Monday Gladness!!!

"If you're gonna do it, do it right - right?  Do it with me..."  I'm Your Man - Wham

OH MOTHER, FATHER, SISTER, BROTHER, UNCLE, AUNT and COUSIN!!!

Alright my peoples, sorry no Monday Madness today because I had to get all this George Michael business off of my chest.

I had to start off with that slogan-a little Redd Foxx with a few of my own additives.  That is the only way I can express the joy I felt as I stood at the Air Canada Centre last Thursday night watching my man George Michael put on the show of a lifetime.  25 Live was the best show I have seen in the longest time.  No dodas, no background dancers, no fluff...just George, his band and 6 background singers.  It was an artist doing what he knows he is comfortable doing and it took him long enough damn it.  The man was born to do what he does and honestly, after that show, he made us George Michael fans who were part of the sold out crowd, forget about the 17 year concert drought he left us in.  He said it himself, "I am fully aware that I have not made it easy to be a George Michael fan.  I want to make sure that every single fan in this house forgives me for my absence."  So he was on a mission from the get go. 

My girl and I were ecstatic when we realized that our seats were at the side of the stage.  So all of the pics and videos (if Blogger is good to me) are all ME.  Even though the ticket was printed with a time of "8 o'clock PROMPT', we gather that Mr. Michael did not receive the memo.  Mr. Man kept us waiting for a good 40 minutes!  You know I was in my seat cussin' and carryin' on, because I, Tha Connoisseur, is not too good with the patience thing.  So 40 minutes later, George came on stage with his fine ass self and broke into "Fastlove".  From then on, it was sheer and utter madness.  Song after song, everyone was up out of their seats doing the damn thing.  You would swear it was a high impact aerobics class, I was sweating like a bank robber in a donut shop.  Here's a bit of my fav "Everything She Wants":

George and the crowd killing "Careless Whisper":

He was like the Energizer Bunny, hopping back and forth, to and fro on the stage.  And he can still shake his ass believe it or not.  Not to mention, he voice has not wavered a bit from his debut with Wham!.  For his 45 year young self, he really did his thing.  I was quite impressed to tell you the truth.  He ran through his up tempos-"Fastlove", "Too Funky", "I'm Your Man", "Faith" and "Everything She Wants".  Then slowed it down a bit with his jazzy rendition of "Roxanne", his remake of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Father Figure" "A Different Corner" and "One More Try" (and those are not all of the songs he performed).  In the first 15 minutes of the show, I was quite content and could have gone home with a smile on my face.  But from 8:40 pm to 11:40 pm, George Michael put on one hell of a show, with no opening act.  I think that is quite impressive.  No froo-froos, just George.  After 3 encores, he finally stated "Toronto, ok seriously, this is the last song for the night."  3 encores y'all.  And so, his last song for the night:

I have to add in, Toronto did pretty well to my surprise.  I say this because Toronto happens to be the first city I have been to, where I was asked to sit down at a concert.  Needless to say, I did not sit down for I bought a ticket to a CONCERT, if I wanted to sit down and listen to music I could have put on the CD at home.  Anyhow, after that experience I realized that Toronto is a more subdued type of crowd, where us Montrealers do the damn thing.  However, I must and will say that Toronto represented last Thursday-even George said so.  And lastly, seriously people-do the youngings of today know concert etiquette?  When the lights do not come on after a song, even when you think it is done-the show is not over.  When an artist goes off stage without introducing their band-the show is not over.  When the OLDER people in the crowd are keeping noise and hollerin' to get the artist to come back out-follow suit, because more than likely the show is not over.  I just laughed as the young ones started to leave the centre, when the lights were still off!  Ahhh so much more to learn.

So obviously I enjoyed myself immensely and had a ball.  My man did well and I was like a kid in a candy shop at the show.  I know he passed through Montreal last Friday night, but he still has yet to come through New York City.  If you saw him in Montreal, let me know what you thought.  And if you are a fan in New York City and have not purchased a ticket for the show as yet, GOOD LUCK in finding one!!  And if you are a fan anywhere else he plans to make a stop, run and get a ticket.  Trust me, you will not regret it.

Flashback of the day:  Hmmmm, something from George of course.  Let me know what your favorite George Michael/Wham! song is.  I previously posted "Everything She Wants" and that is one of my favorites, so this time around I will go with this one...

See y'all soon...

Tha Connoisseur