Two-plus hours into George Michael's first concert in Chicago in 17-years, the crowd is propelling their arms into the air chanting "Freedom…freedom…freedom!" in a moment so universal you embrace the collision of populism and art as they converge on an immeasurable level, reminding all in attendance there's something colossal that can be derived from unanimous appeal that you can't find in a club or by a fringe act. For over two-hours George Michael stylishly serenaded the arena with some of the most unforgettable songs of the last quarter century to a crowd salivating to be taken back to a time where pop stars with substance ruled the day. Now here's where my job gets tricky. George Michael is more than a pop artist from the 1980's, he's much better than that, however, his star dimmed in America after 1992 never reclaiming its 80's glory, yet in every other country in the free world, he's remained one of its most popular music acts. Credit must be given to Michael because he embraced every era of his career throughout his Chicago concert, including Wham! yet I'd be lying to you if I didn't walk away disappointed. The staging was awe-inspiring, as was his A-grade fourteen member band, but the truth is that the excessiveness at times overshadowed the music. Pair this together with some very odd pacing it was a semi-polarizing evening. The show was eclectic and inspiring, yet it drowned in an overabundance of style while substance took a back seat. I found this frustrating because it essentially failed to remind many in the crowd just how immeasurable and illustrious George Michael truly is. He's not a nostalgia act, but an ever relevant artist whose music should still be taken seriously.

To set the record straight, greatness did occur at the United Center for Michael's first US tour in 17-years, alas, I also saw what has made him all but disappear from the public consciousness here in the US. One thing the show did was allow the US audience to digest Michael's output from the last decade-plus proving that we were wrong to dismiss some of it and equally right for dismissing some of it. One look at the stage and you couldn't help but feel that you were in for something otherworldly. There were three screens with the middle one appearing like a cascade that draped down and was part of the stage (Paul McCartney utilized a similar stage in 2005). Opening with the alluring "Waiting (Reprise)", from his illustrious Listen Without Prejudice Volume 1 (1990) album, the screen split summoning Michael to the stage and a bevy of applause. He basked in the light before diving into a hesitant version of "Fastlove" which officially started the festivities. Sadly, the sugary song appeared to be unknown to most of the crowd as Michael stretched his microphone out to the crowd a few times for participation and it fell on silence. While "Fastlove" dragged, it segued into a largely unrecognizable "I'm Your Man ‘96". Released on The Best of Wham!, I found the performance to be a brave departure and a Trent Reznor-like reworking of the tune, and just as some of the crowd was ready to check out, Michael uttered "I'm such a tease" before a proper rendition was delivered finding an audience who embraced it with near hysteria. Perfectly constructed pop tunes that you can't erase from your head even if you tried was Wham's specialty and while Michael moved beyond the pop sensation, hearing "I'm Your Man" done in its original incarnation was splendid and surreal as the audience enveloped the stage with raucous applause.

"Father Figure" found six backing vocalists joining Michael, however, after the resounding party-like atmosphere he brought out on "I'm Your Man", the crowd slumped back into their seats. Granted, "Father Figure" was a number-one song for four weeks back in 1988, alas, if you have people on their feet, keep them there and throughout the evening, I found the show to suffer from pacing issues with ballads and dance numbers interchanged too easily instead of strung together. Why wasn't "Everything She Wants" partnered with "I'm Your Man" and "Father Figure" and "One More Try" done back to back? With that being said, the first part of the show did feature some truly magnanimous trips down memory lane.

"Hard Day" found the crowd back on their feet to the seismic styling's and mesmerizing back beats. Even though "Hard Day" was not a single (from Faith), it was released in a time where people relished the entire album and didn't just know the singles. The enduring pop hooks of "Everything She Wants" found the crowd singing along to every word. Say what you want about Wham!, but the have credibility because of what Michael went on and did with his career. Plus, no matter how much one cringes at a perfect pop tune, they are ingrained in the DNA of anyone born between 1970 and 1982. "One More Try" was soulful and Michael's vocal stylings were spot on. This was one of those songs that wasn't just enormous, but was truly worthy of its success as well. Sam Cooke and Otis Redding could have nailed this one if they had lived long enough; the song has an undercurrent of soul running through it. On the side screens there were lots of images and collages of colors that in all honesty distracted from the songs throughout the evening. They would have been put to better use showcasing Michael and his band so those in the nosebleeds didn't feel like they were a mile from the stage. However, the restrained "First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" featured nothing more than Michael's voice and a piano showcasing what Michael does best; exuding concentrated emotions through the instrument of his voice. The end of the main set found the show finding its groove with "An Easier Affair", "Too Funky" and "Star People" all of which were cheeky, feverish and something from a Vegas-style disco with the glitz and glamour of the stage oozing with spectacle.

After the twenty-minute intermission (which included a video of "John and Elvis Are Dead" from his 2004 album Patience), arguably the most infamous organ intro from the last quarter of a century was welcomed with an ecstatic almost spiritual reaction. What George Michael had a grasp on for about a half dozen years was an intensity few other artists of their time can touch. Like Prince and Michael Jackson, his music was something larger than entertainment. It maintained a more profound spiritual element where a potent mix of pop culture and spirituality clashed. Am I giving too much weight to a mere human and the music they create? Maybe, but I distinctively remember that the stakes were higher back then. People believed that music could change the world. "Faith" exploded with exuberance in a way none of the songs in the first half of the show could touch. This simple three-minute song generated a groundswell of excitement that put the show into focus that he would largely keep for the remainder of the show.

