Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP
Michael Bublé performs at T-Mobile Arena Saturday, March 28, 2019.
Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Two songs into his performance Friday night at T-Mobile Arena, Canadian crooner Michael Bublé took time out from the music to address the audience.
First, he paid tribute to a group of Las Vegas health care workers he was hosting at the concert. “All of us think that heroes wear capes,” Bublé said. “But sometimes they wear the ugliest Crocs and scrubs you’ve ever seen.”
It was a warm — and well-deserved — moment for his guests.
Turning to the audience at large, Bublé told the 12,000 or so in attendance of his love for Las Vegas, “a second home for me.”
Noting he was performing in T-Mobile, the home of the Vegas Golden Knights, he deadpanned without the slightest hint of sarcasm, “With Marc-André Fleury, there’s no reason you shouldn’t win it all this year.”
Fleury, of course, is the Vezina Trophy-winning future Hall of Fame goalie who was traded by the Golden Knights in the offseason to the Chicago Blackhawks. After some audible gasps from the audience, Bublé started laughing and reminded the Vegas crowd that he was a die-hard fan of the Vancouver Canucks, adding, “I can’t stand the Knights.”
Boos rattled throughout the arena, followed by the familiar “Go, Knights, Go!” chant.
“I didn’t expect for you to boo me. I’ll try to make it up to you tonight,” he said, immediately introducing his special guest — “Harry Styles!” The crowd roared its approval. Bublé being Bublé though, he had to have the last laugh. “He’s not coming!”
With that, most of the hijinks were over, and Bublé returned to what he does best: Singing hits from today and yesteryear in an energetic and talented manner.
Backed by a 34-member big band orchestra, Bublé delivered what the audience came to see.
Especially moving was his Nat King Cole-like rendition of Jeri Southern’s 1952 hit, “When I Fall in Love,” “Forever Now,” inspired by son Noah’s 2016 battle against cancer, and the concert finale, “You Were Always on My Mind.”
Sprinkled in were other standards of his, including “Haven’t Met You Yet,” which reached No. 1 on the adult contemporary charts in 2010, and “Home,” his tribute to men and women serving abroad in the armed services.
He “took” the audience back to 1992 when he was trying to make a name for himself in cabarets and performed a pair of Louis Prima covers, “Buona Sera,” and “Just a Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody.” Backed by a stripped-down portion of the band — and with dozens of club-style mood lights lowered from the T-Mobile ceiling, the mini-set was energetic and entertaining.
An added treat of the evening came during his encore set when someone from the audience implored him to sing the Billy Paul hit, “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Bublé, noting it was not part of his regular show and would be done unrehearsed, nevertheless said, “Let’s do it.” And in literal fashion, “let’s” was the cue for the audience to join in for the entire song. It went off so well, Bublé remarked at the end, “I just realized: You all need to come on the road with me.”
And for that moment, it didn’t seem like Bublé was joking at all.
Setlist
“Feeling Good” (Anthony Newley cover)
“Haven’t Met You Yet”
“My Funny Valentine” (Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart cover)
“I Only Have Eyes for You” (Harry Warren cover)
“Sway” (Dean Martin cover)
“Such a Night” (Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters cover)
“Lazy River”
“When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)” (Seger Ellis cover)
“When I Fall in Love” (Jeri Southern cover)
“To Love Somebody” (Bee Gees cover)
“Forever Now”
“Home”
“Buona Sera” (Louis Prima cover)
“Just a Gigolo / I Ain’t Got Nobody” (Louis Prima cover)
“Cry Me a River” (Julie London cover)
Encore
“Where or When” (Rodgers and Hart cover)
“Everything”
“Me and Mrs. Jones” (Billy Paul cover)
“You Were Always on My Mind” (Gwen McCrae cover)
