The world on a string

For me, one of the greatest pleasures in live is listening to live music. On Sunday night, I had the chance to do just that, at the Michael Buble concert I've been looking forward to for about three months. Wow. He did not disappoint. I knew the concert would be full of great music and lyrics, but I did not know that Buble is a great entertainer. He captivated me from the moment the crowd could finally see him on stage and he started to sing, "If you want a lover..." from "I'm Your Man." The crowd went wild and we didn't stop for another hour and a half.

One of my favorite parts of the show came toward the beginning. Michael asked the crowd to do him a favor and had us all raise our right hands. I thought he was going to ask us to swear that we enjoy ourselves and respect our fellow concertgoers. Instead, he asked us to then place our right hand on the thigh of the person next to us...and then he launched into "Me & Mrs. Jones." There is no sexier song that Michael's version of that one.

Michael interacted with the crowd a lot, told jokes, took pictures with cute little girls in the audience (and other lucky "older" women), bounced around the stage, and generally looked like he was having an amazing time. It certainly translated into his singing. He gave his fantastic band (brass octet, percussion/bass player, guitar player, and band leader - the pianist) their just due, funny introductions, and had them play fantastic solos. He paid a lovingly sentimental tribute to Willie Nelson, singing "You Are Always on My Mind". The theater was rockin' during his renditions of "Fever" and "Feelin' Good." But, his greatest strengths were while singing his own songs, especially "Lost" (I've rediscovered this song after hearing it live.), "Home", and my new favorite, "Everything". Nate and I enjoyed "Save the Last Dance for Me" and it reminded us of the last dance at our wedding.

Unfortunately, the night had to end at some point. Buble brought out some gospel singers and his opening band (Naturally 7 - amazing with a capital "A" by the way) to sing "That's Life." I've never really been a fan of this song, but again, hearing and seeing it live totally changed my opinion of it. The energy of the crowd and the performers on stage were magical - exactly what a concert should be. Of course, we all knew Michael would come back out for an encore. He did just that, singing two songs - the last being an incredibly heartfelt version of "Song For You." Before he started the song, Buble thanked the crowd in the most sincere fashion of any entertainer I have seen. He reiterated how he is living his dream up on stage and how we, the fans, have made his dream a reality. I felt like he was singing the song just for me, which is how I think Michael wanted everyone to feel that night.