As events have begun to return in 2021, Fiserv Forum has hosted stand-up comedy, wrestling, a monster truck rally and a Milwaukee Bucks NBA Championship.
But for 552 days, there has been no live music.
That is, until Tuesday night, when Michael Bublé returned to Milwaukee for the first time in seven years as part of a postponed tour that was supposed to swing through town in March 2020.
That’s the same month the live music industry shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, making this the first arena concert in the city since the Lumineers played Fiserv Forum on March 11, 2020.
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“You guys are treating me so nice,” Bublé said early in a two-hour set. “But I know the fourth or ninth time that we postponed you were thinking, ‘(Expletive) Michael Bublé.’”
It was worth the wait, with Bublé carrying on the great (and increasingly rare) crooner tradition once inhabited by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the recently retired Tony Bennett — backed Tuesday by a swinging 36-piece orchestra and a pretty bold sense of humor.
How bold? Well, he first addressed the audience by yelling a hearty “Hello, Phoenix,” which resulted in a brief, uncomfortable silence.
But then a devilish grin crept up on Bublé’s face.
“Or was it Phoenix who lost the championship to the Bucks?” he asked, to roaring applause.
“I have to tell you, some of you looked a little bit hurt right there for a second,” Bublé said. “Some of you thought, ‘This (expletive) don’t even know where he is.’”
“It’s not often as an entertainer that you’re surrounded by this many winners,” he continued. “I know you are good, humble people, but I’ve got to know, what’s it like being better than everyone else? Are you still kind to the other cities?”
Bublé was certainly kind to Milwaukee. Saying that the tour’s COVID-19 protocols prohibited close interactions with fans, Bublé showed off the “invention” he created during the pandemic — a wireless mic taped to a hockey stick — extending it to a woman in the crowd who joined him on a swell duet of “Cry Me a River.”
He also spotted a marriage proposal during the show, pausing the concert to talk to the newly engaged couple, letting them share their special moment with (and show off the glittering ring to) several thousand people, before dedicating his original tune “Forever Now,” written from a father’s perspective to their young child, to the couple and their own future children.
Bublé also shared sweet memories of sneaking into nightclubs as a teenager with his late grandfather to sing, before performing one of his favorite songs, the pop standard “Lazy River.”
And he attempted to re-create that intimate, swinging club vibe by shrinking his band down to eight members to join him on a small stage in the center of the arena for a couple of Louis Prima numbers, including “Buona Sera,” plus Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” complete with Bublé doing his take on Vincent Vega competing in the Jack Rabbit Slim’s Twist Contest. (It was a better embodiment of John Travolta’s immortal “Pulp Fiction” character than the Vega costume Bublé wore at a recent costume party. Showing a picture on the big screens, Bublé confessed that one friend mistook him for Corey Feldman, an honest and understandable mistake.)
The charm and humor are a big part of Bublé’s act. But he’s also got the goods, with a golden baritone that brightened the room across 21 songs Tuesday.
There was a smitten rendition of the 1928 pop standard “When You’re Smiling” (with the 13-piece horn section supplying brassy backing vocals); a melodramatic “My Funny Valentine” fueled by the show’s 16 string players; and a lush cover of Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” supported by three backing singers.
But Bublé’s voice peaked right at the end, with stunning finishes for Rodgers and Hart’s 1937 show tune “Where or When” and the night’s closing number “Always On My Mind.”
“I know these past couple of years were more than brutal,” Bublé said late Tuesday. “They’re still brutal, to be honest with you.”
Yeah, they are. But Bublé and his band offered a lighthearted escape from those hardships. And in that context especially, it was as fine a return to arena concerts in Milwaukee as anyone, Bublé included, could have hoped for.
“I would never bring you a millionth of the joy you bring me,” he said at one point Tuesday. Dramatic, sure, but there was little doubt of his sincerity. And if that sentiment could be taken at face value, based on the smiles and cheers of this crowd, that would have made Bublé Tuesday the happiest man on earth.
