Main Set: Waiting, Fastlove, I'm Your Man, Father Figure, Hard Day, Everything She Wants, One More Try, A Different Corner, An Easier Affair, Too Funky - interval - Faith, Spinning The Wheel, Feeling Good, Roxanne, Kissing A Fool, Amazing, Flawless, Outside
Encore: Careless Whisper, Freedom '90
Comment: On the opening night of the 25Live North America Tour, George Michael surprises his fans with some tracks previously not played on the tour before! These are 'Kissing A Fool', 'One More Try', 'Hard Day', 'Roxanne' and 'Feeling Good'. 'A Different Corner', which George had only sung at the beginning of the tour in 2006, is also on the setlist tonight. Regulars 'Praying For Time', 'Star People', 'Jesus To A Child' and 'You Have Been Loved' are not on the setlist. George clearly put a lot of effort in updating all graphics, because fans are stunned with new videos and graphics. Also they are getting tonight a special treat with a remix version of 'Spinning The Wheel'.
Media Reviews:
George Michael Feels the "Freedom" at First U.S. Tour Opener in 17 Years
George Michael began his first North American tour in 17 years on Tuesday at the San Diego Sports Arena, standing onstage just as we last saw him: stylishly unshaven, in black suit and shades, swaying his hips while singing to ecstatic fans (from 1996’s "Fastlove"), "Got to get up to get down!"
The show was heavy with anxious, funky riffs and smoove R&B pop, and without special effects beyond a trio of massive, curving video screens that unfolded across the stage like a tongue toward his crowd. They sparkled with cascading blue-and-red stars for the opening acoustic guitar riff and Michael wailing: "So here I am!" from "Waiting (Reprise)." For the next two hours (plus a 20-minute intermission), Michael performed hits and new songs from his just-released retrospective album, Twenty-Five.
Among the new songs was "Feeling Good," which began as a soulful a cappella lament before shifting into a brassy rumble as the big screens behind him filled up with images of Dita Von Tease stripping down to her glittery pasties as she stepped into a giant champagne glass. Most fans were on their feet the entire concert, and Michael thanked those "people whose knowledge of me doesn't end with 'Faith.' You are the people I'm playing for." (For everyone else, "Faith" baby-tees were on sale for $40 in the lobby.)
His current 25 LIVE Tour across the U.S. follows 80 shows across Europe. His band could be seen stacked on three levels of scaffolding between the video screens, all dressed in elegant black. On either side of the stage, Michael had matching sets of backup singers: each one with a bald dude, a thin woman singer and one zaftig shouter, all singing harmonies drenched in gospel and modern soul, everyone in balance. It was feng shui live. And all of them stood behind him during "Father Figure," singing and snapping their fingers to the heartbreak beat.
The British singer seemed especially happy to be back in California. "I saw a couple of ladies getting married on TV yesterday," he said, referring to the first day of the state granting legal marriages to gays and lesbians. "It's about fucking time."
Michael sang of golddiggers on "Everything She Wants," and turned dreamy and romantic on "A Different Corner." He showed old video footage during Wham!'s excited "I'm Your Man" and slowed down for a jazzy take on "Roxanne" by the Police. He was most animated at the very end, as he closed with the still-stirring "Freedom," his hands raised high, testifying like an evangelist for self-determination. Then he was on his knees, giving the "I'm not worthy" bow several times towards his fans. His crowd roared back, still dancing to the music, suggesting that maybe he was.
George Michael Feels the "Freedom" at First U.S. Tour Opener in 17 Years
George Michael's revealing dancetopia is must-see stuff
And it's not gonna get any fuller.
The longtime fans to my left - who got in free thanks to a Fox affiliate, who learned (as I did) that attendance was about 7,000 - tell me that many people who took advantage of the promoter's desperate 2-for-1 ticket offer were being upgraded to lower-level seats.
That's how empty it was.
So this much we know right away: San Diegans do not get George Michael.
Or do they? This gig may have wound up playing like an out-of-town warm-up for presumably better-attended bashes Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and June 25 at the Forum in Inglewood (where the Brit will kill on his 45th birthday; how well he'll fare June 27 at Honda Center is another matter). Yet those 7,000 staunch devotees - predominantly women who used to think they'd marry the guy and gay men who think they still have a shot - well, they were so immensely pumped-up, so scream-crazy, they gave off the energy of at least 17,000.
