A night with Tony Bennett

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Ashvegas has heard from several folks who attended the Tony Bennett concert at the Biltmore Estate on Saturday night. Here’s a sample:

The Biltmore House was in full summer splendor Saturday night for the Tony Bennett concert, which
is part of the 10th annual summer concert series on the estate grounds. I last saw Bennett some
10 years ago, and was impressed then at the power of his voice and his great showmanship.

Bennett did not disappoint, especially for having just turned 80 a couple of days ago. He can still belt it out. He obviously doesn’t have the range he once had, but he’s still great. He was backed
by a superb group of jazz musicians.

Bennett soaked up the adulation from the Biltmore Estate crowd – more than 3,000 strong and practically all white. He had a bit of an annoying habit of gesturing to trigger applause during each song, with the net effect being two or three rounds of applause for each and every song. That got a little old. But the crowd obviously loved Tony. Early on in the show, someone started a rendition of “Happy Birthday” that he tried to ignore, but he entire audience kicked in and he stopped the show to let the song finish, then thanked everyone.

But the best part of the show was this – starlet Andie MacDowell, Asheville’s own movie star, sat just a few feet away from me! I know how much you like her, Vegas. She looked great in a turqoise sun dress and sandals. She snuggled her husband, at times running her fingers through his curly locks while swaying to the music. She was into it.

And get this, Ashvegas – we also spotted Charu Khumaria with her significant other. Charu looked absolutely fabulous in a tan and black dress that actually fit her properly. She was absolutely glowing, and even exchanged a few words with Andie!

At the end of the show, after the second encore, Biltmore Estate staffers walked out on stage with
a giant birthday cake that surely had 80 candles on it. The crowd urged Tony to blow ’em out, but Tony just smiled and sorta waved it off with a laugh.

All in all, a great night.