Just when singer Michelle Brooks-Thompson realized her mic had cut out, Charlotte FC fans sang the national anthem right where she left off. When those microphones cut off mid-song, you know that fans are going to clear their throats and get to singing.
What Happened
- Charlotte FC fans sang the national anthem after techinical difficulties
- This was the first home match for the brand new club at Bank of America Stadium
- The game was sold out with more than 74,000 fans in total
Brooks-Thompson has so much experience doing pregame anthems. She’s one of the areas best and has performed for the NBA, MLB, and more. However, she had never sung in front of a crowd this big. 74,479 wild Charlotte FC fans awaited the big match against the LA Galaxy.
Just as she was getting into the song, her mic cut out. She didn’t have an amplifier for the majority of the song, which was a first for the singer as well. Thankfully, the Charlotte faithful had her back. You just have to hear it for yourself. Check out the video below and get ready for chills.
The mic cutout during the National Anthem at last night’s Charlotte F.C. home-opener.
— Outsider (@outsider) March 6, 2022
You know how the rest goes. pic.twitter.com/ABHnXmdwCN
We’ve seen similar videos in the past. This isn’t anything new. However, when you get 70k+ people singing a song together, especially one that means so much to so many, it makes for a special moment. No one knows that better than Brooks-Thompson herself. In her 20 year career, this is definitely a first. And, she can’t say that she’s too upset by it either.
“It definitely wasn’t what we wanted at first,” the singer said afterward. “But you know what? It became a magical moment.
“Well, it’s not the kind of viral that we probably want. But it will do down as very historic.”
Charlotte National Anthem Singer Talks About the Fans
This really was like an immediate malfunction. She got to “By the dawn’s early light,” when everything came apart. Static. Then silence. She couldn’t hear herself in her earpiece anymore. But the crowd didn’t skip a beat. She kept singing, even if no one could hear, and led everyone in the stadium.
“The gentleman in front of me was signaling me to keep going, though,” Brooks-Thompson recalled. “And I was like, ‘OK, they’re going to fix it. I’m going to come back in and everything’s going to be great.”
“I was a little disappointed,” the singer admitted when she realized she wasn’t heard by anyone. “But after a while, I decided it had all worked out the way it was supposed to. We have a lot of disagreements in our country right now. But last night, you had 74,000 people in agreement to sing for our country. It doesn’t get a lot better than that.”
So, when’s the next Charlotte FC home game? And when can we expect to see Brooks-Thompson back for another performance?