Precisely the sort of reaction a stateside-faded superstar hopes for when he kicks off his first tour here in 17 years.
"That means there are people here whose knowledge of me does not end with 'Faith' - and you are the people I'm here for." Later, before closing with a rousing "Freedom '90," he seemed truly overwhelmed: "Thanks for welcoming me back, America. I had no idea what to expect and you've just blown me away."
The feeling is mutual.
Not exactly enthused after GeoMike's lackluster performance of "Praying for Time" during May's "American Idol" finale, I came into this anticipating at best cheesy nostalgia bogged down by eccentric selections - songs none but club-rat Anglophiles would know. To be sure, some of that came to pass: Only a die-hard would remember "Too Funky" or "Outside," the latter of which Michael delivered in dark shades and casual cop uniform to evoke the song's arrest-mocking video. Another curious choice: dusting off his very Sade-ish redo of the Police's "Roxanne" at a point in the second set when the crowd seemed primed for another dose of dance fever.
What sets Michael apart now is what set him apart then: his nakedly honest songwriting. Unlike the work of today's heartthrobs - even a wildly entertaining modern counterpart like Justin Timberlake - the majority of Michael's songs speak directly to the joys and turmoil of his life.
OK, so "Faith" and "I Want Your Sex" weren't about anything but desire. But since his '87 blockbuster masterpiece Michael has grown increasingly introspective and outspoken - from telegraphing his coming-out alongside his dissatisfaction with the star-maker machinery in "Freedom '90" (the new "An Easier Affair" revisits that theme) to grappling with the 1993 AIDS death of lover Anselmo Feleppa in "Jesus to a Child," from sounding off on the Iraq War ("Shoot the Dog") to celebrating the love of his current partner Kenny Goss ("Amazing").
That he's been forsaken like Mercury isn't surprising; apart from Elton John, Americans often don't know what to make of British singers when they finally let their freak flags fly. Such a derisive dismissal, however, is in sore need of correction. Whether or not people turn out - and "I'm Your Man" and "Everything She Wants" were so much fun, I can't help but think West Hollywood will crash the Honda Center party next week - Michael's tour is undeniable proof that this, folks, is what an enduring pop star looks like.
George Michael's revealing dancetopia is must-see stuff
George Michael Kicking off His 25 Live US Tour
Tonight kicked off George Michael's comeback in the United States. The arena was packed full of George Michael fans that were eagerly waiting for his presence on stage. They have been waiting 17 years for this day in the US.
This show had huge production value. There were LED screens on both sides of the stage, and even the center of the stage had a ceiling-to-floor screen. When I say floor, I mean part George stood on the visually impressive screen. The back of the screens had three tiers of musicians from a level of guitars, drums, and keys.
George took the stage at 8:45 p.m. He broke out into "Fast Love" and the crowd went wild. He drove home some of his biggest hits with energy and passion. He sang "Hard Day" and "Father Figure" to standing ovations. The two screens displayed images of him performing as the middle screen he stood on was full of color, making a spectacular stage setting.
You wouldn't have guessed that George hasn't hit the road in the US for 17 years. This man danced and shaked his ass like he had been reborn, and the fans screamed and danced right along with him, not missing a beat. Ok, some were pretty inebriated, not getting the beat at all, but nevertheless, it only made the night that much more entertaining.
George did have an intermission for the show, yet no one looked displeased about it. One man turned to me and said, "Great, time for another beer!" After intermission George got the crowd revved up with some "Faith."
Also during the performance George played his new song, "Feeling Good." On the screens the music video for "Feeling Good" played and the seductress herself, the beautiful Dita Von Teese, was the center of the video. Any straight man in that audience must have been very happy because there was lots of beautiful women that were on the screens during the show and for every gay man George never looked more sexy.
George closed the show with an encore. He asked the crowd, "If I were to play one last song what should it be?" He then went into "Freedom."
No disappointments at this show. George's performance was nothing but fabulous (plus he can still hit all the notes with ease). His stage presence is intense. You really can't take your attention away from him.
The only disappointment is the news this may be his last tour. For fans' sake, I hope it isn't. He left the crowd wanting more.
George Michael Kicking off His 25 Live US Tour
Fan Videos:
George Michael - Kissing A Fool (Live San Diego 2008)
George Michael - A Different Corner (Live San Diego 2008)
George Michael - Roxanne (Live San Diego 2008)
George Michael Highlights (Live San Diego 2008)
More videos from San Diego