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Paris Las Vegas - June 6, 2010(View photo gallery here)
BB-34
The opening song set the tone for the entire night. Everyone knows by now that Barry opens with Could It Be Magic, first slow, then the uptempo version. As Barry sang the opening lines, he looked down at the audience - it appeared that he was actually looking at people, not just shadows. And notice I said that he was looking "down". I know a lot of people who hate the first few rows because they say Barry never looks at those people - that he always looks over them for the entire show. Well, not this time - Barry was looking down at the people in the first couple of rows - singing to them, pointing to them. We all know that Barry is a master at what he does - that know one knows how to work an audience better than he does. But, still - after all these years - there have been times when I've wondered if he really understands how he can make someone feel when he does something like that, when he can make a single person in the audience know without a doubt that his smile or gesture was meant just for them at that moment. I know several people who left the show on Cloud 9 just because of that. I love the starry background that appears behind Barry after he starts the song - can't remember how far into the song it shows up - doesn't really matter. And I love the way the lyrics are back to "heaven sent you, angels of my lifetime". I always liked that. The lighting at this show is really spectacular. As I mentioned before, my regular show camera died, so the photos I have were taken with my "good" camera. I can't get close-up shots with it, but it does a much better job of capturing the lighting - the quality of the photos is much, much better. And you can really see all of the beautiful colors and lighting effects. Just beautiful. Like the other nights this weekend, Barry seemed to be enjoying Everything's Gonna Be Alright. The audience does, too. It's a great song - a happy song. I'll be glad when we can purchase our own recording of it - I hope the studio recording of the song has the same "life" that the live version has.
Somewhere in the Night was excellent. Barry again "connected" with a few audience members during the performance. And the feeling that he put into the song was reminiscent of some of the old Hilton performances. Weekend in New England was again beautiful and emotional. I thought we might make it through this one without a scream - but no... And what a scream! I hope someone called a doctor for that lady, because it sounded like she was going to die! Ha! Barry did stop - puffed his cheeks out - and then continued on. The ending of the song was especially powerful. I Want To Be Somebody's Baby rocked the house again. The fans were thrilled and the civilians were shocked. Seriously, Barry is getting really good at rocking - the attitude, the vocals, almost stomping across the stage at times. Rock is my thing - I listen to a lot of it, I watch a lot of it - Linkin Park, Skid Row, Korn, Metallica... So, when I say that Barry is rocking, I mean it. I'm not seeing someone up on that stage "trying" to rock - he's doing it! I love what I'm seeing! Anyway, Barry worked so hard on this song that he was visibly winded afterward. He changed up the "does anyone want to be my baby" bit a little - this time it was more like "let me be your baby!," as he gestured toward the audience - not just gesturing toward one spot, but spanning the entire middle section of the audience - another example of connecting with the audience.
I didn't pick up on much feeling during the Grandpa Joe segment at the previous show - but I certainly did during this performance. It was very fresh, very personal - from the cute expressions as Grandpa tries to get baby Barry to sing, to watching Barry mouth the words to Nature Boy along with baby Barry, to listening to Barry sing the final lines of Nature Boy - every moment of it was believable. This One's For You was fantastic - Barry was very expressive throughout the entire song. I know some people don't seem to be crazy about the New York City Rhythm segment - I like it. The lighting and costumes are great. It provides an opportunity for some of Barry's band to showcase their skills. And it makes the song come alive. I was thinking about what it would be like if Barry just sat at the piano to perform the song - honestly, it seemed kind of boring. I think what he's doing with the song in this show is much better than what he was doing with it at the Hilton - it's ALIVE! Adding the backups to the mix has enhanced it. And now the keyboardists don't seem to be in competition - instead, each is just doing what he does best. Barry really pumped himself up tonight as he moved into the Love Story theme (that's how he introduced the song). I had to smile, because I remember at the QVC taping how he said that he had to pump himself up for the song, and I remember his gestures as he did it - same thing for this performance. It was an outstanding performance. This one was more about performance, not about making the audience feel the song or connecting with the audience. But you find yourself sitting there in awe of the performance itself. It's very impressive.
Even Now was outstanding tonight. There were varying degrees of emotion or passion or whatever you want to call it at the other two shows - but Barry put everything into this one. If there were any doubt that I'm remembering correctly, all I have to do is flip through the photos I took to know that I was mesmerized - that's how I can tell - when Barry manages to pull me into a song that deeply, I don't take photos! And I have virtually no photos from that song! The ending was a killer - he was working so hard on those last notes - he shook the rafters. I like the way he's started stepping backward toward the back of the stage, totally surrounded in darkness except for one spotlight shining down on him. He's done it differently for each show. I think I liked what he did Saturday night the best, putting his hand/arm across his brow, because it seemed to continue the emotion of the song. But the bow is nice, too.
I like the sock hop segment, too. It's upbeat and happy - and the interactions between Barry and his backups and band are priceless. It's fun! Again, great lighting and costumes. I love the dueling drummers! Besides, it's an adventure every night! You never know what's going to happen when Kye slides Keely through Barry's legs!! Mandy was nice, but I didn't get much "feeling" from it at any of the shows this weekend. I'm not sure why - thinking back to the other shows I've seen at the Paris, that's really the impression I've walked away with at most, if not all, of the shows. I've been trying to figure out if it's just a matter of that being the beginning of the end - you know the show is winding down at that point. But the thing that keeps coming back to me is distance - Barry seems so far away during the song. He has to be - to make the piano work with the frame displaying the video of Midnight Special Barry it has to be back further on the stage. And honestly, I'm not sure if the piano is really further back than it is during WINE or Even Now - but there's the perception that it is. For the other two songs, the background is dark - it's kind of just Barry and the piano and us. But for Mandy and I Write the Songs, you can see the entire band and the backups - and it seems that the stage is HUGE. So maybe it just seems that he's further away from us. If you like color (and I do!), then the lighting during Copacabana is for you. It's so beautiful - all of those colors! And I'm talking about the lights, not the backdrops that show up later. But speaking of backdrops, this is the first time I noticed that one of the frames behind Barry at the end of Copa has sliced oranges on it! And then it changes to another "painting" of fruit! I'm always too busy watching Barry do his closing Copa "dance" - if it weren't for my photos, I never would have noticed it!
This was a singing audience again! They sang along every time Barry asked. And they were really loud during Copa! (sounded pretty good, too)
Instead of waving goodbye to us tonight, Barry just stepped back into his starry universe and bowed until the curtain came down. I think I like it better when he waves. There's just something that seems so final when he bows like that - it really makes it seem like the end. We never want the end!
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