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Paris Las Vegas - May 28, 2011(View photo gallery here)
BB-36
Another great show. Barry has been giving his all. I'm so happy he's back with us this weekend. "Your my lifeline, angel of my lifetime." Stealing Barry's words from one of the versions of Could It Be Magic... Barry makes us feel so great - I'm so thankful that he wants to be here with us. Someone posted the studio version of Everything's Gonna Be Alright on YouTube - while I don't condone that action, I'll admit I've taken full advantage of it and I've been listening to the song all weekend. What are the lyrics? "Sure, you'll hit resistance in anything you do, depend on persistence and ride that dream on through..." Everything's Gonna Be Alright, right?
 Barry replaced Weekend in New England with Even Now. That was a surprise! Barry's vocals were strong until the very end - I did hear a little crack in his voice when he did that killer note - but it didn't ruin the song at all. I thought it was a fabulous performance - very passionate. Can't Smile Without You was like a huge karaoke bar again - I think it was bigger than last night - certainly louder! But of course we all want to sing along - because we CAN'T smile without Barry. Nope, just can't... It was all about the music during Brooklyn Blues and New York City Rhythm. I love the expressions on Barry's face when he's "into" it with his music. He didn't quite hold on to that long note at the end of Brooklyn Blues, but he held on long enough. He got a well-deserved standing ovation.
 I Am Your Child was extremely soft tonight. It was very nice, actually - and so was Nature Boy - Barry was very expressive. This One's For You was excellent - Barry did an excellent job of connecting. Even though he said he thinks of Grandpa, I think there might have been more to it than that at this show. A few people have been standing up and dancing for The Twist portion of the Bandstand segment. I don't, and won't - that's way out of my comfort zone. I know that Neale Donald Walsch says that "...life begins at the end of your comfort zone" - but I refuse to accept that he was referring to my standing up and making a fool of myself trying to dance. He also says that we should do something that makes us uncomfortable 6 times a day - I have that totally covered WITHOUT dancing! Even Barry saying that we should all do something that makes us afraid isn't going to get me up out of my seat! Barry was back to connecting with the audience during Our Love Is Here to Stay tonight. Sometimes his performance is really emotional. This performance was really just kind of sweet. Not really so much a love song in the traditional sense - just sweet. Bring On Tomorrow was fabulous again. This is the first time I've noticed the colors moving from that magenta color into a violet color in the middle of the song. Of course the ending is back to the original colors - and it's so huge. The lighting is incredible. Barry's performance of the song was a little different tonight - the tone was different. Up until now, there has frequently been a smile on Barry's face throughout the song. This time it seemed more serious. But it also wasn't anything like my interpretation of the song in my last review. I'm not sure how to describe this. The performance was outstanding, but there wasn't as much "personal" feeling to it as I've seen in the past. It was just different - a different tone.
 Again, if you're fortunate enough to see the shows live fairly frequently, you'll see that no two performances are alike. It might be something as small as his adding a slight pause for emphasis somewhere in the song, to something like ad-libbing some comment in the middle of the song, to something like totally changing the tone of the song. Mandy was very emotional. I think Barry was telling the truth on the interview when he said the song means a lot to him right now. This song has had a serious feel to it lately, as well - but this is easy to define. It's "truth" - he's found the truth in the song, whatever that truth is to him. I Write the Songs wasn't as emotional tonight, although toward the middle of the song Barry did turn toward the audience and really "connect". And during the part where he strolls to each side of the stage to sing, Barry turned toward the center of the audience, jumped back with arms spread wide as if something surprised him, and then yelled, "THANKS!" Not entirely sure where that was directed - but regardless, I think it's safe to say that we would like to say THANKS back to Barry for all the effort he puts into his craft.
 Copa was wonderful again. Cute guy in tux was even more wonderful. Hee! I was sitting off to the side, so couldn't really get any good shots from when he comes up through the trap door - but that's okay, my eyes recorded it all. Yeah, I know that doesn't do you a lot of good, but it works for me! The audience sang loudly - I think this audience wins the prize for Copa karaoke. LOUD!!!
 This show really flew by. I couldn't believe how fast it went. Of course, we're going to be treated to a lot of Barry in the next few weeks - but nothing compares to sitting there in that audience and feeling that energy from him. If they could figure out how to bottle that feeling, the world would be a happier place.
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