KNICKED THIS FROM NEXT DOOR BUT I AINT POSTING THERE SO WILL COMMENT HERE
TIMELINE MAG WROTE
As a way to celebrate avoiding a stint in prison, it sure beat going down the pub. A day after receiving his sentence for unfit driving confined to a ban and community service George Michael was on stage at Wembley Stadium, in front of 90,000 screaming fans, proving he can still hit the headlines for musical reasons.
However the concert had panned out, Michael had history-making in his hands. Fortuitous delays gave him the dubious honour of being the first artist to shout Good evening, Wembley in the revamped venue. The multimillion pound question: how did it sound? The answer: crystal clear, both times he yelled it, although the music fared less well.
An improvement on the old Wembley, certainly, but the sonic sensation was akin to a giant beatbox booming from the corner of the worlds largest living room.
The current leg of Michaels comeback tour he played Britain late last year for the first time in a decade and a half has been christened 25Live, a reference to the quarter century that has passed since the singer first found fame with Wham!. Accordingly, he delved deep in to his back catalogue of pop classics in a show that spanned more than two hours.
His opening gambit, however, was simply bizarre. A sparsely-backed cover of This Mortal Coils take on Tim Buckleys Song For The Siren drifted over an audience eager to catch sight of the star. Here I am, here I am, sang Michael softly, but on the high-tech stage, he was nowhere to be seen. Five minutes later, with the intro of Fastlove in full swing, he finally emerged from sliding, Star Trek-style doors near the foot of what may have been pops priciest video screen. The stunning centrepiece of the vast set flowed like an electronic waterfall, dropping 40 sheer feet, skirting the floor, then draping down in to a section of the crowd stood inside a semi-circular walkway.
The screen was a prop without which Michael would not have succeeded, although he could have left tired, comedy inflatables of Bush and Blair at home. His enthusiasm was apparent in his attempts at hip-shaking dance steps, his lively interaction with the audience and the sweat that soaked the back of his burgundy jacket before the interval. Yet he is hardly an artist who oozes charisma and his decision to hide his band on tiers of scaffolding and sweep his six backing vocalists to the sides left him with too much ground to cover.
Still, when the songs worked, the crowd was too busy dancing to bemoan the fact that the singer often resembled a dwarf stranded in a frantic video game. Too Funky was fab, and a far better second half packed in uplifting versions of Freedom 90 and Faith, a superb Spin The Wheel and an energetic Outside, in which he donned his cop costume.
Bar a closing Careless Whisper, his ballads were uniformly bad or at least they didnt work in such a large setting but his charm helped to haul him through the slumps. Its disconcerting to play in daylight, he admitted. In the dark, I can slip to the side, scratch my balls and take a few lines. What, a George Michael joke? Things must be looking up.
[Updated on: Mon, 11 June 2007 12:06]TALK ABOUT BULL**** GEORGE WAS FKIN AWESOME AS THE GOD HIMSELF SAID KISS HIS GREEK HAIRY ARSE
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THE TART WITH A HEART<div style="width:320px; background-color:white;padding:0;margin:0px auto;border:1px solid gray;"><div
WHAT A LOAD OF OLD SH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOW RUDE??????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZING,STUNNING,FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JEALOUS T*ATS??? ME THINKS!
I read a simillar review in the telegraph yesterday (very grown up I know, hubbys paper) the reviewer was clearly bloody homophobic and talked out of his a**e!
WE know the truth!
Sue. xx
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Earls Court - 25th Nov Wembley Arena - 17th Dec Wembley Stadium (courtesy of THE best brother in the world!) - 10th June Carrow Rd - 12th June Dublin - 1st Aug
george was amazing on saturday. it makes me laugh that the press still print bull. i bought every paper on sunday to see george. there was only little articles about george and wembley. i expected him to be all over the front pages like wham the final. 1 paper had a few sly comments to add but i just laughed and felt pitty on the writer. i took my friend she likes wham and george and has a few albums. she absolutely loves george now and wants to come to dublin and she has to take valium when she gets on a plane. for her to fly to ireland, i really believe she does love george.
