British Columbia-born Michael Bublé was nearing the end of his current Canadian tour, squeezing in a sold-out date at Budweiser Gardens on Monday, July 29, 2019. Dubbed “An Evening with Michael Bublé”, the sensational concert featured a massive circular stage that sprawled onto a long catwalk that culminated in a circle just past the middle of the arena. This gave fans sitting anywhere in the arena a great view of the iconic pop star at least once during the show.
As expected, Bublé expertly crooned his way through a massive 21-song setlist intermixed with jokes, stories, and mentions of his family life, including a moment at the beginning of the show where he talked about attending London’s Pride Parade the day before.
The vast majority of Bublé’s repertoire consisted of cover songs he’s either performed for years or made into hits on his own recordings – songs like 'My Funny Valentine,' 'You Were Always on My Mind,' 'Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody,' and the like, but there’s something special about the way he performs them. Even though he was near the end of his Canadian leg, there was an excitement and passion as he performed these classics.
This certainly didn’t feel like a usual Monday night show, with Bud Gardens packed to the rafters.
We also got a handful of Bublé originals like 'Haven't Met You Yet,' 'Home,' and 'Nobody But Me.' The majority of the content was selected from his latest album, Love (stylized as the red heart emoji ❤️). All of this was performed with a 36-piece orchestra throughout the night.
Dressed for the part, Bublé looked fine in his tailored blue suit with a single button on the jacket, a blue and gold polka-dot tie, shiny Rolex, and a small white-flower lapel pin. The stage glowed with a giant circular screen that projected video from the show and images, logos, and even the moon itself during the opening song 'Feeling Good.'
Depending on how you view tabloid rumours, this could have been Bublé’s last album and tour, following a life-changing event where his eldest son Noah was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2016. At that point he said he’d never return to music, but eventually Noah recovered and he went on to record the new album and headed out on the road. This World Tour, which saw him perform shows in Dublin, London, and Sydney where he performed for over 150,000 fans, was expected to last well into February 2020.
This certainly didn’t feel like a usual Monday night show, with Bud Gardens packed to the rafters. I can’t think of a better way to kick off a hot summer week than 'An Evening with Michael Bublé.
