Love songs and Love Island jokes: Michael Bublé charms Dublin’s 3 Arena

Turns out he's our type on paper.

To the strains of a Bond-like opener – all moody strings and bursts of brass – Michael Bublé slid onto the stage at Dublin's 3 Arena last night. Having shaken and stirred the audience with his mere presence, the Canadian singer belted out an edgy rendition of Nina Simone's Feeling Good. As he caressed the bass notes – and, rather suggestively, the microphone stand – the crowd went wild. "Get it off you!" screamed a woman seated behind me, presumably in reference to Bublé's sharp suit, in the kind of blue that Irish men would only ever sport on their wedding day. (Bublé would later joke that he looked like a Smurf after catching sight of himself on a fan's camera.) "We're going to start off slow and romantic, and if it goes well it will be like an episode of Love Island – we are gonna do it in a hot tub!" he said by way of introduction to what lay ahead. Just when it seemed the we were in for a steamy night, the mood was flipped for Bublé's second song – a cute and cheery rendition of his hit Haven't Met You Yet. Not too many artists can risk putting out what is arguably their biggest track in the second slot of a setlist, but then that's exactly what makes An Evening with Michael Bublé so good – there's nothing predictable about this show. One minute Bublé was thrusting and gyrating as he channeled Elvis, the next he was telling heartwarming stories about how his parents met. He gave an enthusiastic tourist's report of going on Dublin's Viking Splash Tour (yes he wore the hat), then deadpanned having kids had turned him into a "prison bitch". He dropped to all-fours to pose for the bank of cameraphones below, then took a swig of a fan's pint. He SANG A DUET WITH A PENSIONER at her first Bublé concert and the whole arena melted. Mary, whenever you are, you're a legend. The backdrop to all of this was a stonking set of Rat Pack and classic jazz love songs of the kind that Bublé never fails to deliver. As someone raised on a diet of Dean Martin and Andy Williams, it was a treat for me to hear these songs the way they were meant to be played by the big band/mini orchestra on-stage. Overall, the Michael Bublé concert experience would be cheesy if it wasn't so sweet, and it would be saccharine if it wasn't so funny. It's certainly never anything less than entertaining. Michael Bublé performs his second show at 3Arena tonight, Friday 07 June. Limited tickets available from Ticketmaster. Photography: Stephen Lee.