This was another great show. In some ways, it was totally different from the PNC show the night before - and I'm not talking about the physical layout of the stage or the set list - just a different feel.
This was a true arena show - high stage, greater distance between front row and stage, etc... For an arena show, the sound was fantastic, though - much better than the PNC show. For instance, when the opening act was singing at the PNC show, you couldn't hear them - but you could clearly hear them at Mohegan. Same thing with Barry - it was never so bad at PNC that you couldn't hear Barry, but I could hear a difference at the Mohegan. Everything was much more clear.
The little cage was set up as if Barry were going to do the dance girl routine, but he didn't do it. If it were ever planned, he must have changed his mind before the show started - I noticed nothing out of the ordinary that would indicate he changed his mind mid-show. Barry did use that little platform to get out closer to the crowd on a couple of occasions. It doesn't really bring him that much closer - yet, it "feels" a little closer, especially during songs like Somewhere Down the Road. It makes the arena setting just a little more intimate, and brings back just a little of that feeling of "Barry in the universe" that you get on the Vegas stage.
The entrance at one of these arena shows is just as spectacular as in Vegas, but it's set up differently. Barry walks up a stair case at the back of the stage. No big "M", but the smoke is swirling and it makes for a very dramatic entrance. You can see the smoke start swirling before they ever start playing the opening video, so you know he's coming. Barry can't "bounce" out like he does in Vegas, because he has to be careful coming down that staircase - but it's still a very nice effect.
Everything about the opening medley seemed different at this show - and I'm not sure why. There just seemed to be more emphasis on each song. I didn't get the impression that Barry was "playing with us" on Somewhere in the Night as he has in past shows. In fact, this time he seemed much more serious. This One's For You seemed to take on a special meaning - it seemed very sincere tonight. So, did It's A Miracle - especially his first "The miracle is you!" - a lot of emphasis on that. This One's For You is the first time that Barry used his little platform to get closer to the audience - he walked out on to it at the end of the medley, and stretched his arms out toward us. I kind of liked the effect - it's not that it got him closer to us really, but it seemed more like the song was meant for us.
Looks Like We Made It was another excellent performance. Something I think I keep forgetting to mention is the different vocals on the song now. Barry has changed the way he sings the ending of the song - for lack of a better way to say it, there's a little bit of "vocal acrobatics" going on. But it's really nice - it definitely adds to the song, adds to the emotion of the song - even changes the tone of the song somewhat, gives a little of a feeling of desperation.
Weekend in New England was beautiful - maybe even more so than the night before at PNC. Barry really emphasized "New England", which was appropriate considering our location. The song was a nice mixture between soft and power ballad, very emotional. And Barry absolutely had tears in his eyes at the end when he stood up for his ovation. So beautiful...
Bandstand Boogie was still in the show. Everyone seems to enjoy doing this and the audience seems to enjoy it as well. It's just kind of fun.
We got a surprise song with I Am Your Child. Barry said that people had been requesting it lately. He mentioned that he did it when he was very young and had a much higher voice. He did a great job on the song. As he was receiving an ovation, he again mentioned that he had a much higher voice when he recorded it - then dropped his voice down very deep to say, "Thank you". Ha! He almost sounded apologetic, as if he didn't think he did a good job on the song - but he really did do a great job.
Even Now was incredible - it was so incredible, I can't remember if he did Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again first! I think he did! LOL That long note - no, "notes!" - was mind-blowing. I haven't heard Barry sing it like that in a while. It took your breath away.
Barry did Brooklyn Blues with a special appearance by Brian and Michael (I think his name is Michael). And then Barry went on in to New York City Rhythm. I still like the NYC scenes that are displayed on the screen behind Barry as he sings. I have absolutely no idea who the winner was during NYCR this time - I was still trying to recover from Even Now!
