#1
Posted: 5/7/04 at 6:06pm
Hello All - I just wanted to let everyone know how impressed I was by Michael Buble' in concert this week in Atlanta. For those not familiar with him, Michael is a fantastic vocalist from the Vancouver area who sings in the style of the great crooners like Sinatra, Martin, and Bennett. I guess he is our new Harry Connick, Jr. On this, his debut tour, Michael is playing relatively small and intimate venues. In Atlanta, the concert was held at the Rialto Theater downtown which holds only about 880 people. Needless to say, the concert was sold out. Michael had a 8 talented musicians playing with him (trombone, 2 trumpets, saxophone, drums, piano/keyboards, bass, and guitar). All were young guys who have played together for awhile and all were terrific. Michael drew heavily from the material on his debut CD in this concert. He opened the show with a rousing rendition of "Come Fly With Me", before singing the classics "Sway", "The Way You Look Tonight", and "Summer Wind". He then did a number by that great British composer, George Michael called "Kissing a Fool". Michael then had some fun with a George Michael medley - "Faith" (shaking his rump in a very Georgelike 1980s fashion), "Father Figure" and a bar of "I Want Your Sex" before singing a line of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". This medley was performed in a very tongue-in cheek manner. Michael then returned to the classics including "Fever", "That's All" (his choice as the most romantic song of all time), "You'll Never Know" (dedicated to his grandfather who got him interested in music),and "For Once in My Life". Michael also gave us a killer version of Van Morrison's "Moondance" and the Bee Gee's "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart". He said during his concert that his record company told him if he sold 30,000 copies of his debut CD, then he could record a new one. Well ,the debut CD just passed 3 million in sales worldwide! Michael sang 3 songs from his forthcoming CD - "This Guy's In Love With You" (the old Herb Alpert, Jr. standard), Beyond the Sea (the Bobby Darin classic), and The Rainbow Connection (remember - Kermit the Frog and The Muppet Movie?). Michael's encore was "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", the jazzy Queen ditty. Throughout the concert, Michael exhibited great stage presence and truly made a connection with his audience. It was nice to see a quite diverse audience as it seems like Michael's music has very wide appeal. The crowd ran the gamut from teenage girls and young couples (both straight and gay) to middle aged folks and senior citizens. I think that Michael has a great Broadway quality voice, and who knows, we may see him on the Great White way someday. Michael also seems to be very thankful for the success that he has realized so far. He stood in the doorway of his tour bus after the concert and patiently signed autographs, posed for pictures, and gave kisses to his admirers. I predict terrific things from Michael and feel fortunate that I got to see him in his debut concert in my city. For those of you who live in the NYC area, I believe Michael is headed your way next week - May 14th at Town Hall. I found that my $40 ticket was money well spent. If this style of music is your cup of tea, you may want to check Michael out when his tour rolls into your town.
Respectfully submitted, Junglered
Respectfully submitted, Junglered
