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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > July > 15 > Entry
Review: George Michael in Dallas
Melanie Burford DALLAS MORNING NEWS
In what he explicitly described as a payback concert — one to thank fans who have “stuck by me” through a quarter-century that has offered its share of pop-star scandal — George Michael happily embraced his hits Sunday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Anyone whose knowledge of those hits was vague (husbands of thirtysomething female fans, say) could occasionally rely on the video display that served as both the arena-high backdrop and stage floor, unfurling eye-candy digi-displays in a cascade that spilled over the footlights. There, old Wham! videos accompanied vintage numbers “I’m Your Man” and “Everything She Wants,” while more recent material got rainbow-colored abstractions straight from the iTunes visualizer.
The singer was a little heavier than we remember him and wasn’t up to the high notes on tunes like “One More Try” (he blamed an over-air-conditioned hall for the limited vocal range), but did a fine job of stoking the crowd and wasn’t shy about alluding to his new status as a transplanted Dallasite.
He even breezed through a faux-hillbilly ditty he claimed was the first song he ever wrote, at the age of 8, and had never been performed before in public.
Notably absent from the set list was the “Faith” highlight “I Want Your Sex,” but that clearly didn’t represent any post-scandal shyness about the matter: Not only did he celebrate California’s recent gay-marriage moves and offer the straight men in the crowd some video cheesecake footage of Dita Von Teese, Michael actually donned a policeman’s uniform for “Outside” — a song that flaunts the open-air eroticism that earned him unwanted attention from L.A.’s finest about a decade ago.
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By Lina
July 15, 2008 9:26 PM | Link to this
LOL! George not only is one of the most talented people on earth he’s very good fun too!!
By Kendall
July 16, 2008 11:53 PM | Link to this
The concert was fantastic and a tribute to an era that was defined by lyrics you could understand and music you could actually dance to! If the author had done thier homework, they would know why “I want your sex” was absent; as George Michael feels: “I am old enough now; that those songs aren’t relevant for my set”; referring to “I want your sex and wake me up before you go-go” and the author would know that the policeman’s uniform was attire from the “Outside” video and was most appropriate for the song. Welcome back to the U.S. George; your true fans love your music and understand you are only human and a very talented one at that! Thank you for a great show and all the fantastic memories! We look forward to so many more!!