The last time George Michael kicked off a tour, George Bush was the President, the United States was fighting in Iraq and healthcare costs were said to spiraling out of control.

As the now 43 year old singer starts his new tour, little seems to have changed in the world. Even Sir Elton John seems to have publicly forgiven his one time duet partner.

What surprised many critics this weekend was that Michael, no stranger to banner headlines after a much publicized series of arrests, kept the intensity meter tuned to 11. Skewering George W. Bush and Tony Blair among other, Michael opened his tour in Barcelona with a show that reportedly ran more than two hours. Critics attending the show say that his powerful voice seemed to be as strong as ever.

It’s hard to say if Michael can be musically relevant anymore, but it is nice to see an artist with more than 75 million units of music sold in his career, back out on the road while he still has command over a great voice. As for the politics, he is only living up to a decades old pattern of rockers being political so that behavior is perhaps the most ordinary he has displayed.

Spinning In The CD:
I’m really trying to like Fergie and London Bridge and having a really hard time doing so. I ordered Ne-Yo today to cleanse the Fergster and Paris Hilton from my memory banks.