An Evening with Buble

Michael Buble

Saw Michael Buble's show at the Araneta Coliseum last night. I actually wasn't planning on seeing it; not really a fan. But, unexpectedly, an officemate gave me an extra ticket just as he was walking out to do an interview with Buble. Patron seats, baby! So I abandoned plans to spend an hour on the treadmill, took the ticket and told him I'd meet him there.

Got there around 8:30pm. Sakto, as soon as i found my seat, the lights dimmed, and out walked the band, followed by Buble. (On a side note, I think it was my first time to see a concert at the Araneta where I can actually make out the facial features of the artist. So that's someting. Hehe.)

Didn't have much of an opinion about Buble before. Like I said, wasn't really a fan, but you gotta give it to him, he really did have a beautiful singing voice. One of the first songs he did was "Fever." Not too shabby. He did a couple of more songs before he launched into a long banter with the audience. He thanked all the guys there for coming to the show because their girlfriends and wives and moms dragged them to it. He cracked a joke about him just "pumping air into the bicycles" and all the guys "riding them all night." I thought that was pretty funny.

Then he did Ray Charles' "You Don't Know Me." It was decent, but if I had to choose between his version and Peter Cincotti's, I'd still go with Cincotti's.

He did something really wild after that. He jumped down the stage and went INTO the audience. Not just to us people down on the floor, but all the way up to the upper and lower box. People were going loco, screaming their lungs out, desperate to touch him, or at least, preserve the moment via their digicams and camera phones. He climbed up all the way to the second and third levels. I thought it was pretty cool of him to do that. Imagine a guy in a nice, dark suit clambering up railings and running up stairs. It was a funny sight. Then, just as he was running down the center aisle and to go back up the stage, this old lady (read: "matrona") cornered him and wanted to have her picture taken with him. She was pretty stunned when he suddenly held her head and kissed her squarely on the lips. Haha. Natulala si lola.

He did some other crazy stuff. He sang Maroon 5's "This Love" (awful, hehe); sang a bit of opera ("Josh Groban eat your heart out," he said) and did a Michael Jackson impersonation (awful and creepy). "You guys know I only did that so I could have an excuse to put my hand on my crotch." Haha.


Buble worshippers

But after that it was trademark Buble. He did most of his hits (or his version of songs made popular by people before him). I particularly like his rendition of "Save The Last Dance For Me." "Under My Skin" and "Come Fly With Me," were alright too, as well as his self-penned hit, "Home."

I caught myself yawning a couple of times, but overall, it was a good show. Right before it ended, during his encore, he actually sang to the crowd without a microphone. I don't know how that turned out for everyone else there, but from where I was sitting, he had a really clear and surprisingly powerful voice.

It's still not enough for me to actually buy his music, but after that show, I sort of found respect for the guy. He's actually not half as bad as i thought he was.

PS
I saw the Beach Boys less than a week ago also at the Araneta. That was fun, too. I wonder who else is coming here to do a show. Oh wait, I hear Michael Bolton's coming in December. Said I love you but I lied...