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Today’s guest blogger and guest photographer is the lovely and talented Cheryl Nichols.

I saw George Michael on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center in Washington DC.  He had as much, if not more, energy that night as he did when I saw him 20 years ago!  I saw GM my freshman year of college at the Tacoma Dome in the 2nd row on the side of the stage.  For fun I pulled out my scrapbook to dig out my ticket stub.  I saw GM on 9/23/1988 in the 2nd row for $20!!!!!  This time the Ticketmaster “Unservice” charges were more than my ticket 20 years ago.

Hi Cheryl of the 2nd row, Tacoma Dome, 1988!

I could have been on the floor, but am very happy with my decision with the 5th row on the side of the stage.  GM was constantly coming over to my side of the stage.  He was about 25 ft away from me at times.  Incredible.

He looked fabulous and sounded great.  GM’s voice was definitely in good form, although he eschewed the high notes, letting the eager audience (attempt to) hit them instead.

And he can still SHAKE THOSE HIPS!  He was a dancing machine!  He didn’t stop moving on the fast songs and sat down in a chair on a couple of the slow songs.

The stage and lights were incredible and it was like we were in a dance club. By the end of the night, I felt like I had been to aerobics.  🙂  Everyone was dancing and had a great time.

George started to sing a largely unrecognizable and slow “I’m Your Man ‘96” which was a little disappointing because I love that song.  And just as some of the crowd was ready to sit down, GM uttered “I’m not that cruel” before a proper rendition was delivered finding an audience who embraced it with near hysteria (including me!).

GM did a few cover songs.  Roberta Flack’s “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” replaced “A Different Corner” in the normal set list which was a bummer for me because I love “A Different Corner”.  Then he did a sensational, sultry cover of “Feeling Good” done Nina Simone’s way.  It was AWESEOME.

GM had slinky, sexy footage of burlesque dancers on the video screen and after the song he said, “I bet only 10% of you were watching me at the end of that song.”  He also added that he put up those pictures for the straight boys who were dragged to the show which got big laughs. 🙂  And then he went right into a cover of the Police’s “Roxanne (from his 1999 album “Songs from the Last Century”) in a setting it in a semi-jazz arrangement.  He showed his video that he shot in the red light district too (same one released several years ago).

The stage design was both visually impressive and nicely unobtrusive, providing just enough effects to keep things interesting but never distracting our attention away from the star. There were three video screens, including one that sloped from ceiling to the floor under GM’s feet, and the nine-piece band was located on a three-tier set-up at the back of the stage.  The six back-up singers were amazing and you could tell that they were having a ball.

It was a special night for GM too.  He announced that the DC show was his 100th show of the tour!  The tour started 2 years ago and ended yesterday (8/3) in Florida.  His childhood babysitter “Auntie Josephine” was in the audience so he took a minute to spotlight her and showed a picture of a young GM, his sister and Aunt Josephine, who was sporting a beehive hairdo.  GM said, “Just when you thought Amy Winehouse was an original!”  George also offered a sincere thank you to “those of you who have stood behind me for 25 years.”

Right before the 20 minute intermission, GM explained that they were going to take a break and that said with a grin, “There is much to come and it would be well worth the wait.  That’s not the first time I have said that.”

They even put a countdown up on the big-screen, so people knew how much time they had to get back in their seats.  That was a nice thing; however, there was NO LINE for the women’s bathroom during the intermission!  That never happens.  The audience might have been 65/35 men to women ratio which is very different from when I saw him 20 years ago when it was mostly young women in their teens and twenties.

During the last couple of minutes of the twenty-minute intermission, they showed a video of “John and Elvis Are Dead” from his 2004 album Patience.

The second half got started with “Faith” and after a bit of a slow down, it revved back up and didn’t stop. “Outside” brought the second set to a close where a good humored GM went so far as to slip into a police uniform for the song that addressed his long-ago arrest for an outdoor sexual peccadillo.

Overall, by George, it was a fan-effing-tastic show.  He did most of his solo and Wham! hits, except for “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” “Monkey”, “I Want Your Sex” and “Praying for Time” (which he did for some shows). I would have LOVED to hear more from “Listen Without Prejudice like “Cowboys and Angels.”

Here are my pictures – More of Cheryl’s Amazing Photos!! — I was able to smuggle my camera inside.  I couldn’t use a flash so some of the pictures are blurry because the man did not stop moving!  I kept some of the blurry ones so you could see how close he was to me!!!  🙂

The Washington Post’s Review

SET LIST – Verizon Center, 07/29/2008:

First Half
Waiting (Reprise)
Fast Love/I’m Your Man
Father Figure
Hard Day
Everything She Wants
One More Try
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
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

Encore 1
Careless Whisper

Encore 2
Freedom 90
Freedom Reprise