Pat's Northampton Review

written by Pat Stearman

oh my! oh my! oh my!

Well, I managed 7 hours in bed and I'm out here to say hello and try to describe the wonder of the man that is Michael.

I'm not sure it's possible - someone else just said that we need to invent a whole new vocabulary to talk about him and I think I have to agree.

But - for one thing - he looked absolutley wonderful - a little heavier, but since when did that matter? The hair is gorgeous - long enough for curls on top! First half he wore a dark blue/grey suit with blue shirt and dark tie - which came off after the first song - just the tie, girls, calm down!! Second half - just as we thought he couldn't look any better - dark grey/black suit, white shirt - I was literally heard to swoon at this point! - and gorgeous black tie with sparkly bits! again the tie only survived the first song. Then later, for the encore, the leather jacket made an appearance, with a black shirt -probably the same pants.
The voice - what power! what clarity! what a sound! has he ever sounded so good before? at this point I can't believe he has.

The choice of songs - fabulous! what other performer could do such a range of styles and be brilliant in all of them? from the sweetest ballad to the raunchiest rock'n'roll, from new country to the best of the musical theatre of the past 20 years, with a bit of blues and jazz throw in for good measure - the only style we didn't get was opera! (maybe tomorrow!)

Lots of songs from the new CD - If tomorrow never comes, You're still the one, I don't want a lover, No matter what, Walking in Memphis, You bring out the best in me, and of course the fabulous Never coming back and Just when. Maybe by the next CD he'll have enough stuff of this calibre to dispense with any songs written by other people! What a day that would be! 

Old favourites: Let the rivers run, LCE, Last night of the world, All I ask of you, Losing my mind, Empty chairs, I dreamed a dream, Something inside so strong, Love on the rocks, Oh what a circus!, Help yourself, You made me love you
New favourites: La vida loca, Why haven't I heard from you Why do fools fall in love

I suspect there were more that I can't remember just now!

My reactions during the show - laughter and tears, ahhhh and phew! Totally lost it in You bring out the best in me, so much so that when he looked at me in Oh what a circus I could only see this fuzzy blur (one of the UK PM's lesser known relatives!) as I was trying to dry my eyes and clean my specs! and Julia/Kerstin you remember the hands in pockets bit??? phew! (comment by Kerstin: WHO COULD FORGET THAT, Pat? :-)) You may have heard about La Vida Loca - those of us who remember the early tours felt quite at home - when Michael gets his 'serious' voice on we know he's about to do something extremely silly - and he did - or rather the band did! The band - great musicians - and good sports too! and they have good voices too - their a capella version of Why do fools fall in love was fabulous!

We had the most wonderful seats - thanks, Pam (who won't read this!) - the most fabulous view - both ways! cos Michael could see us almost as well as we could see him - the eye contact was wonderful! tho I was a bit worried when he pointed straight at me at the 'accusations' line in Never coming back!!! - made me wonder what I'd said....