"I've waited almost three years for this!" said Michael Bublé as he walked on stage at Durham Riverside on Wednesday night to huge cheers from thousands of waiting fans.
"Thank you so much for being so patient." The swing singer's long-awaited tour date at Durham Cricket Club's Chester-le-Street grounds - where he set the mood from the off with Feeling Good - had been postponed since 2020 due to the pandemic and he joked that by now he and the band need the money.
The less than summery weather too was a source of jokes. "This is exactly what had imagined when I dreamed of this sunny warm night..." he said, before admitting he had been "freezing my ass off" while the team tried to hold down the stage's big screen to prevent it blowing away.
Read more: Michael Buble in Newcastle in 2019
But the Canadian star has a knack of bringing a warmth all his own to his concerts and those who'd escaped the rolling news coverage of a day of drama in Downing Street were soon enjoying an atmosphere of chill-out vibes.
"You've made this my home from home," Bublé later told us. And it turned out he'd actually brought his family along, with his pregnant wife Luisana Lopilato and their children watching the show along with the fans.
While there was seating to be had in the stands, this was very much a standing gig; the grounds of the club having been chosen as one of 15 UK dates on the rescheduled An Evening with Michael Bublé tour which sees the the four-time Grammy Award winner perform a series of open-air concerts - his first -at select locations, including stately homes and castles.
Those not lucky enough to be in the Gold Circle standing area right in front of the impressive stage set-up still had great views, with giant screens giving close-ups of Bublé - alongside his backing singers and band which he was at pains to point out includes some of our country's best musicians - in non-stop action - literally bouncing up and down on the spot at times - and showing his versatility in everything from a bit of mariachi to power ballads, swing and even Elvis - compete with a touch of The King's swagger.
"Whatever you give me and this group tonight, we'll return fifty fold," he'd told us at the start and he delivered on this with a string of hits, changing mood and tempo at the drop of a hat with covers such as Sway and When You're Smiling alongside his own songs like Higher; the beautiful Home - which he reminded us is his song, not Westlife's - and a new one he wrote during lockdown called I'll Never Not Love You.
The hit Just Haven't Met You Yet was a real crowd pleaser; You’re the First, the Last, My Everything had people singing along, as did Always On My Mind and Cry Me A River, while the lyrical Danny Boy simply soared. Then Can't Help Falling In Love sealed the deal.
Everyone loved it, so much so that one woman threw Bublé a bra. There was unexpected drama too.
As he was poised to sing All Shook Up, someone collapsed just in front of the stage and he delayed until he was sure the person was ok - only for somebody else to then faint a little further away. Bizarrely, it was the third time in four nights this had happened on his tour, said Bublé. "Am I too sexy?"
Bublé is a performer at the top of his game and can work a crowd of tens of thousands like he's hosting a dinner party for friends. It's apparently effortless but there seems nothing contrived about the way he strikes up a casual chatty relationship with the audience.
He's genuine, warm and above all good fun. Which is just what we needed on a chilly summer's night.
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