A swinging, snappy first date with Bublé

 Video by Don Lejano / INQUIRER.net

Michael Bublé doesn’t do concerts; he thinks they’re boring. The Canadian crooner treats his shows, like this recent one mounted by Wilbros Live in Manila, as a first date.

“I feel as though many of us have known each other for a long time, but not all of us have actually met; it’s our first night together,” he told the audience of mostly middle-aged couples at SM Mall of Asia Arena.

What is a first date with Bublé like?

MICHAEL Bublé photo: Sherwin Guzman for Wilbros Live

“We start real slow … we try to get to know each other … touch hands. If the night goes well, we may end up having dirty sex in the car,” he said, eliciting a round of chuckles. He pointed to a balding man in front of him. “But not with you, sir!”

The fans could probably dismiss the dirty-sex-in-the-car part. Probably. One thing was sure: Bublé wasn’t there to simply charm his way through with the customary dose of swinging jazz tunes.

He was going to have a rockin’ good time and make sure his fans did, too. He ran and slid across the stage, twirled his microphone cord; he shimmied, shuffled, stomped his feet; he waded through the crowd; and while admitting he was terrible at it, he danced.

Between chunks of songs, Bublé related a funny anecdote or two and engaged in horseplay with his faithful. He urged them, “You paid good money. I want you to be in the moment … just lose yourself! This is a big place and you’ll never see anyone ever again. Have fun, let it go!”

He may be one cheeky chap, but when it was time for him to sing, Bublé buckled down to business, showcasing his versatility in the 20 or so songs in the lineup that included “Haven’t Met You Yet,” “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “Moon Dance” and “I’ve Got the World on a String.” (To backtrack, his opener was the sassy “Fever”—augmented by the robust playing of his 13-man horn-and-reed band.)

Bublé tackled bombastic big-band tunes with aplomb and seamlessly shifted to show-stopping ballads. He was impassioned, powerful in his renditions of such standards as “Try a Little Tenderness,” “Feeling Good” and “Cry Me a River,” pausing at key moments to break into a high belt or plunge into a grumbling low note.

Astonishing antic

And maybe to prove he wasn’t lipsynching, he dispensed with the microphone in “A Song for You,” astonishing the crowd.

To intro “That’s All,” Bublé said it was time for couples to remember why they fell in love “and for the singles to get into threesomes with them.” Riot.

The singer, together with the vocal septet Naturally 7, stacked layers upon layers of harmony in “Who’s Loving You,” “To Love Somebody” and “All You Need Is Love,” as heart cutouts filled the air. For fun, he threw in some contemporary hits such as Pharell Williams’ “Get Lucky” and Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody,” which, he jested, was his grandparents’ wedding song.

Bublé profusely thanked his supporters: “I think about you every single night [and] every morning when I wake up, I thank God for you.”

If this, indeed, was a first date, it’s safe to say no one would mind going on a second.