Windsor Reopens The Colosseum With International Superstars The Tenors

The Tenors performed one of two delayed concert dates in Windsor last week. Originally scheduled as part of their 2021 Christmas concert tour, dates at Caesars Windsor and Massey Hall in Toronto were cancelled amidst COVID concerns.

At the concert, COVID was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind, as The Tenors celebrated not only the return of live music here in #YQG, but also marked the occasion as an early celebration of Mother’s Day. It was the perfect combination of energies in one of the best theatres in Canada on May 5, 2022.

The concert began with the trio (Victor Micallef, Fraser Walters, and Clifton Murray) making their way to the stage through the audience singing an Italian favourite, followed by a medley of famous sing-along tracks to get the mood going. The Tenors were joined by a beautiful orchestra and band, which gave them a chance to perform traditional opera, modern pop music and even a surprising rock classic.

The trio held nothing back when it came to talking about mothers. Each of the three had their own featured story followed by a special song. Clifton told of his mother helping her community and dedicated Dream The Impossible Dream to her, Fraser spoke of his mother’s dedication to her nursing career and he sung Bring Him Home from Les Misérables for her, and Victor was joined by his son Zac for a heartwarming rendition of Ave Maria.

The Mother’s Day tribute culminated in a gorgeous version of their 2020 pandemic song Mother, a touching tribute to being isolated from their mothers during the lockdowns, as they celebrated being parents themselves. Victor was so touched, the tears rolled down his face, which in turn brought the audience balling en masse.

Another highlight was a Tenors original song that captures everything about the trio into one song – Lead With Your Heart from their 2013 Juno Award Winning Album of the same name. You could still see the passion the band keeps in their hearts when they sing this song.

Fraser was also joined by his wife, American singer Kelly Levesque, for a stellar cover of the Shallow from the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper movie A Star Is Born. Kelly was then left on the stage for an amazing solo performance of the 1967 Aretha Franklin hist (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, which she dedicated to all the mothers and women. She selected the Aretha version over the original Carole King take because of her proximity to Detroit. It was a wise choice – you could almost hear the echoes of Aretha coming from Kelly’s pregnant belly.

As the nearly two-hour performance came to a close, The Tenors performed their newest song Best Of Our Lives with a zeal and energy as if it was the opening song. The sentiment of that song is still sticking with me days later.

The band returned for a surprising encore, the full version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, complete with the operatic part performed live – something Queen themselves were unable to do. Queen always elected to play the recording of the opera part while the show lights distracted that they weren’t performing it. The Tenors would have none of that, they’ve been performing the song live since 2017.

This was a fun party to bring live music back to Windsor, a touching tribute to mothers, and a triumphant celebration of one of Canada’s international music successes. The Tenors promised to bring “it” and indeed they did.