The second half of the show featured less-known songs to the US audience, but ultimately proved to be intoxicating due to the pacing with Michael only taking a quick breather for a cover of "Roxanne" (accentuated by a film of women from the red light district in Amsterdam) and the throw back "Kissing A Fool", reminding us that beneath the pop god exterior is an artist cut from the same cloth as Sinatra and Cole Porter. While listening to "Fool" I thought about what a daring choice this song was for a single back in late 1988. It didn't fit into any radio format, but because he had five number ones and another number-two single within eighteen months, it gave him the power to choose it as a single. One listen to this song and there's no denying there is more to meet the eye than George Michael.

The innocuous beat of "Spinning the Wheel" was sexy as it was swaying. Most surprisingly to me was how responsive the crowd was with their arms swinging back and forth. While the first part of the show lacked focus, the second set was front and back loaded with energetic tracks that willed the crowd to life and kept them on their feet. "Flawless" was introduced as "the gayest song I ever wrote" yet it turned the arena into a fledged dance party. "Outside" is a torn page from the disco era yet and pushed the all out celebration into another spectrum as there was not s single soul in their seat. The sultry waiting room sound of "Careless Whisper" proved to be too good to dismiss while "A Different Corner" completely seduced the audience into a mesmerizing trance. This is a single I had largely forgotten about yet the poignant performance of this ballad brought immediacy to the song not on the studio cut.

Despite the exhilarating second half, why did I find the show a smidgen underwhelming? While I appreciated the theatrical aspects of it all, he would have done his music a favor by stripping them back, cutting the cost of the ticket and getting more people to attend the show. Plus, maybe I'm being a tad cynical, but a large number of what I would deem "essential" songs were not performed including six number-one hits ("Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Freedom" (Wham!), "Monkey", "I Knew You Were Waiting", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and "Praying For Time"). Plus he skipped "Jesus To Child" and "I Want Your Sex" (which peaked at number-two). Now, I can understand the covers and a few of the Wham tracks, but skipping "Praying For Time", that's beyond distressing especially since Michael hasn't had a full fledged hit in the US since 1992. Since then, while I still enjoy his music, I don't feel it's quite as potent as the Faith and Listen Without Prejudice eras, which were profound and poetic. He created music that was immense, stadium ready and larger than life. He may have been a pop star but his music was more potent than pop…it was in the realm of greatness along the lines of Michael Jackson's Thriller and Prince's Purple Rain. In 1988, not even Michael Jackson was bigger. When Faith won the Grammy for Album of the Year, it was one of those rare moments where I felt they had rightly awarded the statue correctly. It was a masterpiece and still holds up today. Michael succeeded in shedding the pop idol image in 1990; however, his output for the better part of a decade has been questionable. Now, this isn't to say that his Older and Patience albums aren't good, they are. It's the fact that on both of these albums that you sense that Michael is chasing trends instead of creating them. This is a man who on the American charts in a little over a five-year period had ten number-one hits. Ten! That's no simple feat; this is like scoring fifty goals in the 1950's in the NHL when they meant something. It feels as if he's trying too hard than letting the music flow through his veins naturally. The indelible pop hooks and stadium-ready chorus' are largely missing in his work for material more suited for a disco than an arena or stadium. What saddens me is that Michael is so much more, a top-tier artist with incalculable talent. To see him settle into complacency creating good music isn't a bad thing, but it's a tad disappointing as I still believe there's untapped greatness inside of him.

The show closed with "Freedom 90" and even though this song failed to reach the top of the charts, I believe it stands side by side with "Faith" as his definitive anthem. Written back in 1990 as a way for Michael to make a statement about his art and a relinquishing of the chains he carried from his success as a pop star, to this very day it's a tour de force pop anthem about the importance of artistry. There are those of you who will laugh at this, because while George Michael is an artist, he is one who concocted and embraced his sex like idol status, however, what many forget is how quickly he tore that image down. The burning of the Faith jacket was a more staggering display of image shredding than Springsteen showing up on the cover of Tunnel of Love a few years earlier with nary a sight of denim, headbands or American flags. While Michael serenaded the Chicago faithful for over two-hours and entertained, ultimately, I feel his songs are good enough to shine on a bare and spare concert stage without collages of colors and excess. The style blinded the substance allowing many in attendance to believe that it was the clothes that made the man instead of the music.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.

Setlist:

United Center, 07/09/2008
SET LIST:

First Half
Waiting (Reprise)
Fast Love/Im Your Man
Father Figure
Hard Day
Everything She Wants
One More Try
Different Corner
Easier Affair
Too Funky
Star People

Interval
John & Elvis video

Second Half

Faith
Spinning The Wheel
Feeling Good
Roxanne
Kissing A Fool
Amazing
Flawless
Outside
Different Corner
Carless Whisper