RICHMOND — I’m 30, so I’m old/young enough to remember when Michael Bolton’s soft-rock ballads of the late 80s/early 90s dominated the radio. That husky and raspy voice was always distinguishable.
As much as I considered his music only stuff my mom would listen to — especially after I started listening to punk rock in high school — that didn’t mean I never stopped what I was doing, turned the radio up, and fist pumped through my own rendition of “When a Man Loves a Woman” (I ain’t gonna lie).
When Bolton came to the EKU Center for the Arts Tuesday night, he didn’t disappoint his long-time fans.
He introduced a mix of some of his work with “vintage” songs like “Georgia on My Mind” and “You Don’t Know Me.” But, he also made sure to give us plenty of those 90s songs you love to sing in the shower, including his Grammy award-winning “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” and “When a Man Loves a Woman,” reminding us why women continue to line up in front of the stage with outstretched hands.
After the first few songs, Bolton takes off his jacket and the crowd responds with, well, the kind of hoopin’ and hollerin’ that goes on when anyone starts to take off their clothes.
“It’s not that kind of show,” he joked. “I’m just playing my guitar.”
Register photographer, Kaitlin Keane, turns to me and said, “This guy is pretty funny.”
Being almost a decade younger than me, Kaitlin had to create a Spotify music gallery of Bolton’s greatest hits to prepare for the concert.
When we got to the Center, she and I were a little concerned about permission to take photos, but Bolton gave us permission himself.
“We encourage you to take all the pictures you care to take — cell phones, cameras, or whatever method you have. Just get me in the good light,” he said to the audience. “Feel free to touch them up in Photoshop.”
No matter what you think about Bolton and his music, his voice was the same as ever, and sounded as if you were listening to a studio recording. As he belted out his lyrics, Bolton took the squinty-eyed, white-knuckled power stance — the kind of stance you take when singing any early 90s soft-rock ballad.
To my surprise, he played a mean guitar while he sang Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” I guess I had never pictured him with a guitar; I was impressed. He is obviously a polished performer and musician, not just some love-song crooner.
In fact, Bolton’s earliest influences were soul and rhythm and blues greats like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. By the time he was a teenager, he was into rock ‘n roll and heavy metal.
In the 1970s, he was lead singer for the heavy-metal band Blackjack, which once toured with Ozzy Osbourne, according to a TV Guide biography.
When his band dissolved in the late 70s, he turned to songwriting to support his three daughters.
A turning point in his career came when his song, “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You” was performed by songstress Laura Branigan and it skyrocketed to the top of adult contemporary charts in 1983. “It stopped my rent checks from bouncing,” Bolton joked Tuesday.
Six years later, his rendition of the same song earned him a Grammy award.
“I was an 18-year overnight success story,” Bolton said of his music career before he made it big.
Joining him on stage was a pianist, drummer, bassist, guitarist, and a female back-up singer who also was a brilliant trumpeter.
Jazz saxophonist Michael Lington accompanied many of the songs, a signature sound in Bolton’s most famous tracks. It didn’t matter that we weren’t in the 1990s anymore, the sound of the saxophone always takes me back there (and makes me want to light some candles and pour some wine).
Later in the set, singer/songwriter Kelly Levesque joined him for a few duets, including one of my favorites “Make You Feel My Love.” I first heard this song in the 1998 film Hope Floats (you know, the one with Sandra Bullock). I knew Garth Brooks, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and Billy Joel had all covered it, but Bob Dylan wrote the song, Bolton said.
The song is a track on Bolton’s 21st studio album “Gems – The Duets Collection” released in June 2011. The album features productions by acclaimed musicians, producers and songwriters and includes popular songs such as “Fields of Gold,” “Over The Rainbow” and “Hallelujah.”
However, I’m inclined to say some of his best recent work was on the track “Jack Sparrow” by The Lonely Island — the Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated comedic trio comprised of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, made famous by their work on Saturday Night Live. The track has almost 95 million views on YouTube since its release in 2011.
At the beginning of the music video, Bolton tells the trio that he just finished watching The Pirates of the Caribbean movie series and “I wrote you this big sexy hook I think you’re going to really dig.”
As the boys of The Lonely Island start laying down a hot beat and some mad lyrical flow, Bolton busts in with a few signature 90s-era “yeah, yeahs” and vocal riffs.
The video cuts to Bolton parodying himself by singing on the beach with a few undone buttons on his shirt just like in his video for the 1993 hit single “Said I Love You … But I Lied.”
The only thing missing from his cheesy romance-novel-cover persona were those long luscious locks of brown, curly hair blowing in the wind. Stirring much unexpected controversy, Bolton chopped off his famous mane/mullet in 1997.
In fact, when you Google “mullet,” Bolton’s picture is among the mullet greats such as Billy Ray Cyrus, A.C. Slater from “Save By The Bell” and Joe Dirt.
Although in “Jack Sparrow,” Bolton seemed to embrace his label as “the quintessential sensitive and sexy balladeer,” there was a time when critics got to him (haters gotta hate!).
In a 1993 interview in Us magazine, Bolton said that the change from rhythm and blues to emotional love songs represented a “big crisis” for him.
“You lose a great deal of the male support that would be there and respect you for your voice, but who can’t deal with the subject matter,” he said. “So you lose your male audience and you incur the wrath of the critics.”
But for some of us, those emotional love songs are the reason he and his majestic mullet will forever be in our memories.
