Concert review: There’s no question that Celine Dion can sing. But is she for real?
My wife and I had an argument as we walked out of the Spectrum Center on Tuesday night after the Celine Dion concert ... although it was more of a discussion, really — we never argue (wink, wink).
Anyway, she was explaining that she sensed not just a sadness in the eyes of the 51-year-old singer, who lost her mother Thérèse last week and her husband René Angélil four years ago, but also a loneliness; and she surmised that the star probably tries to fill the huge hole in her heart by soaking up the affection her fans shower her with every night she’s on stage, then sending it out right back at them.
Basically, my wife believes that when Dion tells the crowd “I love you so much” — over and over and over and over and OVER — she genuinely means it.
I’m more jaded, I guess. My perception is that the hit-maker behind ’90s chart-toppers like “Because You Loved Me” and “The Power of Love” has proven she can pretty much succeed at anything she sets her mind to. And in my opinion, this includes giving the same performance night after night while making it feel like she’s giving it for the first time.
I don’t think the woman is a phony — not at all. I just think, like many of her peers, she’s a seasoned pro when it comes to conjuring an emotion onto her face that might evoke an emotion from the crowd.
But at the very moment my wife and I were discussing this, we witnessed something that made me rethink my point of view.
I’ll explain in a minute...
In case you didn’t know: Coming into Tuesday night’s concert, Dion was 34 shows and 25 cities into her “Courage World Tour,” which started in September and will continue into the spring and throughout the entire summer. Prior to making these current rounds, she had done a run of residencies in Las Vegas that had spanned 16 years, ending in June.
This, meanwhile, you almost certainly did know if you’ve been a longtime fan and are local: Charlotte was way overdue for a visit from her.
In fact, Dion was just 30 years old (and Bill Clinton was president) the last time she brought a tour through town, and although she didn’t explicitly apologize for her lengthy absence, she was quick to bring it up.
“Can you imagine it’s been more than 20 years since we were last here?” she said, after wrapping a rendition of her uptempo 1999 hit “That’s the Way It Is.” “Uh-uh. Ain’t happening no more. This is way too long. This is a lifetime. You know, I gotta look into that. And find what happened. And by the way, I’m not just gonna look at that. I’m gonna fix that.
“Twenty years. Insanity,” she continued in her adorably stilted, French-Canadian-accented English, scoffing. Then, as the crowd roared: “But, you know, maybe because they kind of locked me up in the Nevada desert all that time. I don’t know. But anyway ... I escaped. And finally made it back here to the great state of North Carolina!”
After putting her fists near the sides of her head and squeezing like a bodybuilder — yes, she does cheeseball stuff like this mid-performance so many times a night you lose count — she piled on some extra cheese by taking the chorus of Starship’s “We Built This City” and riffing on it by trying, somewhat unsuccessfully, to make room for extra syllables.
“Come on, Queen City! Come on, Queen Cityareyoureadyto roooock and rollll? Come on, Queen City! Come on Queen City, areyouready —” and here she stopped and quickly restarted, as she seemed to be working out her plan for this on the fly “— arereadytohave rooooock and roOLLLLL?”
Now, I realize I haven’t yet said anything unequivocally positive about Dion’s performance, probably much to the ire of the highly enthusiastic 15,000-plus fans who were packed into the arena for the two-hour show.
So how’s this?
There might not be a human being alive who can belt ballads with as much power and control and grace as Celine Dion.
Among the highlights, vocally — on a night packed with vocal highlights — were: the achingly beautiful “To Love You More,” which was essentially a duet with violinist Philippe Dunnigan (worth noting: mid-song, she flexed again, with just one bicep this time); the heartbreaking “All By Myself,” which saw her briefly go entirely a cappella on the final chorus (a different kind of flex); and “My Heart Will Go On,” which — as it built to a climax — gave the show’s tech wizards an opportunity to flex their muscles, via more than a hundred lighted drones dancing in the air above the stage (a mesmerizing effect).
She sang each of these songs in very-different outfits (though always with vertigo-inducing stilettos). After starting the night in a blindingly sparkly red dress that revealed almost all of her left leg, she later performed “To Love You More” wearing a tuxedo-style shirt with blouse-y ruffles on the arms that hung down almost to the floor, and high-waisted, pleated black pants.
By the time she did “All By Myself,” two-thirds of the way through the night, Dion had changed into a lace-y black dress with a train long enough that she had to pull it up as she took the six steps down from the riser, again showing lots of leg. And for the “Titanic” track, she was in a white ballgown that would make Cinderella blush, from its impossibly skinny waistline to the ostentatious skirt that poofed out to about six feet wide. At another point, she slipped into a pantsuit that looked like it was made out of a disco ball.
