Have been holding off on writing the reviews until the press release about Barry's surgery
came out. I had the presence of mind to run upstairs between the shows on Saturday to
write down the set list from the first show, but didn't write it down after the second show,
so we'll see how my memory has held up to this weekend.
The convention shows this year were very special. I remember last year's convention shows
as having an excited crowd, and special songs - but I don't remember them being like this.
I don't know if it was the crowd, or Barry, or something else but I believe these shows
will go down as one of the fandom experiences that won't be forgotten.
The early show was just as magical as the Friday night show. The crowd was extremely up,
although not quite as much as Friday night - probably because they were tired!
But Barry was up. He again put his all into the show. And I think knowing what he was
going through as he performed made it even sweeter for those who knew. Barry is the
ultimate example of a professional. He could have done less and easily gotten away with
it. Instead he chose to give more.
He opened with the upbeat version of Could It Be Magic, followed by the Daybreak medley.
We got the entire version of Mandy, followed by a very passionate Even Now. In between
the two he included that haunting "I need you" that he did occasionally on the 2002 tour.
It's the perfect transition between the songs, and just makes them both more emotional.
On the Dew Drop side he did Studio Musician, follwed by CSWY. Monica and Kye didn't sit
at the piano this time, I'm guessing in the interest of time since there were going to be
a lot of extras in the show.
We got Bandstand Boogie, Venus, and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. Then he introduced
a Japanese singer to do a duet of Sincerely with him. She was very good, it sounded
beautiful. I was also pleased to have been able to hear him sing that song in person.
There were some non-fans sitting behind me. It was fun listening to their comments
throughout the show. They were genuinely enjoying themselves. They often expressed
surprise - I'm sure they thought they would see him sitting behind a piano playing ballads
all night. I heard a lot of nice compliments both on the show itself and on Barry's voice.
Instead of the Mayflower medley, he went back to a slightly different version of the New
York City Rhythm medley that he did earlier in the year. It included New York City Rhythm
complete with the keyboardists running around the piano. Then they moved into the
Avenue C/Jumping at the Woodside medley. This seemed to be an exceptional performance of
that - I don't remember it being this lively before. And it was complete with Kye picking
Barry up and walking backwards with him. The medley closed with a return to New York City
Rhythm.
And then we got Sweet Heaven! I think it was one of the best performances of it that I've
seen done live. His voice was so strong! It was the same choreography that he's done the
last couple of times I've seen the song performed - he strolls across the stage with each
girl, then they leave him and he turns to us. He got 2 resounding "I love you Barry Manilow!"
choruses from the audience.
On the Rock Bottom side, he sang The Best of Me. I've only heard him do that one once
since M&P started - maybe twice. It was beautiful and it sounded completely sincere.
He finished out with I Write the Songs, Copacabana, and It's a Miracle.
He came back out for an encore, and sang Forever and a Day for us. It was also beautiful.
It seemed to me that highest level of energy from the audience came out during that song.
And by the way, he *did* manage to prove me wrong and go beyond what he gave us on Friday
night.
