Michael Bolton brought the Christmas edition of The Symphony Sessions to Windsor on Thursday night to the delight of a sold-out Caesars Windsor Colosseum. The show packed in about a dozen Bolton classics and a few seasonal favourites.

The 65-year-old crooner put on what felt like a televised Christmas special like the ones Elvis and Johnny Cash used to do every year. The show was packed with great music, ever great musicians and a grand sense of humour. He playfully batted away proposals of marriage with cute responses like "Have we met?" to an adoring audience dominated by middle-aged women.

The show picked up speed as it progressed and the hits just kept flowing, ever slightly mixed with a couple Christmas songs (all of them from 1993’s This Is the Time: The Christmas Album). It was a good selection of hits from his 20-plus studio albums and the atmosphere was very laid back. He appeared to enjoy just being there with 5,000 of his closest Windsor friends.

Standouts of the night included a series of duets with New York singer Sam Fly. If she looked familiar, that’s because she starred in an Oxygen Network TV docu-series. Fly’s voice was keyed in perfectly with Bolton’s and the duets sounded phenomenal. Another key moment was a musical interlude where we heard a sax and piano solo.

Windsor fans were treated to an extra Christmas song that he hasn’t performed elsewhere on the tour so far – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. He also revealed his plans to release a documentary on the music of Detroit, which he's expecting to release in the future.

While his long golden locks might be a bit shorter now, his voice was still as majestic as we remember.

Michael Bolton Set List
Caesars Windsor, Dec. 13, 2018

Soul Provider
Stand by Me
To Love Somebody
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Said I Loved You...but I Lied
That's Life
Silent Night
How Am I Supposed to Live Without You
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
The Prayer
Sweet Home Chicago
When a Man Loves a Woman
How Can We Be Lovers?
Steel Bars

Encore:

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Time, Love and Tenderness

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