But while the breaks for costume changes were certainly worthwhile, I don’t think she used all of her time wisely. For example, while in that mirrorball-looking pantsuit, she basically took a turn at the karaoke machine, running through a medley of covers that were upbeat and dance-able but fairly unnecessary.
(I mean, there are far worse people to hear do karaoke, but if she’s going to sing other people’s songs, I’d prefer they be power ballads, quite frankly.)
And speaking of covers, while I don’t have qualms about her paying tribute to John Farnham by singing his “You’re the Voice” — the Australian hit is a very pretty ballad — I do take issue with the nearly SEVEN MINUTES she spent trying to teach people the “Oh-wo-wo-wo, oh-wo-wo-wo” part of the song. Even as I type this paragraph, I’m still shaking my head about that.
I was also shaking my head about her interrupting the blissfulness of the final few notes of “Because You Loved Me,” with a request to fans to sing along with her. There’s nothing wrong with doing that, per se; the request just shouldn’t be as long and drawn out as Dion made it.
“Scott,” she cut in, addressing her piano player, stopping just short of the final four words of the song. “Do you mind to wait for one second, please? Thank you so much. Thank you. I constantly have ideas. So I have an idea. It would be great if we can sing the last phrase of this song all together. Since you guys really know how to sing and are just incredible. So we can do it again. That would be really nice. I would love that. So ... these are the words: ‘Because (pause) you loved (pause) me.’ You got it? Do you want to write it down? I just want to make sure.”
This went on, seriously, for awhile longer before, finally: “OK, let’s do this. All of us. All together. Here we go!”
Now, yes, I realize this is kind of picking nits. I just think, you know, there are a lot of reviews out there about this show, and most of them are glowing. So while I could easily have used my words to fawn, it’s frankly more interesting to me to try to point out how her very-good show could be even better.
But let’s circle back to the original argument — er, discussion.
So as she’s basking in the adulation she received for that rendition of “All By Myself,” and as she’s dabbing at her eyes and appearing to choke up, I’m thinking, She probably does this every time. It’s part of the performance.
“As you know, for sure, I have spent pretty much my whole life on stage doing what I love, and I call the stage ‘home away from home,’” Dion said, her eyes glistening. “But I just want you to know that when I tour and when I place an invitation and ... the people come, the audience come — I just want you to know that even though it’s been many, many years doing that, this is something that I’m never gonna get used to it, really. Because when you receive so much love, I don’t take it for granted. It means a lot. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Oh, thank you.”
I don’t know. To me, it seemed rehearsed. Just like when she told jokes that I know she tells in every city (example: “That’s all that’s coming off,” she teases, at every tour stop, after pulling the arms off of her tuxedo-style shirt to reveal her toned arms), and the band laughs like it’s the first time they’ve ever heard the joke.
So then, what made me rethink my point of view?
Well, as my wife and I were walking past the arena’s loading dock a few minutes after the show ended, a convoy of black SUVs pulled out of the tunnel and onto Caldwell Street. The lead car had its rear passenger side window rolled down, and through the opening, Dion could be seen smiling and waving, as she shouted something in her accented English.
My wife and I argued — er, discussed — about what she’d said. It sounded to her like “I can’t believe you’re all still here!” It sounded to me like “I can’t believe I’m still here!” Neither would have made much sense, regardless, as the show had literally just ended.
But here’s the thing: I’ve been to a million shows at the arena, and I’m no stranger to the sight of an artist’s caravan speeding out of that side exit a few minutes after the show. I always imagine them replying to texts, or talking to ... someone of relative importance on their cellphones. I always imagine them moving on with their lives almost immediately, the memory of that show already fading, since it was merely another day at the office for them.
What I don’t imagine is them stick their head out of the window, smiling, waving and shouting something to their fans. To be honest, I can’t recall ever seeing that happen.
Yet on a 28-degree night, the type of night when rolling down a car window doesn’t make much sense for any reason, that’s exactly what Celine Dion did.
So maybe, just maybe, she is different.
And maybe — yet again — my wife is right.
Celine Dion’s setlist
1. “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now”
2. “That’s the Way It Is”
3. “I’m Alive”
4. “If You Asked Me To”
5. “The Power of Love”
6. “Love Can Move Mountains”
7. “Beauty and the Beast”
8. “You’re the Voice” (John Farnham cover)
9. “Tous les blues sont écrits pour toi”
10. “To Love You More”
11. “Courage”
12. “All By Myself”
13. “Imperfections”
14. “The Prayer”
15. “Because You Loved Me”
16. “Let’s Dance” / “Another One Bites the Dust” / “Kiss” / “River Deep, Mountain High” / “Lady Marmalade”
Encore:
17. “My Heart Will Go On”
18. “Imagine” (John Lennon cover)
Théoden Janes: 704-358-5897, @theodenjanes
