He's the ultimate modern-day Rat Pack-ian entertainer — a smooth singer, debonair showman and witty comic who delivers everything with a quick wink and a megawatt smile. Michael Bublé is also a prolific musical grave robber.
On Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center, Bublé interpreted songs associated with Nat King Cole, Charlie Chaplin, Julie London, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, the Drifters, Dean Martin, Marvin Gaye, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley and — surprise — Barry White. Barry Gibb, one of the three Bee Gees, is still alive, so "To Love Somebody" broke the crypt-stealing string.
Every single one of those tunes was older than the 46-year-old Bublé.
An adept song stylist, he usually gave these selections his own spin, often with orchestral sweep and even a gospel choir. That's not to say that Bublé owned "How Sweet It Is" or "Cry Me a River," but he pulled them off with made-for-arena, big-band panache to the delight of 10,000 fans.
And he knows how to sell a song — and himself. Bublé grabbed at his necktie knot like Rodney Dangerfield, slipped and slid like James Brown, and punched the air like a shadow boxer. But he oversold an Elvis medley, mimicking the King on "Fever" and "One Night With You" and camping it up on snippets of "All Shook Up" and "Can't Help Falling in Love." Without missing a beat, Bublé then burst into "You're the First, the Last, My Everything," a low point of the disco era (only redeeming factor was Barry White's basso profundo voice) and a low point of Wednesday's concert despite an avalanche of gold confetti.
Those particular numbers underscored one of the production missteps in the 115-minute program — using separate sound systems when Bublé was on the main stage with 34 musicians and two backup singers and when he performed on a satellite stage in the middle of the arena. As he worked his way down the runway connecting the stages, the sound systems would disconcertingly switch to different speakers.
But it was hard to argue with Bublé's personality, equal parts sincere and silly. Once again, he was a tasty mix of ham and cheese, slathered with lots of romantic dressing, on slices of dark and handsome. He hugged and high-fived fans, autographed handmade signs, took selfies with fans' cellphones and put on a Minnesota Wild sweater for the encore, admitting he's a fan of his hometown Vancouver Canucks.
The dashing Bublé bookended the concert with James Bond vibes, opening with the dramatic "Feeling Good," a far cry from the jazzy version made famous by Simone, and delivering the penultimate "Cry Me a River," a bombastic reading that was like night and day compared with London's sultry rendition.
Speaking of reimagining, Bublé's pre-encore finale of "Bring It on Home to Me," the Cooke classic, started in hymnlike fashion before building into a full-blown tent-revival gospel celebration with a mini-choir.
To confirm he's not just an interpretive singer, Bublé delivered seven original tunes that he co-wrote, including "Higher," the dark and tango-fied title track of his 2022 album, and the perky 2009 hit "Haven't Met You Yet."
But a highlight was a tender voice-and-piano treatment of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" with Bublé seated next to Roy Dunlap's grand piano. North America's biggest lounge lizard doesn't necessarily need all the shtick and big-band arrangements. Sometimes all it takes is a great song, that creamy voice and a smile.
