It was his last show of a long international tour and he promised not to leave anything in the tank.
He sure accomplished that.
Michael Buble's final concert was classy, simple, yet dynamic.
After an entertaining warm up from New York vocal group Naturally 7, the enthusiastic near sellout crowdwas ready for the great man himself.
Buble appeared from behind the curtain singing a relaxed version of Fever and we were quickly reminded of his sensational voice that is a match to no other. Superbly accompanied by his clever 16-piece band - most of whom were made up the horn section - Buble took us on a journey mixed with popular standards and his own hits.
My favourites for the night included his own hit Home and his segment of slower standards where the horn section was swapped for an Auckland-based string section. His talents vocally were complimented by his showmanship and humour, frequently having the crowd in hysterics.
Towards the end of the show, we were treated to a special surprise when he moved through the crowd and set up stage towards the middle of the arena accompanied by Naturally 7 for a few numbers. Suddenly I was front row - and yes I got to touch his hand! As he moved back to the main stage he sung the Beatles hit All You Need Is Love as millions of tiny red and white hearts fell from above.
Not long after that, the show was over, and Buble left the stage for the first time in the nearly two-hour concert.
His 20-minute encore gave us even more reason to be glad we came out, with hits including Save The Last Dance.
As he ended his show, Buble ditched his microphone and band and sung acapella as the crowd hushed to a respectable silence.
The curtain dropped and it was just Buble and that magnificent voice filling the arena. I swear he had tears as he took his final bow and kissed the stage - or was it just me crying from the outstanding occasion we had been treated to.