R.I.P Michael Bolton’s mullet, 1954 – 1997.
2012 TOUR REVIEW THREAD-PLEASE SHARE YOUR 2012 MB CONCERT ADVENTURES WITH US HERE!!!!
HELLO EVERYONE, Since the 2011 Tour Review Thread is not playing nice and throwing us all back to the beginning lately, Gail asked if I would go ahead and start the 2012 thread. So here it is.. We can all share our excitement for Michael's upcoming touring and events in 2012 and chat and have fun here till the shows start in 2012.
Everyone is welcome to post and share their stories and pictures, videos from concerts and trips to see Michael do what he does best-SING!!! Michael will be touring in 2012 starting so far with some shows the end of January. There could be other events sooner too so if anyone attends a great Bolton event/concert, feel free to share your experience here. I hope to have a review after the Chester, PA show on January 28th along with some other fans that have gotten tickets for that show and the Atlantic City, NJ show on January 27th as well! After that there are shows in Australia so far listed for 2012. Following those shows we have the Concert for MBC and Traveler's Golf Event in June, 2012 and later on the MBC Gala in Sept.. We already have some exciting events to look forward to next year and I know there will be much more to come.
I am looking forward to another fun year of posts and sharing by the best Michael Bolton fans in the world on this forum.. I will post events to keep the thread moving along as the concerts come up as before.
Welcome everyone!!!!!
Robin in Maryland USA :)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by sylvia doughty on
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Permalink Reply by Kathy Rosario on
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THAT was what was missing Sylvia!!!!!! I knew something was off!!!!!!!!! ROFL!!!! Will get to that photo soon as I am putting my decorations away and THAT gift is still under my tree :))))) Ohhhh....Bob's captain would have LOVED to have had that photo for my "gift"!!!!! LOL Priceless!!!! I will have to send it to him!!!!
Kathy and LAFD Bob
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Better watch doing that Kathy.....never know what next year's gift may be !!!!!!! LOL.
Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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They have 3 years left Sylvia to create something :)))))
Kathy and LAFD Bob
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Permalink Reply by Robin on
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Have fun decorating Kathy R..Well said..Same goes back here for myself and some other fans I'v'e known for soon 20 years now...Been to many events over the years and that is all in the fun of it..I got to see Ashley this past summer and it was such fun watching her having such a great time...MB is the best and he's so sweet to recognize the familiar faces over the years...He asked me in 2002 how many shows that tour, it was a crazy year, 23 shows that year for me..NUTS!! LOL But a blast all the same and am glad I could do it then...
Thanks for coming in and posting in the midst of your getting ready for your big party..Merry Christmas!!!
Have a blast. Till the next adventure!!!!
Robin in MD :)
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Permalink Reply by robin rehder on
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I think the most amount of concerts I've been to in a year was 7. Wow 23. Awesome. Kathy LAFD enjoy the Christmas party & decorating. Wow! Sounds like it's gonna be a blast. I know of 4 or 5 christmas parties up&coming but I think I'm only gonna go to 3. Everyone enjoy their holidays. MB all the way. He amazes me how he recognizes many of us fans. Boltonnut from L. A. CA who loves life & Michael Bolton :)
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Permalink Reply by meggy on
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Great stories All of you, Thanks for sharing:)! Hey Tom, has our Ashley kept track of All of those kisses she gets from the man (Michael)? Tell her to start cause she gets all of them...lol! Go girl, he loves you right back!
Mary (Meg's mom)!
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Permalink Reply by Gail on
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Related Photos
Michael Bolton performs part of a song in the audience during his concert Tuesday at the EKU Center For The Arts.
During Michael Bolton's concert Tuesday, he played guitar while singing some of his greatest hits at the EKU Center For The Arts.
Michael Bolton performed Tuesday at EKU Center For The Arts.
Fans reach for Michael Bolton�s hand Tuesday during his concert at the EKU Center For The Arts.
Michael Bolton welcomed fans to take as many photos as they wanted during his performance Tuesday evening.
November 29, 2012Michael Bolton — still my mom’s music (wait, I’m a mom)
‘Quintessential balladeer’ performs at EKU Center for the Arts
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Thanks Gail for the phots&the article. I have to admit "Jack Sparrow" is my least favorite. Just not into rap music but Michael is awesome in the song. So right about his raspy/husky voice that I love. 1954? Hmm. Wrong. :))))) Though I love his husky/raspy voice, mine is too but @ least he can sing. :))))) Boltonnut from L. A. CA who loves life & Michael Bolton :))))))
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Permalink Reply by Astrid Kretschmann on
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Robin, some babies are born with that kind of mullet, maybe MB, too, LOL - let's drop that topic and focus on his "husky and raspy voice" which is still and always will be distinguishable.
Gail, thank you for sharing this article, your photos and your recent review - I so enjoyed reading it.
Best wishes from Germany
Astrid
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Yeah, some things in the article sure is getting old. But his raspy, husky&definitely sexy soft voice never gets old; it gets better as time passes. Boltonnut from L. A. CA who loves life.
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Thanks Gail for a great article and lovely photos and I love his bit about taking the pictures to the photoshop....like that comment and have just to say that one bit in the article is wrong for our little Jack Sparrow has just passed the 95 million mark and last time I looked he was standing at 95,001,563 views......less than 5 million to get to that magical 100, super !!! :)
Sylvia. Your wee Scottish friend.
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