Last night was the night we went to see Celine Dion with the free tickets my wife got from her work. I rarely go to concerts, 25 years ago I went to see Ray Charles, he was absolutely perfection, at the top of his vocal game, and each song sounded like the record. But I have been to a few concerts where I left wishing I had stayed home and listened to the CD because the studio versions were far better with their mixing magic applied to the vocals.
Suffice to say, this was not the case with Celine, I doubt I will ever hear her any better than I did last night. Some artists are enlivened by the crowd and I felt this was so with Celine. The entire performance was sensational, the moving stage which raised and lowered people up and down. A moving escalator like track that the dancers and Celine used for great effect. The sound, one could only dream of hearing music like that anywhere but a concert hall. Such a powerful display, with all the magic of show-business. But, all of that pales in comparison to her volcanic vocals. From the moment she took that stage till the last curtain call, her powerful voice rang across the arena singing all my favorite hits with such energy, magnetism, and thunder, that it was as if each song had a new vitality the likes of which I have never heard. What a show, what a voice. When she sang the last line in “Can’t Live”, as the music came to a stop, a complete stillness hushed the auditorium and she began to reach for notes that few have ever reached, I was brought to the verge of tears. Such musical drama steaming like a flood out of this talented woman left me in an emotional trance and the after glow has lasted all day. I doubt, had I not been blessed with the free tickets, that I would have ever seen her; but now having seen her, it may well be worth saving up to see her once in your life. I doubt I will soon forget it.