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Michael Buble

Attented the Michael Buble concert at the Bell Centre last night. This was going to be my third time seeing him in Montreal, each time at a slightly larger venue. In November 2003 Sandra and I saw him at the Metropolis Club with maybe 800-1000 other people. This was 5 months after his first appearance in Montreal at Le Cabaret, a really tiny but nice club on St Laurent during the Jazz Fest. Sandra had bought a CD of his before his first big commercial release a couple of years earlier so we went. It was a great mixture of song and bantering with the audience. The fact that Metropolis is on the small side allowed for intimacy.

The next time I saw him was during my annual birthday/Jazz Fest concert. My birthday falls during the Jazz Fest and I usually buy tickets for the headliner show. In 2006 it was Michael Buble appearing with the Montreal Big Band (I have many friends who play in that band). While we were seated at the top of Place des Arts which does not make for an intimate setting the concert, non the least, was very good. He incorporated some of the schtick he had done at the Metropolis but it was kept to a minimum as Jazz fest concerts are tightly controlled timewise.

So, now he was moving up the the Bell Centre, 18,000 people. Would there be any hope of retaining that closeness with the audience? Well, he managed to do it. He gave a very entertaining concert while interacting with the crowd whether in the front row or answering to the many I love you Michaels from the nosebleed section. He knows how to work a crowd. He sang a good misture of the standards he has been known to cover and some of the contemporary repertoire he has been building up. A very entertaining evening and I wouldn't hesitate to buy tickets again next time he comes to Montreal. BTW, he did don a Habs jersey at the end of the concert despite the fact he's a known Canucks fan so I'm sure that help cement Montreal's love affair with him. I guess he feels somewhat grateful for Montreal as it was a singing gig at the wedding of Brian Mulrooney's daughter that he was noticed by guest David Foster and the rest, as they say, is history....