Two upcoming concerts are must sees in my books. Michael Buble at the Prudential on September 28th and Tony Bennett at Radio City at Radio City on October 11th.
Here is the case against.
1. Tony Bennett is too old. He’s 86, his voice is gone and he relies on his phrasing the way Sinatra did at the end.
2. Michael Buble is a proficient singer but he has no heart. He is a little like Linda Ronstadt in the mid- 1970s, artistically vacuous.
Unfortunately there is truth in both complaints but I’ve seen Buble twice and whatever he misses on record, he gains on stage as he remains one of the handful of cabaret stars who has broken out of cabaret in the 21st Century. The American Standards is a dead art form, very feel people write new standards (one reason Jack Phillips last album was so important, it was the only game in town), so simply to have a Buble: a robust young Canadian singer with a square head but a good disposition. If he is a mechanical singer he is a mechanical singer not augmented through popular mechanics.
No Buble isn’t Martin or Sinatra but he is pretty damn good any way and maybe he lacks some soul, he doesn’t lack heart.
Bennett can be mentioned in the same breath as a Martin and a Sinatra, but, not unlike BB King, he can be a little fragile. So the question you have to ask yourself is this: would you pay to see a fragile Frank Sinatra. If the answer is yes there is no excuse to miss him at radio City Music Hall. I’ve seen Bennett many times nd I am always impressed with him.
So go to both and keep American music alive.