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::MUSIC NEWS::
LE Newsletter -
August 12, 2010
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Michael Bublé’s Great Show No Accident
Source:
www.thestar.com - John Terauds
(August 10, 2010) There’s this polite, tousle-haired,
34-year-old Canadian from suburban Burnaby, B.C. who has the
world on a string, charming thousands upon thousands of fans of
all ages around the world with good, old-fashioned singing.
In a strangely unprepossessing way, dressed in trademark suit
and tie,
Michael Bublé
is proving, time and again, that engaging music is not about
fashion or a particular style, but about delivering it with
conviction.
How else can you explain that the sold-out Air Canada Centre
crowd on Tuesday night hung on his every rendition of jazz and
pop standards — many of which would have made his grandparents
smile and tap their toes.
Although Bublé’s Crazy Love Tour, in honour of his latest album,
started its North American trek way back in March — and returns
to the ACC on Wednesday, and won’t end until a second swing
through Europe in the fall — he and his crack 13-man backup band
played as if Toronto were the most important place on Earth.
“I don’t want this to be a Michael Bublé concert,” he declared
near the start of the show. “I want this to be a party.” Then,
in a perfect show of his individual approach to even a
big-stadium concert, he added with a smile: “And now I’m going
to sing the most depressing song I know.”
It wasn’t all downtempo stuff like “At This Moment” wrung out
from a little barstool lost in the centre of the stylish, sloped
stage. We heard Bublé standbys like the old jazzer “All of Me,”
and his enduring pop hits “Crazy Love,” and “Save the Last
Dance.”
The crooner loves to chat, and provided witty — sometimes overly
personal — introductions for his accomplished band members,
including a spectacular jazz wind octet. He made fun of his
geeky musical predilections. He enjoyed a moment of homage to
Michael Jackson.
But what he did — and always does — best, is sing as if his life
depended on it.
“I was trying to figure out how to make a big-stadium concert
feel intimate,” he said during a break between songs. “And I
realized that the only thing I can do is to sing each song like
I really mean it.”
That is exactly what Bublé did. And there couldn’t have been
many people leaving the Air Canada Centre without big smiles on
their faces because of this.
The singer made a fine choice in inviting Naturally 7 to be his
opening act. For 45 minutes before Bublé came on stage, the New
York City-based a cappella septet thrilled an appreciative crowd
with a compelling mix of R’n’B and beatboxing. They worked a
bare stage with no instruments, yet managed to give the
impression that this music was as slickly produced as the main
attraction that followed.
That wasn’t an accident. That’s an art. |
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::LANGFIELD
ENTERTAINMENT:: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADIAN TWIST::
