Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 2016: Grace VanderWaal, Brett Eldredge, and other performances
While the first hour of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is really just all about performances from some of the best stage productions in New York City, the two hours that follow are about the larger music scene in general — plus a lot of balloons! It’s fun, lighthearted, and not to be taken too seriously.
With that, let’s get it out of the way that the majority of people often lip-sync during this parade. Don’t get too bad over it, given that this is just what people tend to do during this Parade because of conditions and audio issues associated with being out there on the day. If there’s one day of the year we shouldn’t be cynical, it’s Christmas — if there’s two, you should add Thanksgiving to the list.
Christopher Hamilton – The “Hamilton” actor performed “Try a Little Kindness” with the help of “Sesame Street.” Basically, anything Thanksgiving-related we’re going to appreciate.
Aloe Blacc – Unfortunately, there was a slight delay on the audio feed for where we’re watching. Don’t know if it was like that anywhere else, but it made the infamous Parade lips-syncing all the more obvious.
Johnnyswim – We hadn’t heard of them before this performance … but they seemed nice? Hard to really say too much aboutthem based on what little we saw here.
Jacob Whitesides – Ultimately, we can say almost the same thing about Jacob, who seemed talented but in the end, the Parade is often a reminder of how out of the loop we truly are.
Diamante Electrico – Let’s be honest: Sometimes the floats that these people gotta ride around on are pretty lame. Therefore, we give extra kudos to anyone who gets a cool float, and these guys did! This one was all about rock ‘n roll.
Maddie & Tae – The country duo performed “Fly” while on a float sponsored by Girl Scouts. At least there was some good synergy of girl-power here, and the two did a good job of selling this performing to the people watching at home. The biggest thing you have to do with the parade is appeal to the youngsters watching, and they probably did that.
LunchMoney Lewis – You gotta have a little bit of admiration for someone named LunchMoney, right? We like to think so, especially with the fact that he was wearing a ski cap that was HALF A TURKEY!
Grace VanderWaal – The reigning “America’s Got Talent” champion performed her audition song “I Don’t Know My Name,” and this was actually the first time we heard the studio version of the track. Very nice! We love the promo that NBC is giving her following the show.
De La Soul – There’s a part of us that loved the fact that they didn’t really even seem to care that much about hitting all the notes and getting the mic up to their faces at the right time. They were just chilling while surrounded by dancing Statues of Liberty.
Eastin Corbin – Eastin got to perform on a Americana-themed float, which does seem right. Was he performing on top of what was meant to be a giant coffee cup? We’re not sure, but this was another reminder that we wanted more coffee.
Ben Rector – We’d heard this song before, but this is the first time we actually knew who was singing it. He had a chance to perform “Brand New” in front of what were apparently dancing Mount Rushmore heads.
Timeflies – In this latest edition of “singers we’ve never heard of from the parade,” we present you with this act. Also, we were slightly worried that the guy was going to fall of that boat and faceplant.
Daya – Is this like a Madonna thing where she only has one name and that’s enough? Also, what does she have to do with hockey?
Regina Specktor – Hey, we’re back with someone we’ve heard of! She had a chance to perform at the piano, while some giant creepy-looking turkeys loomed over her. Talk about ambiance!
Brett Eldredge – After listening to him performing “Let It Snow” while also sporting a bow tie, we’re pretty much convinced now that Brett Eldredge can do anything that he wants and do it well.
Sarah McLachlan – We’re near the end of the show, and that means starting to usher in the holiday season! Great performance here by Sarah as we kick off our favorite time of the year.
Want to get some notable highlights from the first hour of the Macy’s Parade, focusing mostly on all things Broadway? Then be sure to head over to the link here! (Photo: NBC.)