A last minute invite from my cousin, got me in to the Michael Bublé Concert at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI. I figured, hey, the guy's got a voice like butta, and although he's not on my recent playlist, I certainly do enjoy his music and the jazz standards he likes to perform. I expected to see a good show with some good music. Turns out Mr. Bublé not only doesn't miss a note, he's quite hilarious. The songs were sung effortlessly as he bounced around the stage between stops of witty banter that had me laughing so hard I cried.
His opening act was an a cappella vocal group call Naturally 7. Their songs were very entertaining. They also did an interesting number which they called building a "wall of sound", adding each voice to another individually. If you enjoy a good a cappella group, look them up. You won't be disappointed.
Naturally 7 finishes, a few minutes go by, and out comes Michael with this...
His set list ran as follows:
Cry Me A River, All of Me, At This Moment, Mack the Knife, Everything, I've Got the World on a String, Crazy Love, Georgia on My Mind, For Once In My Life, MJ Tribute, Twist & Shout, All I Do Is Dream of You, Some Kind of Wonderful, Home, Hollywood, Heartache Tonight, Haven't Met You Yet.
Encore: Feelin' Good, Me & Mrs Jones, A Song For You.
"People always think, well it's easy to assume that my idols maybe would've been Frank Sinatra, or Dean Martin or guys like that. As much as I cherish those gentlemen, and respect them... I wanted to be Michael Jackson. People laugh at me and think it's weird, but it's the truth!", says Michael just before breaking out into a MJ tribute song and dance.
Giving the horn section intros
Vocal Warm Up Jokes
Although I enjoyed all of the songs, I didn't particularly like the slow, swing arrangement of "For Once In My Life". I'm used to Stevie's soulful version, and it dragged a bit for my taste. On the other hand, during "Twist & Shout" everyone was up on their feet with huge beach balls being hit around the crowd, and his version of "Heartache Tonight" was great! Not to mention all of the standards he brought affectionately back to life. He ended the night singing center stage, WITHOUT A MIC. The crowd had to simmer down quiet enough to hear him. This produced a magical shhh where there normally would have been screams. A fantastic way to end the show! Overall, it was a very enthusiastic, laughter filled night. If you have the chance to catch him in concert, I'm sure you won't regret it!
Concerts Dates
Thanks for keeping the old tunes new.
~JLS~
Awesome Jo - Nice Post!
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