An Evening with Michael Buble on his Crazy Love tour

I've been a Michael Buble fan for several years now.  Probably about 7 or 8.  I don't even remember when I first saw him, but it was on some television program and I was hooked. I remember later that year (1993 I believe) on Thanksgiving Day he was on The Today Show and I called my dad to tune in because Buble sings the standards and I knew that my dad would like his voice and his songs.

Unfortunately over the years I haven't been able to go see him in concert.  That is, until this past Saturday.




When the Crazy Love record came out in October 2009 the tour dates were also announced and I jumped on it when I saw a date in Charlotte, NC. I so wish some artists other than country musicians would come to Columbia, SC which is closer to where I live, but they never seem to.  There is nothing wrong with country music, but there are no country acts I'd be willing to pay the price to go see.  Everyone that interests me either hits Greenville, SC or Charlotte, so it's a road trip for me.  But usually it's worth it.  And this time was no exception.

I figured, and rightly so IMO, that this would be a more mellow show than what I am used to because what I am used to is Bon Jovi blowing the doors off an arena.  I was looking forward to being able to sit through most of this show and to enjoying the music and taking lots of pictures.  Not that I'm opposed to standing up and dancing and singing throughout a concert mind you, but I am usually so hot, tired and thirsty at the end of a show that a little change of pace was in order.

I managed to snag some good seats - floor seats in the 6th row on the right side of the stage.  I gotta say, I would have LOVED to trade those seats with the ones I had for Jovi back in April though because I would have been so close to David Bryan!! Maybe one day I'll get my ultimate Jovi seats, but for now, it was great being so close to Buble.  Well, relatively, somewhat close. LOL I did not rush the stage at any point like some women did to snap pictures.  While it would have been nice to reach out and touch the man, I elected to pass on that one. This time around anyway.

I could give a review of the show, but I have to be honest and say I can't remember the entire set list.  He opens with "Cry Me a River" which is the first song on the Crazy Love CD and he did several from that CD including my faves "Just Haven't Met You Yet" and "Crazy Love".  And, of course, there was "Home" and "Everything". I learned on the drive up to CLT that my father and I have very different thoughts on which are the best Buble songs.  He (did I mention we went together? If not, then you've figured it out by  now I think...) had a CD of his fave songs and I was really  not interested in the ones he chose. He's more of a fan of the slower standards that Michael does and I need things jazzed up a little bit.  But really, there is no such thing as a bad song at a Buble show or on a CD. His voice is just that good.

Another thing he does well is play to the audience. He is the consummate entertainer and showman. He would engage the audience throughout the show with funny stories and banter. Towards the end he walked through the crowd to a platform in the center of the floor of the arena and performed several songs including "Home" and "Save the Last Dance for Me".  While he was out there he apologized to the folks up front who "Paid a lot for those tickets...but the folks back here paid a lot too!"  True that!  Then as the guitar player started the opening chords of "Home" he alternately started singing "Free Bird" then "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and lastly that Jason Mraz song, "I'm Yours".  Of course, the audience ate it up.

Several times through the show he also mentioned that he appreciated folks spending their hard earned money to come and see him since money is tight for everyone these days and a lot of tours are having to cancel shows, if not entirely.  While he obviously doesn't have the money problems that the rest of us "regular folks" do or might, it's nice that someone seems to genuinely appreciate that you've spent your money to come see them when tickets are far from cheap.

I could probably go on and on about the show, but I'll let the pictures do the talking at this point.  What I will say in closing is that of all the live shows I've been to over the years, Michael Buble is the singer who delivers the goods. Obviously we all know that there are production aspects that go into recording an album that will improve and enhance the voice of the singer.  That's just how it goes and when bands are out on tour, you can't expect someone to sound pitch perfect every time on every song.  But with Buble, his voice was probably the best live voice I've heard in comparison with the performance on the record.  Singing live he sounded, to me, just like he does on his records. His voice is wonderful anyway, but it's great to know that it really is just that good live as well.

To close the show, he went off mic and sang the last few lines of "Song for You", which he said he will always close his show with. It was pretty cool to have the audience quiet (even when some women in the back started screaming other people were "shushing" them LOL) so that all you could hear echoing throughout the arena was his voice. How many singers can hit the back of the arena without an mics or amplification?  Quite impressive, as was intended.

Oh! One more story to tell.  As we were walking out we were right behind a couple of mothers with their tween daughters (anywhere from 12-14 I'd guess) and they were so adorable! They'd hate it that I thought that probably, but they were so freakin' cute. The girls were dressed in what I would assume that generation wears to things like junior high dances - cute little black dresses and ballet flats - and as they walked they were going on and on about the show and how when he did or said something "it was just so amazing!"  I really would have loved to get them to stop and let me take their picture, but it would have killed the moment.  So cute though.

Before the show started I  saw a piece of confetti come floating down from the sky so when this happened during one of the final songs, I wasn't too surprised.

It's late and I don't want to write any more tonight, but I'll have to follow this up with a post this week about opening act Naturally 7 who were just amazing as well.