Concert review of George Michael’s performance at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada on September 25, 1998. The article was written by John Mackie for The Vancouver Sun on September 25, 1998.
This boy George is much more than a mere teen idol
Oh, the plight of the teen heart-throb. One day, you’re at the top of the world, selling records by the zillions and evincing ear-piercing screams from little girls wherever you go.
But little girls grow up, and nine times out of 10 reject their old musical heroes as a misguided juvenile infatuation.
And teen idol-ship ruins one’s credibility as far as the rest of humankind is concerned. So it’s bye-bye, superstardom, hello delete bins.
Every once in a while, though, someone comes along who matures with his audience. Such is the case of Georg’ios Panayiotou, a.k.a. George Michael. At 25, the former Wham! leader has confounded all critical expectations and emerged as an artistic force to be reckoned with, while continuing to expand his already massive commercial success.
Sunday night, Michael affirmed his position at the top of the pops when he brought his Faith tour to the Coliseum. It was a show big on spectacle (laser lights, high- tech stage), big on hits and big on high-pitched screaming from the fanatical audience (85 per cent of which was females between the age of 16 and 20).
Michael took the stage in a black jacket and black pants, hairy chest exposed to the elements; he doffed the”jacket a few songs later and paraded around in a black vest.
He’s a pop star’s pop star, slender and athletic, with perfect hair, perfect two day stubble, perfect clothes, and a perfect whiney AM radio voice. He claims he’s gotten to the point where he hates being photographed, but onstage, every single move looks like a pose for a Calvin Klein ad. But no one seems to mind as he races about like a disco demon, thrusting and wiggling and running and humping up” a storm.
The two-hour show began and ended with the calculated outrageousness of I Want Your Sex. In between, he offered some old Wham! hits (I’m Your Man, Careless Whisper), some covers that displayed his interest in black music (Wild Cherry’s disco anthem from the ’70s, Play That Funky Music, LaBelle’s Lady Marmalade, Stevie Wonder’s Too Shy To Say), and a whole lot of Faith.
And Faith has a little something for everybody, from the itchy Prince-style funk of the title track to the dance groove of Monkey, the smooth pop of Hand to Mouth and the soulful balladry of One More Try, Father Figure and I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me). It was enough to keep the 13,000-strong crowd on its feet the entire concert, singing and clapping and screaming their little heads off.
This George Michael guy is on to something.
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