Second night of a three night run of concerts. Which is, by the way, quite hectic for me these days! The first night was a concert by Mike and the Mechanics who I have already blogged about and were superb, followed by Matt Goss (more about Matt soon) and then finally, the last night of my 3 night binge was the fabulous Rasta Man Billy Ocean (blog entry to follow soon).
Now imagine a concert where you just go along out of interest to see what someone is like. Of course, I remember Matt Goss as a member of Bros, teenybopper heroes who were not really my cup of tea at the time. My daughter Ashleigh was really into them however. I had read that Matt had rebuilt his career as a big Las Vegas star, singing Rat Pack, crooner type songs. Intriguing. So, I decided to go along just to see what he would be like. I didn’t really know what to expect, to be honest. So along I went with carer Jackie and guest sister-in-law Elaine. All of us wondering what Matt would be like.
To say it was a revelation is an understatement. I have never seen anyone who has turned around his career 360° and come out fighting, strong and simply superb. This guy has gone from being right up top as a youngster with his twin brother (who is also making his own success as an actor) to more or less disappearing, certainly from my view point, to rebirth as a new star in America and Vegas in particular. I have never seen anyone connect with the audience in the way that Matt Goss does. To say he reaches out to the audience doesn’t touch it. He literally walked right down into the crowd taking his time to talk to people, ask them where they came from (“Redcar, where is that? Oh, just past Middlesbrough”) and offer them a small glass of tequila to give a toast to the crowd (“keep the glass, it is a gift from me”) accompanied by his bodyguard at all times.
You can just imagine him moving around the tables smoothly in Caesar’s Palace, Vegas. And then he is swiftly back up on stage singing his heart out. His voice is strong and he is accompanied by a full orchestra and excellent backing band and singers. A fantastic show. But I guess what else were we to expect given this guy goes down great in Las Vegas. We were all totally overwhelmed by it. This is a show to top all other shows. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the best concerts I have ever attended. No joke, this guy is the business. He has everything, no fear, totally authentic, great voice, looks just great, snazzy suit, great moves on stage and a repertoire of classic songs.
Some of my favourite songs of all time from the Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Cole Porter stable. So, he sang “Luck Be a Lady Tonight”, the fabulous “Nature Boy” (one of my all-time favourite songs), Anthony Newley’s “Feeling Good” (another favourite of mine), “Birds Do It” (you know this one… Let’s Fall in Love), “Fly Me to the Moon” and (“it took me a long time to feel I earned the right to sing this one, but now I feel I can”) “My Way”. The classics keep coming. He throws in some new songs, which I obviously don’t know but sounded good; one is called “Mustang”. And he takes is back to his old band and “When Will I be Famous” and “I owe You Nothing”.
Simply great. Jackie, Elaine and I are all in total agreement. We had all witnessed something special.
Set List (something like this, not necessarily in this order): Birds do it; Luck Be a Lady; Fave your feats; Nature Boy; I’m feeling good; Fly me to the moon; Mustang; All About The Hang; Love for sale; The Day We Met; Every time we say goodbye; The Beautiful Unknown; When Will I Be Famous?; My Way; I owe You Nothing.
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Posted by Bryan on May 1, 2023 at 6:18 am
Back in the late 80’s I was flying out to Madrid with work & sat a few seats away were Luke & Matt. Low & behold, they were staying in the same city centre hotel as me. I bumped into them around the the hotel on several occasions & they would always take a few minutes to talk. Glad to read that they are doing well again!
Posted by vintagerock on May 1, 2023 at 10:34 am
Thanks for sharing Bryan. Great story. I recall flying to Munich once and sitting directly in front of me was Boy George! Happy days and yes I was really impressed by Matt Goss Peter