Tuesday, March 3, 1998
Miguel show draws emotions from all
MUSIC Singer’s romantic love songs mesmerize young, old audience
alike
By Gregory Mena
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
First things first. The crowd was like an army of nervous dinner
dates, clad in black formal wear. Some middle-aged couples and some
fan club type teenagers showed up too.
But whoever it was, essentially they all had at least one reason
in common for to seeing Luis Miguel perform on Thursday at the
Pond: his voice.
Miguel’s stop at the Pond was one in a string of shows,
promoting his latest album, "Romances," which completes his trilogy
of love song albums. It all started with the original collection of
reworked boleros with "Romance" in 1992 and followed by "Segundo
Romance" in 1994.
This year, Luis Miguel won the Grammy for Best Latin Pop
Performance with "Romances." He beat out Cristian, Alejandro
Fernandez, Julio Iglesias and Enrique Iglesias. Miguel never even
showed up to accept the award.
Thursday he did show up, although he was a little late. When he
came on stage, he slid, as if on ice, down a little ramp. He wore a
grey, Wall Street-type suit a little too snug at the ribs. The
women screamed.
The first couple of songs were mesmerizing. The audience was
caught up in the signature Luis Miguel behavior. First it’s the
hair tugging. At regular intervals he toyed with his wavy hair
using his fingers as a comb. Second, if you have seen him, you’ll
know that he lacks a natural dancing rhythm. For some reason, he
continues to do that flying knee, karate-type move. People screamed
at that too.
In between lyrics, he makes a hissing noise, presumably with the
gap between his front teeth, which is, of course, another Miguel
trademark.
The crowd’s fixation continued into the second part of the show,
when white-suited violinists sat in a huge half circle and Miguel
slowed down things a bit.
Among others, he sang "No se tu" and an emotional version of "La
Incondicional," the first peak of the show.
A Spanish guitarist appeared mid-show. Miguel, like any singer
of baladas, would not omit a version of "Sabor A Mi," included on
his latest CD. Although he didn’t sing his heart out for it, Miguel
caused a chain reaction throughout the crowd. Lovers whispered
things into each others’ ears. One in the crowd could hear things
like, "Oh my God, he is so rad" or "Did he just take his tie off
?"
Following the guitarist’s set, a white-suited mariachi crew
filed on stage. (Were those the same dudes from earlier but with
sombreros?)
Instead of the anticipated "Si nos dejan," Miguel disappointed
fans and chose to sing an obscure song.
Fortunately, he returned to more love songs for the best part of
the concert. He sang most of the his recent exitos, or hits, using
all of his voice. He performed "La Media Vuelta" and "Besame
Mucho."
But wait a minute. Were those real tears we saw at the end of
"Por Debajo De La Mesa"? No feigned emotion here. Miguel was
apparently overcome with emotion and then, becoming conscious of
his tears, he smiled.
Again, the women screamed.
As a finale, the show ended with a mass balloon drop on the
people with the good seats. He hopped around on stage and
half-heartedly sang two upbeat disco numbers. He collected some
flowers, maybe a letter or two and then left.