There are Manchester events and there are Manchester events and any night featuring a love performance by George Michael is firmly sat in the camp of the latter. Millions of his fans around the world have been waiting patiently since his 25 Live Tour for George Michael to announce that he would go back on the road and dazzle us with his voice. Symphonica: The Orchestra Tour saw him perform his first European concerns since 25 Live ended in August of 2008 in Copenhagen.
Without a doubt, George is one of the finest singer/songwriters in the history of British music and the finest of his and subsequent generations. He has never undergone a tour quite like this one, however. He will perform a selection of his own music, of course, but will accompany it with some carefully selected cover versions of artists from various generations; from Bing Crosby to Rhianna. The songs have been re-arranged and re-worked with the orchestra following George from one location to the next. The classical coating will give new nuances and layers to each song. It is George Michael, make no mistake, but you may not recognise him entirely.
Symphonica sees George embark in new musical territory, fulfilling an artistic ambition that has followed him for years and an important exchange culturally as many of the concerts have been performed in venues that are not used to seeing pop performances, if ever. So come along and see our greatest artist like you’ve never seen him before and you are bound to go home singing.