This was the best show of the three, at least in my opinion. Barry seemed full of energy - he treated us to several bounces and lots of dancing throughout the show.
I have a new favorite jacket! I love this new fuchsia jacket that Barry has. As a friend said when she posted about the show, we had wondered if Barry might wear it for the last show of the weekend. We could see it the minute he walked out on stage, before they had even turned the spotlight on him. And we really WERE jumping up and down - yes, even me! That color is gorgeous! Who woulda thunk I would have ever said my favorite jacket is a color other than blue or white? First I buy a red car, and now my favorite jacket is fuchsia. What's this world coming to?!? At any rate, that jacket goes beautifully with some of the lighting. It looked wonderful with the blue/violet lighting during Somewhere in the Night. And it also looked wonderful with the pink/red/magenta lighting. After looking at this jacket, maybe the best way to describe that pinkish/magenta lighting during various songs should be fuchsia - that's really the color that comes closer to matching what I'm seeing.
Speaking of Somewhere in the Night, Barry tried to keep it romantic, but the audience screams got the better of him. I wouldn't exactly describe the performance as sexy, though. Actually, it looked more like Barry was trying to suppress a smile when the audience started screaming. He did oblige a little with that pout of his. Such fun...
Barry kept Even Now in the show in place of Weekend in New England. Last night's performance was outstanding, but tonight's rendition went beyond that. Barry put an incredible amount of passion into the song. And he nailed that killer long note at the end. It looked like he put everything he had into it. If you were sitting close enough, you could see how much energy was going into his performance. It was like he had rolled 3 performances of that song into one. I'm surprised he had any breath left at all when he was done.
I Am Your Child was emotional - not quite as emotional as last night, but close. I want to say that there's been a sincerity in Barry's performances of I Am Your Child this week - but to say that would imply that his previous performances weren't sincere - not the case. Let's just say that there was a depth of feeling that extended beyond the performance of the song. Barry put enough into the performance that you weren't just an audience member watching someone perform a song that meant a lot to him - you were also feeling it yourself.
This One's For You was again excellent. At the last show I think I mentioned that Barry's performance seemed a little deeper than it normally is. Tonight's performance was the same. The tone of Barry's voice and the pauses as he introduced the song actually set the mood before he ever started performing. Barry didn't belt the song out like a power ballad, but he made it very real. One slight exception to that was when Barry stood up and walked to the front of the stage - that part of the song got quite a bit stronger. The lyrics "things I should have said" were extremely forceful - Barry closed his eyes and clenched his fist, almost gritted his teeth as he sang those words.
For a while now during New York City Rhythm Barry has been making a joke about going on Dancing With the Stars. He always asks the audience if he should go on the show, but then makes some sort of comment afterward. Tonight he asked if he should go on the show, and then he said, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!," drawing it out loud and long. Very funny.
I'm not sure how to describe tonight's performance of Our Love Is Here to Stay. It was kind of romantic and it was kind of sweet. But it was also kind of light-hearted and maybe even a little silly. So how can a performance be light-heartedly romantic and sweetly silly?? I don't know - but take a look at this photo... I'm going to post it even though it's really blurry because the look on Barry's face says it all. What you see on his face is what this performance was like!
Barry's performance of Bring On Tomorrow was outstanding. It was also different than what I've been seeing. The first several times I saw the song performed, Barry smiled a lot. The smiles have been toned down - the song has taken on more of a serious tone. I've been trying to compare what I was seeing before with what I saw at this show. And this is my interpretation, for what's it worth... For all of the previous performances (that I've seen, anyway), it came across as a guy that was THRILLED that he got the job - he was smiling and exuberant and excited. But for this performance, it had more of a tone of determination. You know the lines "they told us we're crazy, they promised I'd lose" - well, the attitude that you would normally think would go with those lyrics seemed to apply to the entire song. The beauty of the song was still there, but the air of romance wasn't. And I guess that kind of fits in with the concept of the CD - because one of the later songs has to do with the guy realizing that the music is the only thing that matters to him. And that's what I saw in this performance of Bring On Tomorrow - he was telling the girl about the new job, but it seriously seemed as if she didn't really matter to him - all that mattered was that he could "make it". Like I said, the beauty of the song was still there - and the performance was fantastic. But it definitely left me with a different feeling when the song was done. As for preferences, yeah...I would rather see romance in the song. But still... Manilow was working his magic again.
Bandstand was hilarious in more than one way. It's always funny because Barry goofs around during the dances. He's back to calling them "those stupid dances" again. So cute! But tonight, after Russ and David's drum solos - oh, wait - I keep forgetting to mention that lately they seem to be doing dueling drums - most of the time I hear them playing different things each night - and that makes it seem more like a duel of the drums. Anyway, after the drum solos, Barry started toward the front of the stage - but he forgot his microphone. It was so funny watching him run back to get it and then have to run even faster to get to the front of the stage where he's supposed to be for the beginning of the song. Everyone was laughing about that.
Then, when it came to the point in the medley where Keely slides through Barry's legs, she came through at an angle and wound up sideways on the stage. Barry REALLY yelled "Wipeout" this time! And everyone was laughing about that one, too!
If it's possible, I think Mandy was even more passionate tonight than it has been the last two nights. That song has really been standing out lately. No doubt Barry has found the truth in the song. He's definitely immersed in it. Fantastic performances!
This was probably the second most emotional I Write the Songs of the weekend. I saw a little of the same feeling in this performance as I did during the Friday night show - not so much at the beginning, but it really showed up as Barry started the second verse. After the song, there was a huge ovation from the audience - it was one of the loudest responses of the week. Barry took his bows and headed off the stage, as usual - but he paused just before going behind the curtain and looked out at everyone, smiling. It was like he was drinking it all in.
Remember that dance that Barry used to do during It's A Miracle? That little skipping dance that he did years ago? I've only seen it twice since Barry has been in Vegas. I saw it once at the Hilton - and then I saw it tonight. When Barry reappeared from side stage for Copa, he came out doing that cute little dance. I always loved that dance!
And here's some more fun. I think was during Copa, but it might have been one of the other upbeat numbers... I looked up and saw Stan (the bass player) dancing around. Wish I had caught a picture of it, but it caught me by surprise.
What was that I heard? During the portion of Copa where the backups are all dancing (while Barry is changing into his tux), I heard a new sound (new to me, anyway). A keyboard of some sort? That was cool!
When Barry came back up through the trap door in his tux, he hesitated a little longer than usual before walking back to "that shirt". Don't know why he hesitated, but who cares? It gave us a longer look at him in his tux!
The ending of Copa, where Barry throws his head back, arm up in the air, with "The End" being displayed above his head - that part was a little atypical at this show. This time Barry put his right hand up to his face - he stopped just short of running it through is hair. That mannerism is normally something we see in Even Now or another of the big ballads when it's a particularly passionate performance. So, this was kind of different. It had exactly he same effect on us, though - guess it doesn't matter what song he does it in, we love it.
As usual, the time for Barry to wave goodbye came way too quickly. Honestly, I think time goes by faster every show.
