was never great, and I have no idea what Paula, Simon, Kara and Randy saw in him, they definitely got it wrong with him. I hate his voice. Ugh!

And yet another Gokey karoeke performance at the half-time show. :-0

That was absolutely dreadful, I’m afraid.

Thanks MJ!

Danny must be drinking Redbull, because those are two amazingly energized performances!

Love to see some closeups from the halftime performance, if they become available.

What a voice!

Thanks for posting mj! I don’t have Internet service at home so this is the first I’ve heard of the performance.

I think Danny sounds great, although I did notice the “for” like kmra. But other than that he did a great job. In fact, two others in the room who do not know him commented on how good he sounded. Jx223 commented on Danny doing well live, and I have to agree. He always sounds great live to me!

I can’t wait for the single to come out. Hopefully Danny will sound like Danny. That’s my complaint with both Adam and Allison’s singles…they don’t sound like themselves. Why take singers with unique and interesting voices and make them sound like everybody else?

I believe I read somewhere the single will be out Dec. 14. I’m hoping for some good music!

I hate to compare but another Idol pawns Danny in singing the NA. That was awful.

I don’t know if I’d say “awful”. Just mediocre. A couple of pitchy notes in the SSB. Didn’t listen to the other one.

Jeez, what does Danny have against Rascall Flats?

Thanks for posting the videos MJ.

I think Danny sounds great. Singing the National Anthem A capella is not very easy to do and Danny did a great job. I so enjoyed his halftime performance with the kids in costumes dancing in front of him – how cute!!! Danny killed Life is a Highway in this performance. I hope his new single is something upbeat.

I also read a tweet from someone at RCA that they are gearing up for a radio tour. I am thinking it is an acoustic radio tour and Danny will be interviewing with radio stations and signing his new single live.

bfraley gearing up for big Radio Tour with Danny Gokey. should be fun!!!

bfraley yeah, keys,ac gtr, & bgvs- it’s gonna be fun- Danny is a great guy

Also a tweet from a guitar player who played with Danny in New York.

Def_Santiago Its was kinda DG unplugged. Really went well. Had a great warm-fuzzy vibe about it. we had a blast. It’s an honor to do this for a living

Def_Santiago Played an acoustic show with DG for the staff at Sony Records today. It was beautiful and very heartfelt. They where really touched by it.

Def-Santiago Going to Nashville tomorrow for DG rehearsals. How come he’s just DG now? What is that a cool nick name? What, like Def or something? lol

Aek, you have a point that record companies make singers sound so generic these days. No room for individualism or personal style.

I really hope that doesn’t happen to Danny cuz he’s so sweet and natural just the way he is. I also think he sounds amazing live!

BTW, at many, if not most, sporting events, they have the NA lyrics so the singer doesn’t miss anything. At the Bucks game, Danny sang it cold. I think he did a GREAT job and I wonder how many singers could get it 100% right without the lyrics in front of them.

also have to say that Danny looked downright SMOKIN HOT!

Thanks so much for posting this!

Monte, thanks for posting those great tweets from the guitarist. Especially this one:

Played an acoustic show with DG for the staff at Sony Records today. It was beautiful and very heartfelt. They where really touched by it.

That’s Danny in a nutshell…beautiful and very heartfelt!! <3

Aek,

I feel the same way. So far the three singles from Kris, Adam and Allison are too overproduced IMO . I hope Danny’s single sounds like Danny. Country music does not seem to be as overproduced as pop so there is hope. Danny did say in a radio interview that his single is an upbeat ballad. I guess that means they have already decided on his single. I wonder if the unplugged performance Danny did for the RCA staff was his new single. If so, you would think there would be a leak before December. Sure would have liked to be a fly on that wall.

That was really great, I love hearing him sing the NA. He did really well when he did it earlier this year too, some may have missed it amongst all the homecoming hubbub, so here’s a link. I remember feeling touched when watching this, because he looked so tired but did a fantastic job anyway.

http://www.fox6now.com/shows/fox/americanidol/dannygokey/witi-090508-gokey-miller-park,0,7984127.story

I keep getting more excited about Danny’s upcoming work, as there’s more and more evidence that the industry sees him as having great potential…I always thought so but it is very nice to see that validated!

