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Barry opened the show on a super high note. He was in one of his happy, bouncy moods the entire night. He did extra turns, extra dance steps during songs. A couple of times he bounced so high that his feet came completely off the floor. And he cracked himself up during the 60's skit. I love it when he's like this.
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Although we really couldn't hear it from listening to him, he was having a little trouble with his voice. I noticed that on a couple of songs he lowered the final note. He even made a comment on one of the songs about not being able to "hit that F". But after the first few songs, I didn't notice him having any trouble at all.
Can't Smile Without You was again very emotional. He really emphasized the "light years" line. As many times as I've seen Barry perform this song, I've never seen him do the song in this way. It's as if there really is someone in his life that he's separated from and can't smile without. Well, we all know that feeling don't we?! That's how we feel every time we walk out of the theater! If for no other reason, that's why that song will always have to be in the show. I do really like this change in the song, though. I guess I had begun to take it for granted - not that I was tired of it, but I just didn't expect anything fresh from it. It has new life now.
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Looks Like We Made It is still causing screams from the crowd. Tonight's version didn't come across quite as passionate until at the very end. But Barry did make it very emotional with facial expressions. And the end - WOW! Actually, I kind of like it this way. It's kind of neat the way the passion builds. He's performed this song differently the last 4 or 5 times I've seen it. So far, everything works!
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New York City Rhythm - Ron W. wins again! Barry seemed very "in" to the song tonight, too.
Barry sang Why Don't We Live Together again! And that's another song that he seems completely absorbed in. It's one of my favorites - I kind of get into it, too. And I like this version he does now - it has even more of a groove than it did during the 2004 tour.
Our ballad was Weekend in New England. Barry kind of played with the audience before singing that one, rather than just jumping into it as he normally does. He said they had practiced it during sound check - he said they're always doing sound checks. Then he asked us if we wanted to hear it. Well, duh! But before he sang it, he jumped off into a story - he said, "I never do this" - but he did, he told us a story about one of his memories of performing the song. He said that he was performing for a corporate sponsor (an automotive company) - as he was starting the song, a big blob of oil fell down on the keyboard. He looked up and there was a car suspended above his head. He said, "I've died in the show before, but not like that!"
Then he transitioned directly from that story into the song - no pause to get "in the mood" - he just made the switch in a snap of the finger. Amazing. And the song was very, very passionate. It was wonderful. And there was no sign of anything wrong with his voice at all on this song - the vocals were incredible.
For Jump Shout Boogie tonight, I again noticed the new music at the beginning of the song - it's interesting. I can't really describe it. But if you were at any of the shows on the 2004 tour, when Barry would sing "It's time to raise the curtain" during Why Don't We Live Together, do you remember the music in background that would "rise" as Barry gestured? What they're doing with Jump Shout Boogie is similar. And then Barry plays the opening notes on the piano that we're all familiar with - and he did it to perfection tonight.
During Moonlight Serenade, Barry walked down the row of seats singing to each lady - then he came to a man, jumped back and shook his head - it got a big laugh from the audience. The lady he eventually chose was obviously thrilled - and she got a big hug from him at the end.
During the Mayflower medley tonight, Kye hit some amazing high notes - he was in top form. There was a lot of chemistry between Kye and Keely during They Dance and also at the end of the medley. They've added some new choreography to They Dance. At the end of the medley when Kye and Keely are twirling around they were both making kissing motions at each other, which was really cute.
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During the 60's medley, Barry has changed the way he does Can't Take My Eyes Off of You. First he turns to Melanie to sing to her - she gave him a shy little wave. Then he turns to Keely and Monica. Then he turns to Kye - and both of them recoil. LOL It's cute - but the bad thing about it is that we only get to see Barry's back.
The other ballad Barry sang was I Made It Through the Rain. I heard some different things going on with the piano (Barry's playing tonight) that were very nice. Before Barry began the song, he had to turn his head to clear his throat. Some people in the audience laughed - he just gave a little facial expression that said, "I'M HUMAN!". I had to smile - not because it was funny - but because it reminded me of his performances of Not What You See. That song, in New Orleans, on February 2, 2002 [notice the 2's] is when I lost my mind and began traveling the country to see Barry perform. Up until that time, I was a relatively normal Manilow fan - went to the shows when he performed in Dallas, but no where else. When he performed in 1997 (I think that was the year), I went to 2 out of the 3 shows [another 2] - looking back, I was starting to get the fever then. After that second show, I really wanted to go to the third, but I didn't.
So, when Barry cleared his throat, the little wheels in my head started turning for some reason - and I started thinking about all of those 2's. And then I remembered that for the last 2 years [another 2] business conferences I've gone to have provided tarot card readers and numerologists as entertainment. Both times I was told that my life path number was 22. And that Barry's is 22. [more 2's!] And then I remembered that when I started doing all of this traveling, I did it with a friend (who passed away 2 years ago) - and she strongly believed that 2 was *her* number - so much so that she even gave her company a name that included a string of 2's.
Well, this obviously means that I'm meant to attend all of these shows! Right??!! Makes perfectly good sense to me! [This also proves that if you try hard enough, you can come up with a justification for almost any crazy thing you do! LOL]
Getting back to the review... Barry did a great job on I Made It Through the Rain. I have some adorable shots of his face when he's listening to Grandpa Joe at the end of the song.
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At one point, someone in the audience yelled out that we love him - Barry said, "I know. I can feel it."
Something I keep forgetting to mention is the little dance that Barry and Keely do at the end of Bandstand Boogie. After they finish the song, and everyone is waving at center stage (and Barry is trying to block them from the "camera"), Keely comes over to Barry and they do a little dance step, he twirls her, and then she runs off stage. I've noticed a couple of times that she counts it off as they start - I doubt that anyone beyond the front row can hear it. But it's a cute bit to add to the segment. Barry also did the high kicks with the girls again tonight during the song. Very funny.
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Tonight after the first verse of Copacabana, when Barry normally sings, "Ah, love...Ah, romance...Ah, right", he switched it to be "Ah, love...SEX!" It was funny, but the best part was the expressions on the face of some of the audience members - "What did he just say?!?" LOL
And of course the show was over way too soon - even though we got at least one extra song, it was still too soon. Always is.
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