We’d Follow Grand Funk Railroad Anywhere After This Performance Of “I’m Your Captain”
photo credit: fanart.tv
GFR Hit Shea Stadium
Running at close to 10 minutes in length, Grand Funk Railroad’s epic “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home)” is as about as classic as a song can get, its story of a troubled captain trying to maintain enough law and order on his ship to make it back home again, one that we’ve sung and screamed along to for decades.
Radio stations still play it, fans still can’t get enough of it and in 1971, Shea Stadium rocked with the power of 55,000 strong as Grand Funk Railroad brought “I’m Your Captain” to the stage during a concert that until 2008 held the record for the fastest selling concert at Shea Stadium.
Grand Funk Railroad’s explosive performance that night immortalized on film, footage of the crowd at Shea Stadium visibly rocking their bench seats peppers shots of the band itself onstage as singer Mark Farner, bathed in spotlight commands the stage like the captain in his tale and with a vocal performance like this, it’s pretty safe to say we’d follow him anywhere and judging by the sound of the crowd, we’re not the only ones!
Fun Fact: Grand Funk Railroad broke The Beatles’ 1965 record for the fastest selling concert in rock history, selling out the 55,000 seat Shea Stadium in 72 hours.
If you listen closely, Grand Funk Railroad’s fans can be heard quite audibly screaming and singing along with Farner, actually even drowning his voice out at times; I don’t know about you, but I sure do miss the days when rockstars were these larger than life figures that inspired that kind of insane passion from their fans. Those days may be long gone but lucky for us, we can relive them through killer video footage like this – happy viewing!