For somebody that isn’t used to singing in front of crowds like some of the other Idols, Danny did great on the Anthem IMO. Plus, his half-time performance was full of energy, and I’m sure the audience enjoyed him. Too bad some people just won’t give Danny a chance, but that’s OK — he’ll do fine because he’s picked up numerous fans during the tour and I’m sure at the Buck’s game.

I REally enjoy Danny’s soulful voice, he sounded great singing the National anthem at the BUCs Game in Milwaukee; I wish there were professional quality video, then you could really get a sense of how strong and powerful a singer Danny is. I think the amateur quality of the video does not reflect how strong his voice projected. He is a wonderful singer, and a dynamic human being. I truly enjoyed the snippets of Danny’s performance of the National Anthem and at the halftime at the BUcks game. Great job Danny!!

I am happy there is a release date for Danny’s single. I thought his single would be released in December because there are too many Idol singles and albums being released this month IMO. I’m glad it will be released before Christmas. I think 3 months is a good time between a single and an album. Danny’s label seems to be taking it slow with him which is a good. They do not seem to be throwing his album together quickly which indicates to me they have faith in him.

yeah, Monte, I was so disappointed in David Cook’s album that AI slapped together as fast as possible. I wanted soooooo badly to love it, cuz I love DC, but I still only like a couple of songs on it. This is what the machine does to new artists. Sucks ‘em in, shakes ‘em up and spits ‘em out.

I am hoping and praying that Danny’s label is doing the best they can for him. He is an amazing person, a fantastic singer and a real inspiration to all of my family and countless others in the world. With his talent, charisma and fan base it should be a no-brainer, but you never know in that cutthroat business.

My Best to Danny Gokey!!!

All I can say is Wow.
Beautiful voice, heartfelt and pitch perfect IMO.
Singing this a capella difficult song is very challenging for the best of singers and I think he nailed it.
I think Danny Gokey has sang the National Anthem the best I’ve heard from any Idol, both this rendition and the Cub/Brewer baseball game rendition.
Halftime very entertaining too. I like how he made Life Is A Highway more into a Rock song and less country. Pop country definitely suits him.
Looking forward to his single and album! Agree with poster further back that stated most of the singles so far don’t even sound like the artist-I hope they don’t overproduce his beautiful voice.

Wow, Danny killed it on that cover of ‘Life is a Highway’. Great song for him, hope he does some stuff like this on his album. I always liked the original rock version more than the Rascal Flatts remake, but I think I like this live version better than either of them.

Kara once said that Danny never sings a bad note. He is pitch perfect nearly ever time he sings. Once again he proved he rarely misses a note. His Anthem was beautiful. The National Anthem is one of the most difficult songs to sing, especially Acapella. There is no way to cover up mistakes. Danny had no worries. His rendition was one of the best I have ever heard. The man can SANG!

Gokey still needs the help of a stylist for a more appealing look. He said he watched Adam on the tour when performing, looks like he did not learn much. I find him boring, boring and oh yes, boring.

I thought he sounded pretty good & the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Milwaukee loves Danny!
I wish I could have gone but it was Halloween for cripes sake. I wear a colorful clown outfit & garish clown make-up every day & it’s the only time I fit right in with all of the trick or treaters so why waste it at some sporting event?
Also, it’s Bucks not Bucs. And that’s bucks for the male deer, not bucks for money in case you’re wondering.

kmra, I felt the same way when he messed up the lyric. As it was his rendition was just bland. I hate those glasses. I’m quite surprised he got signed by any major label.

Great Job Danny Enough of us love you and you will be a star…

Maybe it’s because of the poor quality of the video, but that sucked. I would think that Gokey could do better than that on the national anthem? That was not good. He did so well during the AI tour. I wonder what happened? Maybe he was really nervous. It was really boring and he didn’t seem to connect with the song.

No, Sue, we can’t blame the video quality. Danny just doesn’t have any excitement. Like I said before, Gokey said he studied Adam’s performances to better his presentation as a singer. But, obviously he didn’t learn how to bring some interest to his persona. A stylist could to so much with his face and hair, but he must like the bland look. Of course he thinks he is cool.

