Project Description

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Michael Buble.

Michael Bublé
@ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne,
Friday 16th June 2023
(Live Review)

Review by Linda Memphis

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Michael Buble

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It’s been a long two-year postponement, but Michael Bublé finally returned to Australia this week, for a series of sell out shows, and Rod Laver Arena was no exception. It’s 21 years on since he first graced our shores: it was love at first sight back then, and the love affair has continued to blossom in the decades since.

Michael Bublé has become a massive success since his breakthrough album, ‘It’s Time’ in 2005. There’s been worldwide tours, four Billboard number one albums, five Grammy Awards, and over 75 million record sales. And tonight, he’s back in li’l old Melbourne town on the Australian leg of the ‘Higher’ Tour. The shows, originally scheduled for 2021, were postponed due to the pandemic. But tonight, all is forgiven. Bublé is back!

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Michael Buble.

He opens with Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’, the first single from ‘It’s Time’. Ah, and this is the spell he’s going to cast – smooth, mellow, magnificent. Vocally he’s superb, jazzing us back to the mid-sixties. He has an incredibly talented band and an exceptionally accomplished orchestra behind him – horns, strings, trumpets, the whole shebang. And ‘Feeling Good’ has been covered by a multitude of artists since its original release in 1965, but arguably, it’s only Bublé’s version that is truly comparable to the original. Live? It absolutely sizzles.

2009’s ‘Haven’t Met You Yet’ is next up – one of his signature tunes. Bublé is renowned for his covers, but he’s a talented songwriter too. Poppy and joyful, this is the perfect optimistic, romantic vision of love. The audience though, aren’t quite there yet. It’s a Friday night crowd – probably a little tired after a long day at work – and they’re happy to be here, but initially, they’re a little lukewarm in their response. Bublé however, doesn’t take no for an answer. He works them with everything he’s got, and by the time he gets to Dean Martin’s iconic ‘Sway’, a few songs later, they’re up and cheering and completely onboard. And rightfully so. Michael Bublé has a voice that was built for the standards, and ‘Sway’ is a perfect match. It is truly a magical thing to feel the echoes of Dean Martin floating across the arena.  

It’s refreshing to hear Bublé acknowledge his legacy. He has huge respect for all the greats who’ve gone before him. “I stand on the shoulders of my heroes,” he confesses. “I love that I’m a small part of keeping this music alive.” Indeed. He’s a much-loved torchbearer in a long line of performers who have embraced and embodied the Great American Songbook before him: Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennet, and Harry Connick Jr, among them. Bublé covers a range of standards throughout the night, everything from Louie Armstrong’s ‘When You’re Smiling’ to Julie London’s ‘Cry Me a River’ and one of the highlights of the night, Nat King Cole’s ‘Smile’, a song that truly reflects the human condition if ever one did. It is a song for the ages, and in his effortless style, Bublé delivers it beautifully.

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Michael Buble.

There’s no magnificent sets or fancy costume changes at a Michael Bublé show. There are no five-minute guitar solos, and no over-the-top gimmicks. But there doesn’t need to be. Bublé carries it.  The stars of the show are his incredible baritone and a sensational setlist – and the wonderful charisma he manifests in the rapport he builds with his audience. Not only is Bublé an incredibly personable guy, but he is humble, grateful, and truly gracious with the crowd. He takes time to acknowledge them – often venturing from main stage, down the catwalk – making eye contact, shaking hands, and chatting with people who’ve bought along handwritten signs. At one point he jumps into the crowd for a photo (‘Our husbands don’t think we can get a selfie’ the sign in the crowd reads – he proves them wrong). The audience cheer him on. But what really makes Michael Bublé endearing is realising that there’s a little bit of Aussie larrikin inside that Canadian soul. He doesn’t take himself too seriously, and we like him all the more for it.

The night is a mix of much-loved standards and original songs. The crowd love both, and Bublé is just as passionate about his own material (“Home”, “Everything”, “Hold On”) as he is of the songs he’s most famous for. “I’m going to give you my very best”, he tells us as he introduces his recent Grammy-award winning hit ‘Higher’. This song has traces of his signature sound, but it also carries a very strong contemporary edge, and live, it translates brilliantly. And Bublé doesn’t just sing these songs for us, he shares the songs with us – the audience dynamic is there with him in the performance, and that makes all the difference in the world.

A definite highlight of the night has to be Bublé’s tribute to Elvis Presley, “one of the greatest that ever lived”. I love that he’s a fan. He’s done this medley before, but it’s slightly different tonight – ‘Fever’ then ‘One Night’/’All Shook Up’/’Can’t Help Falling In Love’. This is Elvis, Bublé style. Fever is not Elvis-get-down-dirty sexy, it’s Bublé snappin’-his-fingers-and-strollin’-down-the-catwalk sexy – all sophisticated and smooth. Then he dons a guitar. “Thank you thank you very much…” he mimics, and suddenly he’s in character and… “Oh sh!t” he jokes in perfect Elvis tones, “I cannot help myself”! The audience love it. “I think it’s time to start the party, what do you say?” he asks the crowd as he launches into ‘One Night’. Oh yeah baby. We’ve arrived. He moves straight into ‘All Shook Up’, followed by the last chorus of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love‘. A massive flurry of golden confetti falls from above. Absolutely sensational.

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Michael Buble.

It’s easy, perhaps, to see Bublé simply as a throwback artist rather than the impeccable performer and singer/songwriter that he is. There are many who may write him off as simply an entertainer for the masses rather than someone who’s made any kind of cultural or significant impact. But do that? And you’d be missing the point. For Bublé, as any great artist is, is a conduit for everyman. To understand, as an artist, how the common man feels, and what he goes through, and to be able to communicate that so beautifully through song, is of immense significance. Not only that, he is, as he himself puts it, ‘a Keeper of the Great American Songbook’ and oh what a vast and glorious musical history that opens us up to. And make no mistake, he is a magnificent Keeper. “This is not a concert,” Bublé reminds the audience, “this is not a show, this is a celebration of life!”. Exactly. What a wonderful, what a truly significant gift that is – to bring that to people. To reconnect us through music and song; to remind us that life is for living. This is his gift – and our wish – fulfilled. And isn’t that why we’re here?

Michael Bublé’s final song for the evening is another made famous by Presley, ‘Always on my Mind’. He reminds us that it will probably be a while before he sees Australian shores again. “I’ll miss you till I see you” he tells the crowd. But that’s okay. No one’s forgetting him anytime soon. It’s a true and lasting love affair that Australia has with Michael Bublé. We ain’t going nowhere.

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Michael Buble.

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Michael Buble.

AMNPLIFY – DB

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