I said this before in a post about my wife’s art —

This is what makes me happy — bringing some magic and joy into the world for no other reason than that — magic and joy.

Only a few weeks into this resurrected blog and I’m quoting myself. YEESH.

Anyways, look, these guys are doing this very thing — Choir! Choir! Choir!

It was started by two guys as a weekly drop-in singalong in Toronto in 2011, and has transformed into a really amazing phenomenon that tours around the world. If the show comes to your town, you can buy a ticket and join hundreds of others for several hours to learn a song split into choral arrangements, and then after the rehearsal you will perform it.

They have come to Chicago multiple times. My wife has participated in several concerts — I have made it to one with her and some friends. We rehearsed and sang the Chicago song “25 or 6 to 4”. It felt really special to be part of something that is creative, communal and all-too-brief. I still think about that night from time to time.

Choir! has a lot of these collective concerts on YouTube. The majority of the videos there are only the two founders, Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, plus the choir/audience. However, sometimes they will have special guests. David Byrne joined the choir to sing the Bowie song “Fame”, Rufus Wainwright sang the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah”.

My favorite of these “celebrity” choir concerts is the one with Patti Smith. The song is “People Have The Power”. You can feel the energy and warmth during the performance. I can’t imagine being in the choir for this — it must have been overwhelming. Smith herself seems pretty emotional about the whole experience.

Oh, Stewart Copeland is there too, for some reason, playing a skillet. I like Stewart Copeland, whatever and whenever weird place or time he shows up.

I hope you love this video as much as me. People have the power.