It was just “okay” for me. And the for instead of o’er rubbed me the wrong way too. forgetting the words to Billy jean or that one at the college is one thing, as he stated he was not familiar with mainstream music, but this is the National Anthem!! And he always looks so strained, like hitting the notes hurts him a lot!

Oh bless his heart…

And best of luck to his team at RCA Nashville. Hopefully they’ve figured out he needs to be told what and how to sing, and is being programmed like a robot so he doesn’t make a fool of himself on the radio tour. A guy signed to a major label who just finished a long arena tour shouldn’t still come across like a nervous nelly.

Whoever took this was taking a video of their TV screen, I’m surprised that the sound quality is as good as it is. But I agree with the gushing sportscasters, I liked it. I was curious about the “nervous” comment and just watched it focusing on his body language, and he looks pretty confident to me. Knowing that he has the major label and one of the best producers in the business supporting him would tend to give a person equanimity I suppose, I know I certainly feel much calmer about the whole thing. As a fan, I feel great about how Danny is doing. It’s fun to watch it unfold.

Life is a Highway seems like the type of upbeat country song that will work well for Danny’s upcoming album, and also makes for a fun live performance that he can get the crowds into. It was very obvious that the crowd loved it when he sang it back in September at the MSMC anniversary concert ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6IaqLSCROw ), wasn’t surprised that he brought it out this weekend again. I was a little surprised he chose to do My Wish since it was more mid-tempo, but it did work well for the event when I saw the video.

Danny has a real talent for connecting emotionally with audiences in live performance, and it shows with Life is a Highway at both of these events, as well as in some of his more serious songs like What Hurts the Most from tour, or I Can Only Imagine in the two performances I’ve seen of that (this is one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85dw9nl82Bg ).

I’ve really enjoyed Danny’s performances of the NA, both here and when he sang it back in May at the Brewers game. He really delivers the song well a cappella with a lot of sincerity and strong vocals. I understand he’s already got a invitation to perform it again for the Packers next month on Christmas weekend, can completely understand why.

Plus a lot of artist have sung the National Anthem acapella and many have done better than Gokey’ ¦.just sayin’ ¦lol..

And I imagine they’ve sung it many more times for a huge crowd than Danny has performed it. He’s doing fine. Same people from the scary boards over here putting him down.

Danny sounds really good on Life Is A Highway. I can’t make myself listen to any more NAs done by Idols so I have no idea if he was great or stunk.

steph6449, I really like that video of the MSMC performance of “Life is a Highway”, he’s having so much fun playing with the band, and the audience, it’s a joy to watch. Sounds like everyone in the room was having a blast.
I like the second one you posted too, from the JM conference. I’m not really into religious music but really enjoyed these. Especially the second half, when as someone said (maybe it was you?) that he basically did a duet with the audience. The way his voice soared over and around on the melody on that, to me was just stunningly beautiful. It just hits you sometimes, like when you see a basketball player soar high into the air what seems effortlessly, or read a poem that suddenly pierces your heart. “Artistry”, I guess is what Kara would call it.

I think he did a GREAT job and I wonder how many singers could get it 100% right without the lyrics in front of them.

Uh, it’s our national anthem. I’m not a professional singer and I know all the words. And I think the least we could expect from a singer is to know the words to a song he/she is performing. That said, I think Danny did a decent job. I think he has a nice soulful voice, but I think he still needs to work a bit on delivery. But he clearly has a lot of fans and as long as they enjoy his music that’s all that matters.

And I imagine they’ve sung it many more times for a huge crowd than Danny has performed it. He’s doing fine. Same people from the scary boards over here putting him down.

That is why I come here and not the scary boards. I hate the scary boards. I get to have an opinion here. Geezzzee! So maybe I should say that many previous idols that had the same experience as Danny have done better on the NA. Yes he will get better with more practice. I think Danny is a funny guy and I think he will do well with country music. FYI, I read all the post here, it’s a blog, I like to read, it doesn’t matter who it is about. I am addicted to idol and everything idol, lol, and reading is fun. It’s just one little opinion from some obscure person, so it shouldn’t effect Danny’s future. So maybe I should of lied and said that Danny did incredible on the NA? His “Life is a Highway” is pretty good.

