RAH

Ok second attempt at quick review wrote then lost in my excitement.

I thought Manchester rocked, but oh boy RAH did not disappoint, went beyond expectations!
Topped with duet with Gabrielle, Adele song took roof off, we were spoiled, and a version of song he doing off new album, can't remember name of it, Sylvia will no doubt come up with full set list. Hurried review, still on a high will write more tommorow, back at apartment we staying at with hubby snow and my Bolton Buddy Virgin friend, her first concert! As usual all around us so friendly, had a blast, up dancing!! Oh, and RAH wouldn't be same without Nessum Dorma. Still riding on a high Bolton Cloud!!!

One happy long time Bolton Fan, come back soon!!

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Permalink Reply by BoltonWanderer on April 29, 2016 at 1:22pm

Hello, I had to join the forum because I wanted to comment on my experience at the RAH last night. Unfortunately I have to say that I was a little disappointed - not with Michael's singing per se but with the overall set-up which I feel really let him down. I have not been to any other dates on this tour or any others in recent years, so can only comment about the RAH in the context of having paid £125 per ticket, but...

- The sound mixing was pretty awful. Very often Michael's voice was far too low in the mix, meaning it was difficult to hear him. These things often happen at the start of concerts and they get fixed in real time, but not here. The same can be said about some key instruments such as the sax,

- The drums... please tell me who thought it was a good idea to have delay/repeat effect on the snare drum for the entire performance! To my ears (and I have been to a lot of concerts from a variety of artists in many music styles), this sounded truly awful, especially in relation to some of the slower songs. That type of effect is only appropriate for faster-;paced rock numbers and just sounds terrible when the repeat/delay is not even in synch with the tempo of the song being performed. I'd like to hear if anyone agrees, and if that's been the case for the entire tour - I can't imagine that the drummer was unaware and it was unintended.

- The backing singer (Sam) who was given the limelight more than once during the concert was good (but not THAT good), but I was left wondering why we were watching her and not Michael. Is this something he does on his tours these days? To give a chance for new talent to shine?

I don;t want to be too negative - the positive was that he very much sang all the hits we came to hear, and sang them well; I just wish the overall experience could have been a little more polished. I realise that he may not have the budget of Madonna or a superstar artist that is filling arenas, but I think he owes it to fans who part with good money to ensure that what they hear meets some minimum level of quality. What shocked me most in this respect is that I attended a MB concert maybe 10 years ago and don't recall having any of these criticisms.

Thanks

BoltonWanderer

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Permalink Reply by sylvie boisvert on April 29, 2016 at 4:03pm

Hi Bolton Wanderer and welcom to the forum. Well I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve attended a Michael show, but the set-up with a medley of his songs has been included in the show since I’d say about 10 or 12 years. It’s good to hear that at least, you’re not disappointed with Michael’s performance. Now I wasn’t there so have no idea about the sound, but if you’d like to discuss it with people who agree with you, check out this thread:

http://www.michaelbolton.com/forum/topics/nottingham-show-2016

Overall, people are disenchanted with the fact that Michael is not as much on stage, but as a couple of fans mentioned on the tour thread:

http://michaelbolton.com/forum/topics/welcome-everyone-to-the-2016-...

...they’d rather have 14 strong songs than 18+ that are strained. Michael works very hard at taking care of his instrument and is sounding amazing at 63 for a good reason. Thanks for sharing your point of view BW, take care. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie Qc Canada :D

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Permalink Reply by sylvie boisvert on April 29, 2016 at 3:44pm

Hi Julie, it’s always nice to read someone writing from “the cloud”! :D Michael loves the RAH, so I think he might save a little something extra for it and he did with the new song and duet with Gabrielle, good for you! So how did your BB virgin friend enjoy the show? I’m really glad to hear Michael has been doing “Nessun dorma” more for this tour and hope he’ll bring it back for North America too. As I’ve mentioned somewhere on this site, I think the RAH is a central venue where lots of fans from many countries gather to party. Thanks very much for writing Julie, take care. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie Qc Canada :D