Finally catching up with this! Almost time for me to see my next show and I'm just now getting the review
done from the last one! Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence, but I don't care - I've been on the road
too much to care!
I didn't even attempt to take photos of Barry coming out of the smoke this time. I had just as many
butterflies as I've ever had. I just wanted to enjoy it all.
Barry opened with the standards - It's a Miracle followed by Daybreak, Somewhere in the Night and This
One's For You. He was wearing a black (or dark) 3-piece suit that had a strip of sequins or rhinestones
running right down the middle of the back. And he was wearing his black diamond tie.
The side stages were set up differently this time - there was a piano on each side - so, we knew there
would be something different in the show. After the opening medley Barry went right over to the old Rock
Bottom side and sat down behind the piano. I'm not sure if the folks in the stage seats had a good view
of him since it was an upright piano - kind of hard to judge from where I was sitting. He said that this
was the intimate part of the show and that he liked being intimate. :-) I loved seeing him in a couple of
the arena shows, but I have to say that they can't compare to seeing him at the Hilton simply because he's
so close. If someone had told me 30 years ago that I would ever be that close to Barry Manilow, I would
have told them they were crazy. You just can't beat the Hilton for that.
I liked what Barry did on the left side - he started with a portion of The Old Songs, then he did a little
of Could It Be Magic. He said something about liking the old 40's music and how he had written one that
sounded like an old song - and he started playing the opening of Jump Shout Boogie. Something I noticed
right off the bat was how perfectly he played the opening - the piano at the beginning of the song has
always been one of my favorite parts - Barry did it so well at this show that it sounded like the recording.
After playing the first few bars, he jumped up and started pointing over to the right side stage. The backups
had come out in their 40's costumes and were set up to continue the song on that side.
Something else I like about the change in the side stage segments is that it seemed to restore a little
balance to the show. For the past several months it's seemed that the folks on the right side got a little
more of close-up Barry than the folks on the left. Now he does 2 things in the stage seat area on each side.
But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself.
He's put Moonlight Serenade back in and chose someone from the right hand side to dance with him.
Next was the 50's segment. They performed it the same way they did in the arena shows (or the ones I saw).
Barry sang all of Bandstand Boogie while the backups danced behind him. Then at the end of the song they
all join at center stage to wave as if they were waving at a TV camera. It's cute this way.
After the backups left the stage, Barry said that he had to take the sparkly tie off. Someone in the
audience yelled "give it to me". He said, "Nooooo....it's too expensive!"
Barry then walked to center stage and said that he was going to do something different. He said that he
had received a letter a few days ago - he began fumbling in his pockets for it - he pulled out a letter
and started reading, "Dear Mr Manilow, Enclosed please find a nude photo..." - and then he said, "No,
that's not the right letter!" and he crumpled it up. LOL Then he pulled out another letter and started
to read it. It was from a guy who was asking if he could propose to his girlfriend during the show -
she didn't know about it. So, Barry located the guy in the audience. And by the time they got the spotlight
on the couple, the girl was crying. Barry said that he was going to pull a song out of retirement to sing
for them - and he started to sing The Best of Me. (feel free to pull that one out of retirement anytime!)
It was all very sweet, very touching. Barry sang most of the song sitting on a stool over on the right
side stage. (ok, so that means the folks on the right got a little more than the folks on the left - but
this was special!) He did come back to center stage to sing the last chorus. His voice broke a little as
he sang it - it seemed to be almost as emotional for him as it did for the couple - heck, I think it was
for all of us.
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it sounded as if he changed the lyrics slightly on that
last chorus - instead of singing "You were the one romance I’ve always known in my mind" it sounded like
he said, "You were the one romance I'll always know in my mind". What caught my attention was how it
seemed to change the tone of the song slightly.
