This review is my own opinion of the Bobby McFerrin concert. Statements are my own opinions and interpretations as to Bobby's behavior during the concert.
HE DOESN'T SING "DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY."
HE JERKS YOU AROUND.
HE'S RUDE.
HE'S GOT ONE HIT YET HE'S A PRIMA-DONNA AND IT'S BENEATH HIM TO PERFORM IT.
We just saw his Houston show last night, March 10, 2008.
Bobby is a rude, manipulative, arrogant performer that jerks his audience around.
Bobby does not sing "Don't worry be happy." For a guy with exactly ONE hit not to sing it is inexcusable prima-donna arrogance. The $140+ I spent to hear him sing it? That's not his problem. And the other members of the audience that paid him a whooooole lotta money? He doesn't owe them anything. If you will be disappointed that he skips this song you might want to just skip this show.
There was a smarmy moment in the show where a male performer gave an impassioned plea about "family matters," climaxing in a lengthy tearful breakdown. Thereupon other performers consoled him with long body man-hugs while Bobby intoned a haunting dirge. Naive audience members may have found it moving. I found it manipulative, insulting to my intelligence, stupid, and amateurish. Michael Jackson did the same thing during his BAD tour 20 years ago.
Of course we were all waiting to hear the final "Be Happy" number. When Bobby & company left the stage, we all expected them to come out and do it as an encore. So Bobby jerks us all around because he considers us ignorant boobs that are sooo easily entertained by a simple song that is sooo beneath him. He & company exit the stage while continuing to sing with wireless microphones. The crowd claps along. Bobby & company continue singing, off stage and out of sight, for several long minutes. We all stand there like idiots, clapping along to this evil pied-piper. Finally, and thankfully, they stop. The crowd hollers for the expected encore. The house lights do not come up. Bobby jerks the crowd around for at least a full minute, making them earn the encore. Finally he & company emerge from the wings, microphone in hand, to thunderous applause. He accepts his ovation for another extended period, and finally gives us the false humble bow with hands in praying position. He then returns to the stool from which he sang most of the show, just to tease us, and then cuts to stage right and exits the stage, handing his microphone to the sound man in our view to explicitly indicate to us that he will not perform further. Then the house lights come up. I can't decide if he will never perform the encore, or he will if we yell loudly enough to earn it. Either way it's arrogant and rude.
And now for a somewhat objective review:
This show is not bad...a little on the boring side depending on how much you understand and appreciate what he does. He displays his great vocal range and variety of sounds. He has the audience sing parts, which is great fun at first but gets old after a while. He does one comedy/performance piece where he does a gay Mr. Rogers impersonation, which is good, funny, and helps add much needed variety to the show.
On the bad side, he sings no recognizable songs. He mostly chants in some sort of fake African gibberish. The entire show is a single style of supposedly improvisational singing, and it's good, or great, but it gets boring after a while. There are no classical pieces and no Beatles or other pop songs. The air saxophone/flute playing is getting seriously trite. Joe Cocker: 1970. Al Jarreau: 1977. Bobby McFerrin and assorted cronies: 2007. Just retire this lame shtick, permanently.
So it's actually a good concert, for people that understand and appreciate this type of performance it might even be great. But his rudeness and arrogance left a baaaaaad taste in my mouth and I wouldn't ever go see him again.
Larry Brown
This review is my own opinion of the Bobby McFerrin concert. Statements are my own opinions and interpretations as to Bobby's behavior during the concert.
HE DOESN'T SING "DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY."
HE JERKS YOU AROUND.
HE'S RUDE.
HE'S GOT ONE HIT YET HE'S A PRIMA-DONNA AND IT'S BENEATH HIM TO PERFORM IT.
We just saw his Houston show last night, March 10, 2008.
Bobby is a rude, manipulative, arrogant performer that jerks his audience around.
Bobby does not sing "Don't worry be happy." For a guy with exactly ONE hit not to sing it is inexcusable prima-donna arrogance. The $140+ I spent to hear him sing it? That's not his problem. And the other members of the audience that paid him a whooooole lotta money? He doesn't owe them anything. If you will be disappointed that he skips this song you might want to just skip this show.
There was a smarmy moment in the show where a male performer gave an impassioned plea about "family matters," climaxing in a lengthy tearful breakdown. Thereupon other performers consoled him with long body man-hugs while Bobby intoned a haunting dirge. Naive audience members may have found it moving. I found it manipulative, insulting to my intelligence, stupid, and amateurish. Michael Jackson did the same thing during his BAD tour 20 years ago.
Of course we were all waiting to hear the final "Be Happy" number. When Bobby & company left the stage, we all expected them to come out and do it as an encore. So Bobby jerks us all around because he considers us ignorant boobs that are sooo easily entertained by a simple song that is sooo beneath him. He & company exit the stage while continuing to sing with wireless microphones. The crowd claps along. Bobby & company continue singing, off stage and out of sight, for several long minutes. We all stand there like idiots, clapping along to this evil pied-piper. Finally, and thankfully, they stop. The crowd hollers for the expected encore. The house lights do not come up. Bobby jerks the crowd around for at least a full minute, making them earn the encore. Finally he & company emerge from the wings, microphone in hand, to thunderous applause. He accepts his ovation for another extended period, and finally gives us the false humble bow with hands in praying position. He then returns to the stool from which he sang most of the show, just to tease us, and then cuts to stage right and exits the stage, handing his microphone to the sound man in our view to explicitly indicate to us that he will not perform further. Then the house lights come up. I can't decide if he will never perform the encore, or he will if we yell loudly enough to earn it. Either way it's arrogant and rude.
And now for a somewhat objective review:
This show is not bad...a little on the boring side depending on how much you understand and appreciate what he does. He displays his great vocal range and variety of sounds. He has the audience sing parts, which is great fun at first but gets old after a while. He does one comedy/performance piece where he does a gay Mr. Rogers impersonation, which is good, funny, and helps add much needed variety to the show.
On the bad side, he sings no recognizable songs. He mostly chants in some sort of fake African gibberish. The entire show is a single style of supposedly improvisational singing, and it's good, or great, but it gets boring after a while. There are no classical pieces and no Beatles or other pop songs. The air saxophone/flute playing is getting seriously trite. Joe Cocker: 1970. Al Jarreau: 1977. Bobby McFerrin and assorted cronies: 2007. Just retire this lame shtick, permanently.
So it's actually a good concert, for people that understand and appreciate this type of performance it might even be great. But his rudeness and arrogance left a baaaaaad taste in my mouth and I wouldn't ever go see him again.