{"id":208,"date":"2025-01-13T00:12:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T00:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=208"},"modified":"2025-01-13T00:12:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T00:12:22","slug":"milwaukees-fiserv-forum-buzzed-with-excitement-as-michael-buble-took-the-stage-for-the-citys-first-arena-concert-in-552-days-his-arrival-was-met-with-thunderous-applause-signaling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=208","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee\u2019s Fiserv Forum buzzed with excitement as Michael Bubl\u00e9 took the stage for the city\u2019s first arena concert in 552 days. His arrival was met with thunderous applause, signaling the start of a night to remember, full of laughter, heartfelt moments, and, of course, his iconic vocals…\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

As events have begun to return in 2021,\u00a0Fiserv Forum\u00a0has hosted stand-up comedy, wrestling, a monster truck rally and a Milwaukee Bucks NBA Championship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But for 552 days, there has been no live music.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

That is, until Tuesday night, when\u00a0Michael Buble\u0301\u00a0returned to Milwaukee for the first time in seven years\u00a0as part of a postponed tour that was supposed to swing through town in March 2020.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Need a break?<\/strong>\u00a0Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys are treating me so nice,\u201d Buble\u0301 said early in a two-hour set. \u201cBut I know the fourth or ninth time that we postponed you were thinking, \u2018(Expletive) Michael Buble\u0301.’\u201d<\/p>\n

It was worth the wait, with Buble\u0301 carrying on the great (and increasingly rare)\u00a0crooner tradition once inhabited by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and the recently retired Tony Bennett \u2014 backed Tuesday by a swinging 36-piece orchestra and a pretty bold\u00a0sense of humor.<\/p>\n

How bold? Well, he first addressed the audience by yelling a hearty \u201cHello, Phoenix,\u201d which resulted in a brief, uncomfortable silence.<\/p>\n

But then a devilish grin crept up on Buble\u0301\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr was it Phoenix who lost the championship to the Bucks?\u201d he asked, to roaring applause.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI have to tell you, some of you looked a little bit hurt right there for a second,\u201d Buble\u0301 said. \u201cSome of you thought, \u2018This (expletive) don\u2019t even know where he is.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often as an entertainer that you\u2019re surrounded by this many winners,\u201d he continued. \u201cI know you are good, humble people, but I\u2019ve got to know, what\u2019s it like being better than everyone else? Are you still kind to the other cities?\u201d<\/p>\n

Buble\u0301 was certainly kind to Milwaukee. Saying that the tour\u2019s COVID-19 protocols prohibited close interactions with fans, Buble\u0301 showed off the\u00a0\u201cinvention\u201d he created during the pandemic \u2014 a wireless mic taped to a hockey stick \u2014 extending it to a woman in the crowd who joined him on a swell duet of \u201cCry Me a River.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u00a0original tune \u201cForever Now,\u201d written from a father\u2019s perspective to their\u00a0young child, to the couple and their own future children.<\/p>\n

Buble\u0301 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 \u201cLazy River.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u201cBuona Sera,\u201d plus Chuck Berry\u2019s \u201cYou Never Can Tell,\u201d complete with Buble\u0301 doing his take on Vincent Vega competing in the\u00a0Jack Rabbit Slim\u2019s Twist Contest. (It was a better embodiment of John Travolta\u2019s immortal \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d character than the Vega costume Buble\u0301 wore at a recent costume party.\u00a0Showing a picture on the big screens, Buble\u0301\u00a0confessed that one friend mistook him for Corey Feldman, an honest and understandable mistake.)<\/p>\n