Raul Malo at Club Cafe, Pittsburgh

It is a crisp December night in Pittsburgh, PA. The door of Club Cafe opens, and as Raul Malo and his band take the stage, the audience starts to cheer. The room is filled to the brim as the lights dim. Anticipation thickens the air as the singer's guitar awakens. Raul Malo exchanges sincere smiles and a quick introduction with his fans Then his all-encompassing voice fills the club. Time and space fade away. The world outside is a distant memory. The raw emotion of his rich voice floods over the audience . . . each note of every song a sensation felt to the soul and each word a story all of its own.

As Raul Malo sings a beautiful love song or a jolly Christmas tune, the spirits of the audience rise. But as he breaks into a sad or yearning melody, the room grows still. All eyes are on this talented man as he resurrects songs from the past or awards his fans with his own timeless creations. He never fails to entertain the crowd with his matchless humor and personality.

Two hours fly by quickly, and the performance ends before you barely realize it even started. The audience shouts for an encore, and Raul Malo and his band readily oblige and retake the stage. During these final songs, the singer puts even more of himself into the performance than should be humanly possible. Then the act concludes and the last note hangs in the air, as if the audience refuses to allow it to die. Malo and his crew bow with one very last thank you and finally exit the club through a thunder of applause. Moments after their exit, much of the room still remains in a stunned reverie. Slowly, the crowd breaks away and returns to reality. Yet, each individual will never be the same, for each person takes with them a piece of this memorable act . . . and a piece of this man who can take an ordinary song and create a masterpiece of the human soul.