Train’s Pat Monahan is a good friend of Craig Carton’s, and finally, after months of mentioning he was going to get Monahan on the show, the singer finally joined Carton & Roberts – and immediately had to defend himself from Craig’s accusation that he gave Monahan the idea to cover Wham’s “Careless Whisper” in concert.
Not a Train staple outside of the time Carton discussed, but Train does whip out some covers – their last tour included, for instance, Tom Petty’s “American Girl” and Queen’s “Under Pressure” – but you’re also guaranteed to get their biggest hits no matter what, because that’s what Monahan would want if he was in the audience: the songs everyone loves, and not just deep cuts or new album tracks.
“As a fan, I’d be mad. I’ve toured with bands who didn’t play their hits; there was a time where ‘cool bands’ wouldn’t play their hits, and I never understood it,” Monahan said. “Why wouldn’t you want to see people sing back to you? Isn’t that why we all got in this in the first place?”
As Craig even noted, many fans, himself included, blast an artist’s music on the way to concerts or while tailgating, to get amped up for what’s coming – so why deny them that?
“That’s really big for me; to see the connection to something that came from nothing, and we’re all in the same emotional moment, is pretty great,” Monahan said. “I don’t get why people don’t do it.”
One song you probably won’t ever hear Monahan do voluntarily? The Star-Spangled Banner, which he concurred is, as many artists have said, the hardest song to have to do.
“I hate to sing it, and I’ve said this to my manager every time I’m asked to do it, because it’s so nerve-wracking that it’s you against the world,” Monahan said. “There are only two results: either you do a great job and no one cares, or you don’t become a meme. There’s no in between, and what you get out of it isn’t worth it to me.”
Monahan has done it a few times because of “great managers” – and “getting to see some cool games” didn’t hurt – but it’s hard because, as he says, “you have to nail it and still get nothing out of it.”
The hardest one, he says, was at the opening of Levi’s Stadium in California, which went from “hometown boy celebrates new venue” into a potential disaster.
“The design there is bizarre, and I was the first one to do it. We rehearsed it, fine, easy…but then when I come out there to do it, they told me I was going to come out with a minute left and jump on this podium, and the rest of the field is an American flag,” Monahan said. “They hand me a mic, and ask me to check it…and I have in-ears on, and there’s no sound, so the mic is not working. They’re counting down, and I’m like ‘the mic doesn’t work,’ but they don’t have time. I’m singing, no sound still, and someone taps me on the leg from underneath the podium with another mic.”
That led Monahan to sing with two mics, causing friends to chime in on his swag.
“I’m singing and I don’t know what happened…and then all of my friends texted me like, ‘dude, you were so awesome, you needed two mics!’” Monahan said. “But I just kept going, and they told me it wasn’t a big deal because they knew there was an audio problem, so they waited until you were live and then flipped over to you. Which, whatever, I would’ve been fine if they never did.”
You can read more about the songs Monahan does sing – including the last one he would ever sing if he had just one left in his pipes – and listen to Pat’s entire appearance on Carton & Roberts below!
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