I thought he sounded good on the NA but I really like how he sounds on Life is a Highway. He would have done really good with that song on tour. Maybe his single will be uptempo as well. They are being very tight lipped about the songs and songwriters on his album.

Does anyone know if any of the other Idols have done an acoustic radio tour? I know Miley Cyrus did for The Climb. I think that is smart move if the tweets are true that his label is planning that type of promotion for Danny’s single.

Just so so. Danny doesn’t get a pass anymore for inexperience or nerves. He’s in the big leagues now with RCA Nashville and needs to step it up. Mark Bright and RCA can’t do all the work…

I think Danny did a great job at this event. His voice sounded beautiful on the National Anthem, perfect pitch (especially for a capella) and lots of vocal power. I thought he looked confident (and hot!), yet serious and passionate.
IMO, his versions of the NA (both the Bucks event and the homecoming Brewers event) are the best I’ve heard from any Idol fortunate enough to sing at a major sporting event.
Life Is A Highway and My Wish were well performed, high energy and fun.
I think Danny will be quite successful singing country soul/pop.

I like the second one you posted too, from the JM conference. I’m not really into religious music but really enjoyed these. Especially the second half, when as someone said (maybe it was you?) that he basically did a duet with the audience. The way his voice soared over and around on the melody on that, to me was just stunningly beautiful.

JosieX, yes, that was me who had mentioned after seeing that JM video last month how it was very much like Danny doing a duet with the audience on that second song. That’s really how it struck me the first time I saw it. Still can’t think off hand of a performer I’ve seen do that just that way, although I’m sure there must be some. I wasn’t very familiar with either of the songs on the JM video, but the audio is very clear and you can hear both Danny and the audience quite well as their little ‘duet’ develops, especially with the very spare piano accompaniment.

I find it interesting how Danny is able to get audiences involved in his singing, and with songs of all different tempos and song styles. Life is a Highway this weekend or at the college show is at totally the other end of the spectrum from the two religious songs in the JM performance, but Danny gets the audience with him in both situations pretty comprehensively. My Wish is somewhere in the middle, and Danny certainly had audiences with him there waving their arms all across arenas at the Bucks game and the various AI tour stops. He was the only AI8 performer I saw at the AI Tour this year who was anything like that. (The audience was also really into Adam, Allison and Matt at my show, but not in the interactive way they had with Danny.)

One thing Danny does is extend some of his song performances so he’s not just running on a straight line through the song and stopping. That probably helps the audiences get into things more? Danny’s also pretty good at trying to get some eye contact with the audiences, even in big arena situations. Maybe all that church singing background helped him with those areas.

I thought Danny did a great job too. He didn’t look or sound nervous to me at all.

I’m not seeing any nerves at all. Danny is very confident and relaxed when he performs.

Danny has been working very hard since the tour ended. He had a performance in NY singing 14 songs. Haven’t seen any other Season 8 Idols do a performance like that. He also sang at an NBA season opener. He has recorded 5 songs. He flew to LA to dedicate a Youth Center in his wife’s name and his foundation formed a partnership with LA Dream Center which feed thousands of homeless in LA. I would say that Danny has been working very hard.

I didn’t see any visible nerves either, although a little nervous energy sometimes isn’t a bad thing for a performer. From anything I’ve seen to judge by, Danny seems to enjoy these big arena crowd situations like the AI Tour, or here at the Bucks game when there were probably around +/- 15,000 in attendance. That JM appearance also was in a big stadium venue, as was the private insurance company event he did during the summer (close to 10,000 peeps at that, supposedly).

Gokey kind of screwed the pooch a bit on the lyrics but that really isn’t uncommon. The singing was certainly good enough. Carly Smithson had a few flubs when she did the anthem at the 4th of July thing down in San Diego a few years back. Of course, she is Irish.

Maybe all that church singing background helped him with those areas.

