If Barry was still sick tonight, he hid it well. He looked great and sounded great. There were a lot of little
playful dance steps, a lot of energy.
In my last review I said that they were hamming it up during Love Is A Many Splendored Thing almost as much as
they used to - well, Barry was full of it tonight. We got the swagger and the "I'm fantastic" facial expressions -
it was priceless. He even stopped at one point to fix his hair!
During the ballad segment, the first song Barry sang was I Am Your Child. It was a beautiful rendition of it, too.
Weekend in New England was outstanding! Barry put an enormous amount of emotion and passion into it. I actually
had to say "wow"... He got a well-deserved standing ovation for that one.
During I Am Your Child there was an interesting light effect. The lights made it appear that there was something
swirling above his head - almost like the spirit of music was watching over him as he sang. Ah, well - just
another example of how magical the show is.
They did the version of New York City Rhythm where each of the keyboardists came down, played a little and ran
around the piano. I've always enjoyed that part of the show. I enjoy hearing them improvise - I've never
understood how people can do that. I can just read the notes - anything beyond that and I'm totally lost - sometimes
I'm totally lost when I'm trying to read the notes! Ha! It's also fun because they all seem to be enjoying
themselves - they seem to be having fun with it.
When Barry made his age joke about being only 43, the audience laughed - really laughed. He turned around and
looked at us with an expression on his face that seemed to say, "Gee, you don't have to laugh so hard about it."
That moment was funnier than the joke!
I'm really loving this 70's segment. I even caught myself singing The Way We Were the next day. What's up with
that? 24 hours earlier I hated the song, now I walk around singing it all of the time! I guess I really *have*
been Manilowed!
I think he chose some perfect songs for the 70's medley, too. As Barry was singing You've Got a Friend, it
occurred to me that one of the opening lines fit so well - "...close your eyes and think of me, and soon I will
be there to brighten up even your darkest night." - isn't that what his music does for us? When we're
feeling down, can't we close our eyes and remember and feel better?
I failed to mention in my last review that with his new 70's jacket he's wearing an Elvis scarf - that's what
I'm calling it, anyway. It's a long black scarf that hangs down on each side.
Mandy/CIBM are consistently full of passion - Barry must really be feeling those songs lately.
As Barry was finishing up the last line of Copa tonight, he almost slipped and said "Don't fall in love" instead
of "We fell in love". He corrected himself and almost started giggling. How many times do we have to tell you,
Barry? There's no sense in telling us not to fall in love, you took care of that about 30 years ago!
