Bublé a true showman

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This article was published 07/10/2022 (1407 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

His music would fit at an intimate jazz club and his jokes could pass muster at a stand-up comedy bar, but Michael Bublé is built for the big stage. On Friday night, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum crooner showed Winnipeg fans why he remains one of the most beloved in the business.

Over the course of two hours, the Burnaby, B.C.-born artist played some of his biggest hits alongside songs from his new album and nearly a dozen covers popularized by balladeers of yore. At times, it felt more like a variety show than an arena concert.

Returning to Winnipeg for the first time since 2019, Bublé is in the midst of the Canadian leg of a world tour promoting his 2022 release, Higher. Like seemingly everything the charismatic celebrity touches, his 11th studio album has topped charts around the world and includes track credits from the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Willie Nelson — although, there weren’t any star-studded walk-ons at the Canada Life Centre.

The show opened with actual fireworks and Bublé’s stirring rendition of Feeling Good, a cover made famous by Nina Simone; followed by Haven’t Met You Yet, a 2009 original that’s become a fan favourite. The singer might feel less than fond of the poppy love song after playing it for more than a decade, but the setlist would have felt incomplete without some old standards.

While some musicians like to leave the audience hanging — waiting until the final moments of a show, or worse, the encore, to dole out the hits — there’s something to be said about getting the crowd pleasers in early. From the moment he stepped on stage wearing glistening black patent shoes and his trademark well-tailored suit, Bublé had the room of 7,300 people wrapped around his finger.

The Higher tour is billed as a showcase of the artist’s vocal talents and musical range, featuring a variety of pop, swing, jazz and R&B tunes.

It’s also billed as a comedy show — a categorization that would raise eyebrows for virtually anyone else, but works for a musician who’s comfortable cracking snarky one-liners and leaning into self-deprecating humour. Bublé is funny.

“I know when you hear the word celebrity, you think humble. But not me, Winnipeg, I’m an asshole,” he joked, before describing long hours spent admiring his own reflection in the bathroom mirror amid the pandemic.

Later on, after polling the audience for concert first timers, Bublé bemoaned his reputation as a Christmas song singer, “I do all seasons.”

Between jokes, stories and crowd interactions — at one point he paused to lead a happy-birthday singalong for a fan in the front row — the 47-year-old spent the show bounding, dancing and strutting up and down the long runway connecting the main stage to a platform in the middle of the floor.

Arranged in tiered risers big-band style, his impressive backing orchestra was a focal point, not an afterthought.

As every seasoned touring musician is wont to do, Bublé worked the local angle well and often — incorporating Winnipeg into the song Home and mentioning he had drafted Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck for his fantasy hockey team. The die-hard Canucks fan even donned a Jets jersey during his closing number.

Higher and I’ll Never Not Love You were the rare instances of music from his new album. The latter half of the concert was largely dedicated to covers of songs by Elvis Presley (complete with lip curl), Charlie Chaplin and Sam Cooke. An encore ensued, unsurprisingly — much of the audience was on their feet throughout, some even dancing in the aisles — with a nice tribute to the band and backup vocalists. The singer returned to the stage to belt out How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), a jazzy original from 2005 and a cover of Ella Fitzgerald’s Cry Me a River.

Bublé is a showman through and through. He lived up to that moniker, and then some, last night.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney