Michael Bublé in town

Michael Bublé in Oslo Concert Hall, Norway (Photo: Norwegianblogger June 4, 2006)

Yesterday, Michael Bublé's tour reached Oslo - Norway and Oslo Concert Hall. This man has got a big variation in his fan-base. When I entered the concert hall I was amazed to see a mix of teenagers, elderly and everything between, with a smile on their faces and a camera in their pockets :) That might explain why the concert was a mixed experience as well. It's not easy to please such a diverse crowd, at least not when it comes to what's going on between the songs. At times the show was like a stand-up show where he made jokes and partly some cheesy comments. I think it's the first time I've been to a concert where I felt an urge to tell the artist: "Please, please, can't you just sing?", but others might have enjoyed it, so who am I - only one of a crowd of hundreds. But, when that man starts to sing: WOW, that voice is "one in a million", and when he invited the people in the back to come dancing in front of the stage for the last couple of songs there was a party going on. His band is remarkable; young musicians with a groove and feeling out of this world.

Maybe Mr. Bublé is a bit tired of his tour? It's been interesting to attend three concerts in a week, because the difference between these artists was obvious. Josh Ritter loved what he did. You could sense that he loved sharing the music with us and that he was proud of every song he did. He shared little stories about the music and his life and seemed like a friend who wanted to share his songs with his buddies. Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler were very professional. They did a show they've done several times before, but their professionalism made it sound new and interesting. Michael Bublé has the voice and the charisma, but in my opinion, he seemed a bit uninspired and tired of his songs (which he more or less told us as well). But, by all means, when he sang it was great - he IS a great singer, no doubt about it, but maybe its better not to have a commercial success selling millions of records? Perhaps it's better to visit a little club in Oslo with 60 people present and just share what you love - the joy of music? I don't know - only asking.