Tony Bennett concert | 3.5/5

SINGAPORE — There are many reasons to watch a Tony Bennett concert, with the primary reason being that you like Tony Bennett’s singing and have all his albums.

And on Wednesday night, thousands who like his singing and have his albums flocked to the Star Theatre to hear the master singer doing what he does best. This, of course, meant that the car park was full by the time I got there, with a snaking queue waiting to get in. So I hopped over to Fusionopolis instead and took the MRT down. Trust me, it’s worth it. It’s also cheaper.

But anyway, back to the concert. And to the fans who couldn’t wait to see Bennett in action. Although they had to, as his show was prefaced by a short set from his daughter Antonia. She sang six songs in her inimitable way, including a couple of my favourites from that era: Embraceable You by the Gershwin brothers, George and Ira, and Cole Porter’s From This Moment On.

Then it was daddy’s turn. He strode on to hearty applause from the audience, and proceeded to regale the audience with such classics as I Got Rhythm, The Way You Look Tonight, Just In Time, The Shadow Of Your Smile, Old Friends (a duet with Antonia) and, of course, his biggie, I Left My Heart In San Francisco.

To be sure, Bennett was the consummate performer. He gave props to Singapore’s jazz icon, pianist Jeremy Monteiro. So what if Bennett pronounced the name as “Mon-tee-air-o”? He dedicated In A Mellow Tone to the pianist. (And how many people in Singapore have had a song dedication from Tony Bennett?)

Bennett also mentioned an album that he and Lady Gaga had done, which is slated to be out in January next year. “She’s a real Italian woman, that girl,” he said.

“The reason I’m telling you this, is because I want you to buy the album — because I need the money!” he joked.

Was there anything I didn’t like about it? Sure. Bennett’s trills seemed a little friable at times; I would have loved it more if the songs weren’t so short; and I wasn’t too keen on the slightly muddy tone that the guitarist — and indeed, a lot of jazz guitarists — seemed to favour.

But it was amazing to see the Pavlovian response at the show (every time he gestured to a musician doing his solo, the audience would applaud). And equally amazing to see performing was drummer Hal Jones, who has played with the who’s who of jazz: Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellingon, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, the Mills Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Herbie Hancock, James Moody, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughn, you name it.

For the grand finale, Bennett opted to sing Fly Me To The Moon — sans microphone. Sure, he’s done this act a few times, but how many octogenarians have you seen attempting this feat in a 5,000-seater and nail it admirably? The only other person I’ve seen do this was Johnny Cash back in the ’90s at Suntec City, when, due to a technical fault, the venue lost all its power. Undeterred, Cash started singing I Walk The Line, as engineers rectified the problem.

Now I have to say that I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a big fan of Bennett. Sure, I have his last three duets albums, and I recognise some of the songs. But the sad fact is that if it wasn’t for Google or Wikipedia, I would never know that his first record was Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. I also would not know that the Gershwin song Bennett said could have been written about what’s happening in the world today is called Who Cares.

So why was I there? Because Bennett is one of the last of his kind. Bennett never once let his foot off the pedal. There’s something about the way he smiles, the way he seems to be genuinely excited to be onstage, and the way he is always more than happy to share the attention with his four-piece band, that makes you feel a certain warmth towards the man.

Never mind that you’re sitting some 50 metres from the stage: Bennett has a certain ability to make it seem as if he’s performing to you in an intimate club. And it’s that connection that makes him really one of the few performers who can reach out to the audience with nothing more than his voice.

No AutoTune, no pyro, no dancers, none of the onstage trickery that many performers, including Gaga, need to make a concert work. Bennett is really an example of true talent.