I agree. The church background is often viewed as a detriment, but I think it helped prepare him for all this in a number of ways. I don’t go to church now, but I grew up going to a church that was not much different from the one that Danny goes to. One example is the emotional connection part, which his experience as a worship leader undoubtedly developed in him, and I think he really excels there. Another is just the comfort level performing for people. I know that I got used to performing in various ways in front of a congregation from the time I was a tiny kid. When I started my business career, I’d see people shaking in their shoes to even speak in front of a group, and I was glad I had that experience (as I’m sure Danny did) so early in life. And this is kind of an amusing one, when you go to a church like that, you get used to walking in the door and being hugged half to death by a nice lady who then passes you off to the next one, from one end of the place to the other. I have noticed that Danny is very comfortable engaging with his fans, seemingly more so than the others, and I suspect that this early experience helped him out there too!

Kara once said that Danny never sings a bad note. He is pitch perfect nearly ever time he sings…

She was way off when she said that. I remember it well, and I remember that there were several pitchy notes that night.

Gokey still needs the help of a stylist for a more appealing look. He said he watched Adam on the tour when performing…

And this is his main problem. He has tried to be David Cook, he has tried to be Adam, and he has tried to be Kris (remember when he stepped off the plane in Milwaukee carrying a GUITAR CASE?!!! ha). Danny needs to be Danny and quit trying to copy everyone else.

are the best I’ve heard from any Idol fortunate enough to sing at a major sporting event.

First, the NBA plays nearly 100 games per each team so the season is several thousand games long…major sporting event…nada…and the TV audience is basically just the team fans.This isn’t national territory by any stretch. Super bowl (Jordin), Pro Bowl (Archie), NBA playoffs (Kris)…these are major! Most of the time the NA is sung by “locals” as well as the half time intertainment (local drill teams, etc) during a regular NBA game….not much of a feather in Danny’s cap for this one.

When Danny is the next best thing since sliced bread on the country charts then I will give him tons of kudos…for this gig its strictly a “nice job” and absolutely nothing earth shattering.

When I started my business career, I’d see people shaking in their shoes to even speak in front of a group, and I was glad I had that experience (as I’m sure Danny did) so early in life. And this is kind of an amusing one, when you go to a church like that, you get used to walking in the door and being hugged half to death by a nice lady who then passes you off to the next one, from one end of the place to the other. I have noticed that Danny is very comfortable engaging with his fans, seemingly more so than the others, and I suspect that this early experience helped him out there too!

That is kind of an amusing one. Coming from such a big family as one of the younger children may have helped Danny in that respect, too.

for this gig its strictly a ‘nice job’  and absolutely nothing earth shattering.

This was a nice appearance for Danny, he got some good promotion for it out of the Bucks machine, and he did well. But I wouldn’t characterize it as earth shattering either . I don’t think anyone has. (Nor do I recall the earth shattering in other AI8 NA performances this year, really. Just walked my dog, the earth really looked ok. lol.)

It was the Milwaukee Bucks hometown opening game, however, not just a random game during the season, and anytime one of these aspiring new artists (none of them have established careers yet from AI8) has a chance to the featured performer for a crowd of 10,000-20,000 peeps seems to me that’s a good thing.

In Danny’s case, they were keeping things pretty well locked down in the first month or so of his process recording with RCA Nashville. Last weekend’s appearance seems to be part of a strategy where Danny is now out and about for more public performances, interviews and other appearances that presumably will continue to ramp up building toward the release of his single in December. The report of an upcoming radio tour would seem to fit with that sort of strategy.

“But I wouldn’t characterize it as earth shattering either . I don’t think anyone has. ”

Agree! I just think he did a great job, looked good, sang a difficult a capella song very well and received good PR. Kudos to him.

“anytime one of these aspiring new artists (none of them have established careers yet from AI8) has a chance to the featured performer for a crowd of 10,000-20,000 peeps seems to me that’s a good thing.”

Also agree. He didn’t just sing the NA, he was the half time entertainment. Its great when any of the AI contestants get that kind of exposure.

I love how Danny hugs everyone, he really loves people and is not afraid to be close to them. I hope that doesn’t change as he progresses in his music career.