Bublé bubbling with energy

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This article was published 19/04/2019 (2655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been nearly five years since Canada’s favourite crooner, Michael Bublé, has charmed a crowd at Bell MTS Place; a long absence for a performer whose previous pattern was to make a trek across the country every other year.

But that absence was for good reason: in 2016, following the release of his ninth studio album, Nobody But Me, Bublé’s then three-year-old son Noah was diagnosed with liver cancer. Bublé cancelled the tour scheduled to accompany that album to stay at home with his family during his son’s treatment.

Noah is now cancer-free, so Bublé is back at work; he dropped his tenth album, Love, late last year, and is currently out on a 91-show tour across North America and Europe, which landed at Bell MTS Place Friday night. It was his final date on this continent before a month-long break, so energy was high.

The night opened with a fiery version of Feeling Good; Bublé, in a perfectly tailored dark-blue suit and impossibly shiny black shoes, made his way down a staircase flanked by 34 musicians on four tiers of an illuminated bowl-shaped stage, belting the classic tune — which is now almost as synonymous with him as it is with Nina Simone — with all the gut and grit it requires.

This tour is in an “Evening With” format, which is really the perfect way to reacquaint Bublé with fans in a live setting — no opening act and heavy on the chatter. Bublé is nothing if not a charming conversationalist, and showcased his signature cheeky humour and aw-shucks relatability in all of his banter breaks, taking a moment in his opening monologue to lament Thursday night’s Jets loss with any hockey fans in the crowd.

“I’d like to get serious for a moment… and say a little prayer for all those poor people in St. Louis who are going to get their ass kicked tomorrow,” joked the 43-year-old B.C. native, reciting a literal prayer and pretending to bless the audience.

“What a s–tshow it was last night. Once my Canucks were out it was Jets all the way for me, I was so choked!”

The rest of the night continued in a similar vein, bouncing from sweet to sentimental to silly as Bublé blasted his way through an almost two-hour set full of standards and hits from all corners of his career; he sauntered up and down a catwalk for Sway, dedicated Up a Lazy River to his late grandfather, had the entire arena swooning during a particularly stunning rendition of When I Fall In Love and kicked the dance moves into high gear for Nobody But You.

One of the most appealing traits Bublé possesses, aside from his rock-solid, powerful and smooth-as-butter vocals, is the authenticity with which he presents himself. He genuinely appears to be living his best life on stage, genuinely appears to adore and appreciate his fans, genuinely appears to be thankful for the job he gets to do, and that kind of attitude is infectious.

Bublé rounded out his main set with a flawless performance the epic Cry Me a River — which also highlighted the full force of his incredible band — and was escorted off stage with a standing ovation. After a jazzy instrumental break, Bublé returned for a three-song encore, ending things on an intimate note with slow-burning stunner Where or When, the almost painfully catchy Everything, and classic Always on My Mind, for which he enthusiastically donned a Jets jersey.

Bublé has always been an remarkably engaging performer, but he seems to have returned to life on the road with even more vigour and an almost renewed sense of purpose, easily upgrading this Good Friday to a great Friday for the nearly 10,000 fans in attendance.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel