Ottawa review - Front Page Media...

By Leon T Switzer

Josh Groban hit the Scotiabank Place stage on Friday night, and did not waste any time paying his respects to his Canadian connections. The thirty year old American from L.A. was introduced to Grammy-winning producer David Foster at the age of 17, and with no recording experience, what better place to be. Foster had Groban singing with Celine Dion at the 1998 Grammy Awards and now almost 25 million in record sales later, this young man has the respect of the entire music industry.

A crowd of about 4000 was treated to one hell of an intimate show. The 2 stage set-up gave everyone a great view at one point or another, and he even pulled a young girl from the crowd to sing on stage with him. Camille must have had the time of her life singing cheek-to-cheek with Groban on the center stage. She recieved a standing ovation that extended all the way up to the 3 guys in the arena press-box.

Not only singing in 4 languages, Groban showed his versatility by pounding out a few drum solos. This show felt like it was at somebody’s house. A couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary were pulled up on stage and Josh served them wine, Californian no less.

There was still one missing piece of the puzzle that was saved for the encore. The song, You Raise Me Up. The best song I ever heard in that building was by Tim McGraw several years back when he sang, Don’t Take The Girl, this was a close second. Groban reminded me about the purity of the music without all the bells and whistles, the sound itself. He made me close my eyes and feel again.

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