Not What You See was included again - always a favorite of mine. There were microphone problems again, unfortunately. The mic didn't break this time, but it seemed to be positioned incorrectly or something - we kept getting extra noise. That's not a normal occurrence - usually it's flawless. It was distracting for a brief moment at the beginning of the song, but then I didn't notice it anymore. Not sure if it went away or if I just fell into the song and was oblivious to everything else. I think it distracted Barry a little because he didn't seem to be as deep into the song as he normally is - but I doubt many people would notice that. It was still a fantastic performance - and I heard quite a few oohs and aahs from the audience around me. Mic problems or not, the song had a good effect on the audience. At the end when the younger Joe puts his hat back on his head, Barry put it on crooked - and it was so cute. Some of the audience laughed a little and Barry tried to straighten it, but he didn't need to - it was adorable just like it was.
The lighting is different for these arena shows. I think I mentioned in my PNC review (can't remember if I did or not), that I had to adjust my camera settings because the lighting is different. At first I was going to say that the lighting is more harsh - but I think a better description is to say that it reveals more detail - about the costumes, the faces, everything. This show is more colorful than Vegas, too. It's interesting that you can actually see the band better at these arena shows.
But because of the differences in lighting, we truly got to see Technicolor Barry! LOL! I didn't notice it during the show, but the stronger lighting tends to reflect on the performers. And I managed to get shots of Barry with blue hair and Barry with green hair! Then I started really paying attention to my other photos and realized that I have photos of blue performers and green performers - even their skin reflects those colors! Just one of those things that you aren't going to notice when you're watching the show, but when the camera freezes a moment in time...
One thing I have to point out is just how hard Barry and the gang work for us on that stage. It was very apparent to me at the Mohegan. It's easy to forget - you get caught up in the show. All of us old-timers have heard the songs hundreds of times - those of us that attend a lot of the shows know most of the routines almost as well as the performers - so it's easy to forget how much work goes into each of these shows. And we shouldn't forget. No one just walks through these shows - they're all putting everything they have into it night after night.
We got the up-tempo version of Could It Be Magic - another surprise! That's always a fan favorite - one of my favorites, if for no other reason than because of the energy (and that's NOT the only reason!) - I love the song! Now, normally if Barry flubs a lyric, I leave it out of my reviews. It happens to everyone - the performer gets distracted - who knows what he's hearing in those ear monitors?? But since Barry himself brought it up after the song, and even one of the professional reviews I read mentioned it, I have to include it as well. Barry flubbed the lyrics - not just a line, but the entire second verse. You could see it on his face as he stood up from the piano after the first chorus - something else distracted him and he completely forgot the lyrics for the second verse. And I can't blame him at all, because for the life of me I couldn't remember the next lines, either - and I've probably listened and sang along to that song more times than he's performed it on stage! Some of the audience was trying to sing the lyrics to him, but I doubt he could hear them. There was a moment when he had one of those "a-ha!" looks on his face, and it appeared he remembered the next line - and then he didn't. But then he did get it back together and finished the song. After the song was over, he laughed and mentioned that he had totally forgotten the lyrics. Knowing what a perfectionist Barry is, he probably didn't think it was funny at all. But that was one of those human moments that we love - not because he made a mistake, but because you see a glimpse of both the real Barry and the professional Barry. And you also get to "really" see the professional Barry, because you see how he manages to recover from it. So, you aren't sitting there thinking, "Hey, he forgot the lyrics" - instead, you're sitting there with a smile on your face thinking, "That was freaking awesome!" Doesn't have anything to do with making a mistake - it has to do with Barry being Barry, and one of the many reasons why we still love him after all of these years. There's no one like him.
Somewhere Down the Road was just beautiful again. As I mentioned before, this was one of the times when Barry came out on to the little platform. In fact, they removed the guardrails before this segment of the show, so it truly was "just Barry" sitting out there. As he moved on to the platform to sit on the stool, he did it carefully, and made one of those little facial expressions as if he were afraid of heights. Ha! Barry sang the song with a lot of feeling. And he seemed to pause for an extra long moment at the end, as if he were deeply into it.
