Tony Bennett – State Theater – Minneapolis MN – May 10th 2018

Tony Bennett, State theater, Minneapolis Minnesota 5/10/18

This could be the easiest review I’ve ever done. I have been a fan of Tony Bennett’s since I was a kid. For whatever reason I never had the opportunity to actually see him perform. I always felt like I was a day late and a dollar short. Having said that though I have to say, I’m so grateful I was able to finally see him at the State Theater.

First off the venue is absolutely stunning and the perfect place to see a concert. The evening started out with The Tony Bennett band and his lovely daughter Antonia Bennett. She worked her way through a 20 minute set filled with standards. The highlight for me was the song “Someone To Watch Over Me”. She’s following in her father’s footsteps with grace and talent.

There was no intermission and Tony Bennett came out right at the end of her performance. He went right into “Watch What Happens”. You could tell the crowd was so excited to see him. I can’t get over how incredible he still sounds after all of these years. I thought to myself going to the show, will he still have the pipes? The answer that is yes! And his band was truly impeccable.

He ended up performing for about 75 minutes. He went through most of his career doing songs by George Gershwin like “I Got Rhythm” and a Jerome Kern cover “The Way You Look Tonight”. I would say the only disappointing moment for me in the evening was his medley. Not that I don’t like medleys but one of my all-time favorite Tony Bennett songs was in the medley titled “Rags To Riches”. I only wish he would’ve performed that specific song in its entirety. But aside from that it was an incredible evening.

He performed so many of the classics like “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”, “One For My Baby (and one more for the road)”, “Fly Me To The Moon” and of course “I Left My Heart In San Francisco”. He was engaged with the audience telling stories and even doing just a little bit of dancing. Tony Bennett is truly an American icon and must’ve had at least five standing ovations. I highly recommend you go and catch him while he is still performing. It was a magical night.

Review and photos by Tommy Sommers