Review of Bolton Was Wrong, Right

I had the pleasure of attending the Michael Bolton concert at the Pacific Amphitheatre on Oct 12. I left the concert feeling upbeat, warm and satisfied that I had gotten my money’s worth.

I must say that I was incensed by your hatchet-job review (“Bolton’s Sob Stories” by Mike Boehm, Oct. 14), and my first reaction was that you couldn’t possibly have been at the same concert I was. I am curious about what your expectations were before you got to theconcert. There must be criteria that you as a so-called reviewer use to judge the different phases of a performance to ultimately formulate your opinions. You have left no element of the performance unscathed, and even the minor recognition you gave to Mr. Bolton’s powerful voice was marred by your comments “. . . and you can’t capture an ebb and flow of feelings if you’re always trying to belt a tune out of the park.”

You obviously were oblivious to the crowd’s reaction during the concert. If he was not warmly received, would the fans have stood, sang, clapped and participated to the extent that they did? Or are you of the mentality that fans don’t have the expertise to judge a performance since they are not on someone’s payroll to do it?

Michael Bolton certainly does not need my sympathies for your poor review, as fan appreciation spoke for itself. I’m sure he went away knowing that he poured every essence of his heart and soul into his performance and gave us what we had come to see--a class act, presented with warmth and sincerity, by a gentleman. What bothers me most is that those who were not at the concert and who have never seen Mr. Bolton perform may read your review and think that it has merit. You have done a top-notch performer a great disservice.

KELLY A. MARTIN

Orange

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