Went to see George Michael in concert last night. All that I can say is damn! He is still awesome. I wasn't really sure what to expect, as his latest album is more of a greatest hits collection....basically it's called "25 Live" and it's a representation of the 25 years that George Michael has been in the music industry.
So... I was like....hmmm....Does he have an actual new album with stuff on it coming out? Is he out of money, like the Eagles? Is there some George Michale reality TV show that I don't know about? As far as I can tell...it's none of the above, but honestly, after seeing the show, I wouldn't care. It was that good.
Amazingly artistic setup. Very, very cool. Let me describe... Instead of 1 big screen or backdrop behind the stage, there were 3 columns of screen with space between them. In those spaces was a type of industrial scaffolding type structure that had actual stories...The band was on the different levels of that...very cool, especially because he had the usual rock and pop musicians as well as all of the big band type musicians since he tends to mix both styles together. Back to the screens...they would have artistic images of light moving across the screens, or sometimes shots of his videos, or famous people...all very purposeful....Really neat. The stage itself was minimalistic. Nothing on it except for him, and at times his backup singers all standing in a semi circle around him. Very nice atmosphere.
It didn't hurt that we had awesome seats (thank you! thank you! thank you! Grant!!!!) They were first level, pretty much on the diagonal across from the stage. Woo-hoo!
His voice was still the same awesome, beautiful, fun, soulful voice that I expected. But, to me, the best part was that he danced throughout the entire thing. Not choreographed like Madonna or Brittany...Just danced....like he was in a club having a great night out. He looked like he was having a blast. Oh...and no head mic. (Of course not! He's gay and would never wear anything so tacky.) He talked too...between tracks which was really neat. So, I danced the whole time, and remembered why I love his music soooo much. Because it's fun. Plain and simple, it's fun. He's "just too funky."
His reason for doing the concert? He actually discussed it. He was basically out there to have fun, and trying to say thank you to all of his fans who have stuck by him for the last 25 years. Groovy.
Oh, and did I mention that he still looks great! "oh yeah! "
He sang songs from various different points of his solo career intermixed with some Wham! songs as well. There was a 20 minute intermission between sets. Very classy. Hell, the poor man was probably tired after dancing that hard!
Poor Grant...he was looking oh so sexy all dressed up, but it was hot in there...(of course it was...it was Houston in July! What were we thinking?) He's not the greatest George Michael fan. Not against him, but pretty much just ok. I think that he had a good time. He liked the show. Of course with it being in a big arena (Toyota center) the sound is never good...but I thought that his was better than most, so of course bad sound is a huge annoyance for Grant and me too...but I was also there for the visual. : ) I do think that Grant had a really good time watching me having a really good time and being so energized and happy!
So...can you tell that I loved it? I would go again in a second. Hey...the chance to dance the night away with George Michael? I wouldn't miss it.
