Call Me Totally in Love with Michael Bublé

A few months ago, Amanda asked if I wanted to go to a Michael Bublé concert with her in December. I was vaguely familiar with him, and since I like lounge-y music - and excuses to dress up - I said sure. She then burned me several CDs, which I listened to non-stop for the next several weeks. By the time the concert rolled around last night, I was pretty excited.

We got dolled up and headed out to the Mohegan Sun, where we attempted to have dinner at Tuscany but ended up at Sol Toro due to our lack of reservation (we probably should have thought of that beforehand). At any rate, we settled into our seats in the Mohegan Sun Arena at 7:30, waited patiently through the opening act that we didn't know would be there, and finally, around 8:20, jumped to our feet when the curtain rose revealing "The Boob" (as Mini Deal likes to call him) on stage.

For those unfamiliar, Michael Bublé is a 31-year old Vancouver native of (at least partially) Italian descent who grew up listening to the songs of crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Dean Martin, and Bobby Darin (to name a few). He was heavily influenced by his Italian grandfather's taste in music and especially admired the showmanship of that era's entertainers. According to the bio on his website, Bublé's grandfather helped him get his first gigs - in Canadian bars and hotel lounges - by trading his plumbing services.

Michael Bublé's voice is amazing and very well-suited to the standards that make up the majority of his show. He puts his own spin on every song and does not sound like he is doing Frank Sinatra karaeoke. His band is also incredible - he performs with a full stage of musicians including a piano player, a bass player, an entire horn section, a drummer, and a guitarist. The most amazing thing about his band is they are all as young - or younger - than Bublé. He auditioned them from music schools around North America.

All these young guys combined with all this old music make a great match. Bublé is very much an old-style entertainer - plenty of jokes and commentary between songs - but his sense of humor is definitely that of a 31-year old modern guy. Just ask the poor man in the second row last night - the one that it was abundantly clear had been dragged there by his wife. Bublé also has a keen sense of self-awareness, remarking that he knows his act is not "macho" and remarking that he wish he'd been a hockey player...right before dedicating a pelvic-thrusting version of the Village People's "YMCA" to the men in the audience.

All joking aside, Bublé has a remarkable sense of showmanship. His stage presence is nothing short of fantastic. He interacts with the audience and really seems to enjoy singing his songs, even though he has probably sung them thousands of times. And the energy never lapsed for a second - a nifty feat when the majority of your show is made up of mid-tempo jazz-pop standards. He can even make somewhat cheesy songs like "Save the Last Dance for Me" sound awesome.

(Did I mention that Michael Bublé is also very cute? Because he is.)

I've been to some good shows this year - Tom Petty, The Killers, Duffy - but Michael Bublé takes the cake as my favorite. It's very hard not to feel classy at a Bublé show, even when you're laughing hysterically at a semi-dirty joke. Two seconds later he'll be crooning "Call Me Irresponsible" and you'll be swept off your feet again.

Here is Michael Bublé's "Save the Last Dance for Me" video: