Our night with Tony Bennett

As mentioned in an earlier post, we went to see Tony Bennett last night at Chastain Park Amphitheater. He was great! He played with a jazz quintet and had a lot of interaction with the audience (including calling out one group who rudely stood up to walk out during the show and walked right in front of the stage – Tony interrupted saying, “What?? Do you need to run to catch a cab?”. The man looks great for 81. Tony told a few stories about the songs, his career and favorite peers (such as Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra).

He sang most of the classics you’d expect, including I Left My Heart in San Fransisco; The Way You Look Tonight; Cold, Cold Heart; For Once in My Life; and The Best is Yet to Come.

Tony told one story I haven’t heard before about his name. When Tony was starting out, Bob Hope told him that he’d never make it in show business using his real name (Anthony Dominick Benedetto). So he changed it, obviously, to Tony Bennett.

We were pleasantly surprised…  Here’s a picture that we took at the show, and you can check out the photos from the AJC here.