| The Paris Music & Passion Ultimate Manilow From Boston to Denver... Backups/Band Platinums Back Home |
|
Music & Passion - Las Vegas Hilton - May 24, 2008(View photo gallery here)
Another great show, different from the night before, but still wonderful. This review will probably be somewhat shorter for a couple of reasons. I was in the side stage seats which offers a different perspective. Plus, I got a handshake last night - it's difficult typing this review with only my left hand! (my right hand is in protective custody until the glow wears off! LOL)
Enough of pushing the side stage (no, I don't get a commission!!) - on to the show. Barry opened with the standard medley. Somewhere in the Night is still the best part of it. Looks Like We Made It was very good again - not as passionate as last night - but still a great performance. And still got a lot of audience approval. The audience didn't seem as responsive as the night before. Now, that may not be an accurate statement - it could be that I simply couldn't feel it from the stage seats. But from my perspective they didn't seem to be quite as wild. I really expected each night to be louder than the one before. They did Bandstand Boogie again - that was interesting from the side stage - a different perspective there, as well.
They also did New York City Rhythm - and the piano playing competition is still on. It was close, but JOE WINS! Ron W. tried to sneak in there and steal it away at the last minute, but he didn't quite make it. Not a lot of good shots of Barry last night, but one I took right after he puts on his Nehru jacket is cute. I probably could have got some great shots while he was sitting right in front of me, but I didn't want to waste the moment with the camera in front of my face. Photos are great memories, but not as great as the real thing. The funny cigarette bit viewed from the left side stage is priceless. Barry must still enjoy doing it, because his eyes just sparkle. That alone was worth the price of the ticket. He pretended (?) to take a second drag off the cigarette and I think he must have inhaled a little too much - either that, or his crew really did slip him one of those funny cigarettes! Here's another advantage to sitting in the side seats - this is the first time I've ever noticed the beads behind him. They're so cool looking - perfect backdrop. 
I Write the Songs was interesting tonight - not sure if what happened was planned or accidental. I'm leaning toward accidental, because the band didn't quite seem to be with the program. But instead of sitting down to sing the song the way he normally does, he jumped right into the middle of the song, at the "I wrote some rock and roll" part. The Mayflower medley and the 60's medley were great, as always. I think those will probably be audience favorites as long as they're in the show.
But the best song of the night was Weekend in New England. It's not just because that's my favorite of all of the ballads that Barry has been doing lately. It was beautiful. Again, not sure if it was planned - it seemed as if he decided to just throw it in. He said he wanted to do something extra or special - can't remember his exact words. He asked the band what they thought he should do - a lot of the audience was yelling out song names. Not sure where he heard it from (or if it really came from anyone other than him) - but he nodded his head and said "That was exactly what I was thinking." And he started WINE. It was so beautiful. The vocals were amazing - somewhere between the pure passion of the May 2 show, and the emotion of the May 3 show. And his piano playing was equally beautiful. It was different - he was doing different things with the song. Gorgeous. He took me to that place only Manilow can take us. When it was time for Copa on the cat walk, Barry almost ran up the stairs. He keeps showing us over and over what true professionalism is. But, you know, we would still love him if he only put out half as much as he does now - wouldn't we?
|
