I wasn't quite as rattled tonight (although, that hug I got from Barry last night is going to affect me quite
a while!).
Another ticket snafu tonight. Shortly before the show started, a woman walked up claiming I was in her
seat. My ticket was purchased from the Hilton back in November. The manager came to check it out. She
called up to the box office with both of our names. The box office showed that a 3rd person was the
one who had purchased that ticket. A friend of mine had the seat next to me - her ticket was purchased
at a completely different time - in fact, we didn't even know that we would both be attending this show.
According to the box office, her seat also belonged to this 3rd person. While the manager was on the
phone, the 3rd person showed up. Finally, the manager asked my friend and I if we would be willing
to move back to the 2nd row (the seat in question was front row). I had no problem doing that, 2nd row
is just as good as front row.
Of all the black jackets that Barry opens his show with, I think this one is my favorite. I say that
all of the time! Okay, it's one of my favorites. Looks like it would be heavy, though.
A very excited crowd! Very vocal and demonstrative. I suspect Barry likes that.
The lighting seemed to be much, much better tonight. Last night it was really kind of hard to see the
backups at times. I do wonder if there was a change in lighting, or if it was the change in location
for me. Maybe the lights reflect back when you're on the front row. Not sure, but there's a big
difference in my photos.
I noticed something different about the music for Jump Shout Boogie, but can't put my finger on it.
I think we got two lucky strike extras tonight. The first one was Even Now. It was an outstanding
performance of that song - one of the most emotional I've seen. It gave me chills. And Barry held
that note at the end for an incredibly long time. Monica was in the background pumping her fist in
the air. For a moment I thought no one was going to give him a standing ovation for that. This was
one of the times when I would have done it by myself if I'd had to.
Then Barry sang Looks Like We Made It. And that was one of the sexiest performances of it I've ever
seen. Oh, my - that's one I'll never forget. The audience screams said it all...
I thought those would be our two ballads for the night. But a little later in the show, Barry gave us
two more. The first one was All the Time - again, he pulled out all the stops and made it a very special
performance of the song.
Barry followed that with I Made It Through the Rain. This one was also very well done, and very
emotional. At the point in the song where he's talking about Grandpa Joe taking him to the
recording studio, Barry seemed to be more into it than usual. He closed his eyes and smiled as if
he were somewhere else for a moment, then said, "I felt a connection..." He paused for a moment, shook himself
out of it, and then said, "...to something." Someone in the audience yelled "To us!" - but
thankfully Barry didn't let it spoil the moment. I agree with the audience member, though - we
certainly feel a connection to him.
There was a really cute moment during the Mayflower segment when Barry was trying to do the Macarena -
and his hips didn't seem to work quite right - LOL! That's okay, Barry - they worked just fine
during Looks Like We Made It!
Another cute moment was during Jump Shout Boogie when Barry came out to shake his "yes, yes, yes" for
us. After he did it, he said, "See, it still works!"
I have to mention the new lava lamp for the 60's skit. That thing is huge! I thought the one Barry was
using in Dallas was big. This one is enormous. In fact, if they ever get one bigger than this, they're
probably going to have to give the stage some extra support! Of course, Barry had to make his joke
about people being impressed by his big...lava lamp. :-)
If Barry cut anything out of the show in order to add those two extra ballads, I don't know what it was.
Everything else seemed to still be in there. For some reason, it seems we got a special show. Perfect
ending to a perfect weekend.
