I think the word for the night must have been "imp" - Barry seemed to be in a great mood.
And it appeared that he felt good - his eyes sparkled all night.
The entire evening was filled with little "impish" moments - silly little dance steps, funny
remarks, adorable facial expressions. And we won't even discuss the Cement Mixer's Convention
remark! LOL Barry was priceless during the 50's segment tonight, too. (He's priceless every
night, though - no matter what segment it is!)
Barry played with his piano during Can't Smile Without You Tonight. He looked over at the
backups, got that impish look on his face, and then added in a little extra to the song.
And talk about playing around with the piano - New York City Rhythm was awesome tonight.
Especially Joe and Ron P!
A difference tonight was that Barry put Brooklyn Blues in before New York City Rhythm - I'd
never thought of it, but they go well together.
Moonlight Serenade was beautiful, as usual - although for some reason it kind of left me
feeling melancholy - but not for long, Barry won't allow that!
And another difference was that when Barry was doing Singing With the Big Bands, Brandon came
out from behind the curtain to play a short saxophone solo. I'll have to try to be ready for
that tonight so I can take photos of it (if they do it again).
All of this playing around with the piano lately did inspire me to sit down at my own piano to
see if I remembered anything from more than 10 years of piano lessons - I don't. But, as tone
deaf as I am, I was able to recognize that my piano is horribly out of tune (not to mention
keys sticking). It's so bad, that when I tried to play, the kittens jumped up into my lap and
looked at me as if to say "Please stop making that terrible noise!" Well, in all fairness, only
one kitten did that. The other 3 hid under the furniture. Don't guess I'll be changing careers
any time soon.
He sang Even Now as the ballad after asking if anyone had requests. I swear I don't see how he
can pick out what anyone is saying. I did hear the Harmony comment someone else mentioned,
although I didn't hear him say he would cry - but all the same, it was obvious that it was sad
for him. Sometimes when you're ready to give up, your biggest dreams come true - maybe that will
happen to Barry.
I finally got to see the new jacket that Barry is wearing for the 70's segment. Love it! It
has to be one of the most beautiful he's ever worn. Black, covered in sequins. I like the one
he's wearing for the ballads, too. I can't come up with a description for that one. It looks
like it's kind of silver, but then it seems to change to brown, and then something else.
Speaking of the 70's segment, I love it more every time I see it. Can't choose a favorite song
out of it - I love all of them.
Was it just me, or did Barry change the tempo on Mandy tonight? It seemed faster to me. Also,
he sang it differently. At first I wanted to say that he didn't sing it as emotionally, but
that's not true - it *was* emotional. And then I wanted to say that he didn't work as hard at
it - that's not true either. It was still emotional and passionate, but... I think the word
I'm looking for may be "distraught" - he didn't perform the song as someone who is distraught -
that's how the song has been coming across over the last several months. Remember how he used
to introduce Keep Each Other Warm by saying that he's a hopeful romantic? That's how the
Mandy/CIBM medley came across last night. There was more of a sense of longing and yearning
but with a sense of hopefulness. Anyway, I think I like this way better. It was kind of nice.
And now I've got myself thinking about Keep Each Other Warm - man, I wish he'd do that one
again - 'scuse me, I've got to go put that one on iTtunes!