Ships had some great lighting effects. The "universe" atmosphere that you see in Vegas really isn't there - not in the same way. But for this show I noticed extra lighting and lot of swirling smoke. The combination of the two made for some spectacular lighting effects. Remember my "wormhole" from a previous review? Well, there were multiple wormholes tonight - these blue tunnels with smoke swirling around inside of them, all converging on Barry even though the spotlights were actually pointed around Barry rather than right at him. For about the first verse of the song, I actually spent a great deal of time just watching the lighting. Barry seemed to place more emphasis on the second verse of the song rather than the first - and I don't think that was just because the lighting had my attention. I really think that he was more "in" to the second verse for this performance. The ending of the song was "BIG" - big sound, big gestures and postures by Barry - just BIG.
It was a passionate performance of Mandy. There was more emphasis on that part of the medley, rather than Could It Be Magic. It was evident in Barry's facial expressions. Barry walked out on to the stage to watch baby Barry singing, as he had the night before. This time I noticed that the blue glow is actually lighting, not a reflection from the video screen. It's really beautiful. And I could see a smile on Barry's face as he watched himself. I tried to capture a photo. I'll post what I got, but it's not great - just not enough light for that. Still, it's a touching moment during the show - Barry may not be performing at the moment, but it's still a memory that you keep as you leave.
It was the same Copa routine that they performed at the PNC. Barry and Kye at center stage for the "grab". This time Barry told Kye, "You go first!" LOL! Hmmmm...was Barry trying to prevent some photos from being snapped? Didn't work! LOL! The girls wore those huge, colorful feathers - they all walked carefully down the staircase - still scares me half to death. You can see the concentration on their face as they walk down the stairs. Probably scares them, too! I noticed that Kye is standing there ready to give them a hand if they need it. That actually never occurred to me until this show - he's always been there, but I didn't think of that as being the reason.
No funny poses at the stop of the staircase this time - Barry did do a little dance for us. He was probably exhausted after the show he had put on for us! But if he was, you couldn't tell it by the time he got to center stage. He was still a live wire for us.
Barry changed back into his red jacket for the It's A Miracle reprise. Tonight the performers weren't drowned in a deluge of confetti - in fact, this time it all went to the audience behind us. I don't think any of it fell on me at all.
As Barry and the backups exited the stage, they walked up the stair case with their arms around each other. It was more pronounced at this show than it was at PNC. I think it's a great addition to the show - definitely gives the feeling of family.
After the backups left the stage, Barry stood at the top of the stair case and pretended to leave and then come back two times, the same as he had the night before. But this time he turned around a third time with a wave - it looked like he was really going to leave. And then he half turned toward the audience with one of his extremely cute expressions, pointed at himself, and mouthed "Me???" LOL! It made the entire audience laugh, and even must have caught Ron W. off guard, because he started laughing. It was a totally adorable moment.
And then Barry came back down to do Let Freedom Ring as his encore. He came out on the platform to sing the song. The audience sang along with him for the first few lines of the song - so loudly that he actually let the audience finish it for him before he went in to the first full verse of the song. I still like the flag waving in the background and the red and blue lights. And the mood of the song. It's a good song to close the show with because it's upbeat even though it's a serious song.
It also helps prevent the Manilow depression from setting in immediately. It still happens, but at least I can get out of the arena before I sink like a rock! Ha!
You know, I said I wasn't crazy about arena shows, but I loved these two. I still want the intimate atmosphere of the Hilton. But there's something to be said about the exciting atmosphere of the arena shows. I think we need both.
And I think I need to win the lottery - because I believe this calls for some in-depth research to compare and contrast the Hilton shows and the arena shows. I really need to attend a lot more of both so that I have sufficient information for the study. Right??? Hey, it works for me! And, oh yeah.... I kind of like that blue-eyed guy from Brooklyn...