At any rate, I started thinking about the informal poll on the Barrynet about what we thought Barry's
most romantic song was. I didn't read all the posts, but two more popped into my mind after I saw him
sing The Best of Me. First came Every Single Day - I know that's not one that he particularly wants
to perform right now, but it's still one of the most romantic songs I've ever heard. He's always been
able to make me practically melt when he sings it. And then I also thought of When I Fall in Love -
it's a cover, but it's still very romantic.
After we all regained our composure (!), Barry went to the piano and sang I Made It Through the Rain,
followed by New York City Rhythm.
The backups were leaving the stage after New York City Rhythm, but Barry called them back. (don't know
if he really improvised here or if it was already set up that way - couldn't tell) And so they
performed The William Tell Overture. After they finished the song, Barry said he had to sit down and
he went back to the piano and performed Can't Smile Without You.
At some point in the show (can't remember where now), Barry looked out at the audience and softly said
"Feels like family..." - I know I saw a lot of familiar faces in the audience, so he probably did, too.
After New York City Rhythm, Barry walked to the front of the stage to do one of his chat sessions
with the audience. He talked about the decades albums he's been doing, then told us that he was
working on the 80's album. He said that he hadn't decided what he was going to do on that one, but
that he would probably do an extra sexy version of Like a Virgin. (joke - or I think it was!!)
Then Barry went back to the left side stage to begin the 60's segment. He said that they had consulted
with Cirque du Soleil and spared no expense for the set! Then he made his joke about "eat your heart
out Van Halen". That showed a definite difference between the Hilton audience and the arena audiences -
the Hilton audience didn't seem to get the joke! Oh, well!
The set/props were the same they've always been in Vegas. No huge blue lava lamp and cool orange
swivel chair like he had in Dallas. Wonder where those went? Maybe Dallas is special!
It was basically the same 60's bit, except he didn't do Yesterday. And when it was time for him to
finish the funny cigarette bit and go back to center stage to do Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, the
band missed their cue! When Barry said his bit "Let's do some songs from the 60's" there was silence.
I guess I've seen the show so many times that I anticipate what's supposed to happen next - so, when
he said the words and nothing followed, I really missed it! Barry said the line again and by that time
I had a huge grin on my face because I knew what had happened. Barry started saying it a 3rd time
before they picked up. He got a big grin on his face, too, and then he started laughing as he walked
back to center stage.
Barry came out to do Mandy in that gorgeous white jacket that I've fallen in love with!
The lighting seems to have changed - maybe just because this was their first night after having been
gone for a couple of months. It was very dark for most of the show. It really looked kind of strange
during Mandy - not so much to the eye, but it really shows up in the photos. There was a blue glow
around Barry - it was pretty, but made for some odd photos, especially with his blue eyes.
Barry went into I Write the Songs - at one point he moved over right in front of me wearing that gorgeous
white jacket. That's when I realized that the jacket will be totally safe as long as he's wearing it -
because I was too mesmerized by him to think about stealing the jacket. LOL
At the end of the It's a Miracle reprise, more streamers seemed to hit the stage than normal. Barry was
covered in them! The backups all took a step back, and then Barry turned his back to the audience so that
he could walk back to them - he looked down at his feet where all of the streamers had settled - he
mouthed something to the backups that appeared to be, "I can't move!!!" They all laughed, so I kind of
think that's what he said. And so he shuffled back to them, which made everyone laugh.
They closed it out a little differently - no group hug - maybe he got tired of the backups trying to
tickle him! LOL Anyway, this time they took their bows, and then 2 of the backups went off one side of
the stage and the other 2 went off the other side, leaving Barry standing alone in the middle of the
stage as the curtain came down. He bent over and waved to the audience for as long as he could be seen.
Barry sounded great, looked great - it was an awesome show.
I didn't leave with post-Manilow-depression this time - probably because I knew I would be back to see
another show in a week. I've finally figured it out - the way to beat the depression is simply to attend
every single show! Right? My bank account will be depressed, but everything else would be just fine!
