If the day ever comes that I'm not excited when the intro to the show starts, when I don't
have butterflies in my stomach, then I'll know that it's time to stay home and save my money.
But that day hasn't arrived yet.
At one point during the show, Barry walked back to get a drink of water. He mentioned how the
dry air is hard on singer's voices, and indicated that he was a little raspy. I didn't
notice that at all - I thought he sounded great.
Barry did seem to be in an exceptionally good mood. There were a few extra little dance steps,
and cute facial expressions. For some reason he seemed to really enjoy singing the little
snippet of "The Old Songs". I love that song. He said that it would "set up the whole show".
Maybe he's said that in the past and I just didn't catch it. But it really does set up the
rest of the show - I'd never thought of it that way before.
Barry seemed to have extra fun with the little tushie shake at the end of "Jump Shout Boogie".
I can't bring myself to take a photo of that, but it's still a cute moment during the show.
When it was time for the 50's ballad, Barry said, "Let's do the other ballad - I feel
like doing that one tonight." Other ballad? I couldn't imagine what it could be - of course,
after hearing from folks who went to the rest of the shows I assume that he had been
practicing "Somewhere Down the Road." He sang "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" - it was
another beautiful rendition of it, very touching. I would have loved to have heard SDTR, too.
Maybe I'll get that one next time.
After Barry finished AYLT, he did an incredible version of "Even Now". The ending seems to
be more powerful every time he performs it. He holds the ending note so long that even his
backups applaud him.
Then Barry said that he had another Elvis song in his catalog - for a
moment we thought he might actually do "Can't Help Falling In Love", but then he said
that it had only been recorded once by Elvis, so we knew that it was "If I Can Dream." He
turned to ask the band if they had the music - some of them appeared to be looking for it, Russ
waved his in the air - the backup singers' faces seemed to alternate between "we can do this"
and "uh-oh!". LOL So, I'm guessing it wasn't planned at all. Finally, the band was
settled and the backups were in their places - and Barry looked at them and said "We're
going to butcher this." Then he turned to the audience and said, "But if we butcher it,
come back when we know it." If anyone missed a beat, I didn't notice it -
the song sounded perfect to me. After Barry finished the song, the audience response was
so great that Barry said "It feels like it should be the end of the show. Goodnight
everybody!"
When Barry was doing the bit about going from touring to a permament job in Vegas, he
said that before he came he always thought that Vegas was just "where old singers come
to die."
The 60's medley is just as lively as the Mayflower medley. It seems as if all of the
performers love doing it, as if it's more fun for them every time they do it. The evolution
of the songs still fascinates me. They seem to have a different tone now than they did
when Barry first started performing them. They have a different "feel," I guess as he
starts making them his own.
I still love this show. It's so complex - even if the song list doesn't change, there's
no way to take in everything by seeing just one show - the amount of detail in the set,
the backdrops, the lighting, the costumes is unreal. There are even subtle differences
in the music. I still see and hear things that are new to me - during one
song in February, I realized I was hearing a flute that I'd never noticed before - and
I leave the shows wondering if I've been missing these things all along or if they've
been added.
There's really a sense of family between all the performers that pulls the audience in. Makes
you feel as if you're part of the family, too.
