w/ Naturally 7
He is suave. He’s more than a little bit sexy. He is one of the funniest performers I’ve ever seen live. He has a filthy potty mouth. And he has unquestionably one of the single best vocals of our generation. He is the one, the only Michael Bublé.
However, lets just take a breath. As elegantly put by Naturally 7, 'You can’t go into a Michael Bublé concert without a decent warm up. That’s why we’re here'. Naturally 7 have an amazing thing going on and they take being an acapella group to the next level and their version of Coldplay’s "Fix You" was honestly one of the most incredible things I've ever heard. Not only do they sing wonderfully, they put on a hell good show. For a half hour support set they had the crowd up on their feet dancing and singing like they didn’t have a care in the world. They certainly achieve their goal of warming the crowd up for Mr. Bublé.
As the lights once again dimmed, the band started playing a musical overture that segued into the intro of "Fever". The curtains raised and there was Michael Bublé towards the back of the stage upon the top of a ramp, with his head down singing. The crowd went nuts. Half way through the song, he, in true Bublé style slid with those shiny black shoes down ramp to the front of the stage, where he continued to sing. He then went straight into "Haven’t Met You Yet" before taking the time to have an intimate chat with all 11,000+ of us.
What was really cool about the stage set up was the movable band platforms. There were time when there were at the very back of the stage and Mr. Bublé had the full stage and other times where they were right up there with him. In addition, there was the amazing light screen. Sometimes it doubled the video feed, other times it showed close ups of the band, and then other times it had amazing visuals. It was a really good combination of different things to create a visual feast.
He sang standards including "Moondance", "Feeling Good" and "I’ve Got the World on a String", before moving onto the ballad section of he set. He brought to the stage his wonderful string section to perform "That’s All", "Close Your Eyes" and "Home" to name a few. Then, again, in true Bublé style he said, 'I love singing ballads, but if I sing one more, I’m going to cut myself'. Cheeky rascal! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much at a gig!
At this point in the show, he moved to the little stage at the back of the stadium to perform a Motown inspired set with Naturally 7. It was a great to see him interacting with the crowd at the back and singing some awesome tunes including "Ain’t Too Proud to Beg" and "To Love Somebody". He closed this section of the set with "All You Need Is Love/Burning Love", where he made his way back to the main stage accompanied by confetti hearts that had been fired into the crowd.
He closed the set with "It’s a Beautiful Day" before retaking the stage for his encore. I am so happy that he performed "Cry Me a River"; his version is my all time favourite version of the song and he sang with so much passion. There were moments where he looked hurt, and other times he looked truly angry. It was by far the highlight of the set for me, visually and vocally.
Now, I don’t know if this was a set up or what, but a woman was brought up onstage with a sign that read, 'My Grade 4 class don’t believe I can meet you. Prove me wrong!' He indeed proved them wrong and sang them a special rendition of "You Got A Friend in Me". Wrapping up the show was the single most incredible moment of the set. During "Song For You" the lights went down, and when they came back up again, he was without microphone, and proceeded to sing the rest of the song without amplification. After a two hour set, to project over the entire hall was a feat in itself, but to do so with so much passion and emotion was truly breathtaking and something I’ll not soon forget.
There were no bells and whistles in the show, just a single man, backed by an incredible live band affectionately known as 'Team Bublé'. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and it is clear he absolutely loves what he does. He said at one point during the show something to the extent of, 'As you go off to your lives tomorrow, you may not think of me. However, I will think of you always. Because of you I get to do what I love every day of the week. Thank you.'
No, Thank you Mr. Bublé. You are truly an amazing artist and it was an absolute pleasure to be in your company for the evening.
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