What can I say about Englebert Humperdinck that seriously hasn’t been said before. This man has been in the music business two of my lifetimes and still has all of his wit about him. More than once he had the audience in tears laughing. The show consisted of music and stories at almost a 50% ratio the whole evening. Laughter rang through the First Performing Concert Hall the whole entire evening. Before the show a clip was played from the Dean Martin show explaining what is an Englebert Humperdinck, one explanation was an Englebert Humperdinck was a brazier for a camel. This made way for what the audience was to expect for the rest of the evening. He came out on stage wearing a bright red satin long sleeved shirt and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the singer and his hardcore female “Humperdinckers” highly approved of his attire.
He told anticdotal stories bout his time in show business talking bout Dean Martin back in the day. Englebert explained when he was first starting in the business Dean said to him “You take my advice son, you are gonna go far… never walk on stage… sober”. This of course was the first time of many throughout the evening the fans heartily laughed. 50 years in the business I am positive Englebert has heard and seen it all.
The stage was full of some pretty kick ass musicians, Englebert made sure all of these people had their time in the spotlight giving them each a few moments to highlight them. Each played their instrument or sang halfway through the evening showcasing their talent.
8 people on stage is a lot to highlight at one time but they made it work.
Englebert sang hit after hit and I was surprised at how many of his songs I knew. He played “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which was probably the high point for me during the night due to the fact that this song reminds me of my dad. My dad used to play that song to me as a child. Not to my surprise this song received a standing ovation even before the song concluded.
He made sure all of his hits were played including “Quando Quando Quando”, “Last Waltz”, and saving for the end of the evening “Please Release Me” (before encore). This became a sing a long for the fans in attendance, and slowly but surely they got louder as the song progressed. I am pretty sure the fans in attendance enjoyed every second of Englebert’s performance tonight as they ended the night with a standing ovation.
In the words of Englebert “applause is the food of the artists, thanks for not starving me….”
Once again thanks to the crew because without them there is no show.
