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Paris Las Vegas - August 14, 2011(View photo gallery here)
BB-30  Every ounce of Looks Like We Made It was exaggerated tonight. LOOKS...LIKE...WE...MADE...IT!!! Those capital letters are important! Ha! And imagine a growling voice as he sings it - big eyes and a huge smile. You had to get a smile on your face, at the very least, watching it and listening to him. Even when Barry started singing the new lyrics, those were much more pronounced and exaggerated than what he normally does with this song. Can't Smile Without You was extra fun tonight, mainly because of Barry's mood. The audience had something to do with it, too - they sang loudly. Barry was in one of those moods where he would speak the lyrics very quickly - I swear I don't see how he can do that so fast. Of course, I don't see how he manages to get through Cloudburst, either - I couldn't do it no matter how much practice I had. Must be a New York thing vs a Texas thing. Maybe that's why New Yorkers get so irritated with me everytime I'm up there. They're already bored by the time I get out my second word! Oh, well... At any rate, Barry seemed to be having fun with the song. He would also lean in toward the audience to emphasize certain lyrics. I've never seen him do that before - not on this particular song. Barry played with us yet again as he began the ballad segment of the show. This time he first chose Ready To Take A Chance Again - he sang the first line - then scrunched up his face for a second before saying "not tonight". Then he did a line from The Old Songs - scrunched up his face again and then said, "No... Ah, I know what it is..." And he started playing the opening chords to Even Now. But as he was playing, he had to throw in one more little cute remark - he said, "I can name this song in NO notes!" Well, yeah - because YOU know what's coming next!! The performance of Even Now was fantasic. While at the piano, Barry was very expressive - he made every line of the lyrics come alive with both his voice and his facial expressions. He normally stands up from the piano as he finishes the line "How I wish you knew" and starts on the line "Even now, when I never hear your name", and as he stands, the song just flows smoothly. Tonight, though, Barry seemed to be so into the song that as he sang "how I wish you knew", it sounded like his voice broke with emotion - and as he stood up from the piano, his facial expression looked as if it were all he could do to not cry. You probably know what I'm talking about - you tighten your jaw to keep the lower lip from trembling, and you swallow trying to get that lump in your throat to go away. Barry's performance was so realistic, that's what I was seeing. As he stepped down off the platform that the piano is on, and he began the line "the pain goes on and on", the pain was so intense on his face that you could feel it yourself - he clenched his teeth together, and then he clenched his fist and pounded the air. Sometimes when he sings that final "God I wish you knew", he projects intense frustration. But tonight that's not what I saw. Instead, the tone of his voice went along with what I had just seen with the clenched teeth and fist. Barry sang that line much more softly than he usually does. Normally that line is pretty forceful, sometimes emphasized with gestures. The tone of Barry's voice really wasn't forceful this time. The only adjective I can come up with is longing - he sang it in a tone that made you think you were seeing someone who was hurting and longing to get his message across, but either couldn't do it for some reason or didn't know how to do it - almost like being on the verge of giving up. That's what I was seeing in the performance, anyway. Those last two long notes were fantastic again. Barry started that first long note with his hand up in the air, but as the note continued he lowered his arm to reach toward the audience - and he left his arm in that position for a few moments as he started walking toward the audience. The last long note was almost as powerful tonight as it was last night - he's really been putting a lot into that. Those two notes did seem to take a little out of him tonight - for a minute or two, anyway. Barry seemed to play more to the audience during the first part of Brooklyn Blues tonight. He spent more time looking out into the audience, with less emphasis on telling the story. Well, there were moments during the song when he really seemed to be telling them story. But sometimes the entire song is almost like a monologue set to music. And sometimes it seems to be more just Barry being into his music with some lyrics thrown in there. So tonight Barry was projecting out to the audience, but he seemed to be more into the music than the lyrics. The long note was quite long tonight - he really was showing off! For the last few shows, it's been sounding to me as if Barry has slightly changed the beginning of I Am Your Child. Is anyone else hearing that? (I know - you're saying "there she goes hearing things again!") But it does seem different. I seem to remember the opening of the song had more single notes, but now I'm hearing more chords. Or maybe the chords are different. It just doesn't have the same feel.  While we're on the subject of hearing different things, it was This One's For You that seems to have a different ending. And at tonight's show it sounded different than it did two nights ago! What I seem to remember from Friday night's show was more of a stacatto effect with the instruments - can't even really tell you which instruments I was hearing. Tonight it sounded more like a smooth run of the horns. There was also something extra at the end of one of the songs - can't remember which song - Barry had left the stage, and the band was in almost total darkness. I'm pretty sure it was a keyboard this time. In fact, when I heard it, I tried to see who it came from, but it was so dark, the only band member I could see at all was Joey - and I could just barely see him. Anyway, I Am Your Child and Nature Boy were just as beautiful and had just as much feeling as they did for the first two shows this week. I love the way Barry looked into the audience during both songs tonight. Well, it appeared he looked into the audience - it's awfully dark for both of those songs - he may see nothing but black. But there's the feeling that he's looking out and connecting with the audience, anyway. He even appeared to be connecting during the baby Barry portion of Nature Boy. In fact, at one point I felt the same sensation I felt back in New Orleans in 2002 when he looked into the audience during Not What You See. You know...how sometimes there are just these moments, certain sights or sounds or even fragrances that somehow get attached to a feeling - and then if you encounter one of those sensory stimuli it can bring back the same feeling? There was just something about Nature Boy that brought back some of those memories. Barry managed to take that song way beyond just being a performance tonight. This One's For You wasn't quite as dramatic tonight, but it still had tons of emotion in it. It was just more controlled than what I saw on Saturday night. You know, to me that's always been the difference between a great rock song and a great ballad. Both have tons of passion. But in rock, the emotion doesn't have to be controlled. Most ballads take that passion and emotion to a certain level and then hold it there. And I'm guessing there's a reason for that - a professional reason, I mean. I've always thought maybe it had something to do with the audience. A lot of people I know are uncomfortable with the degree of passion that you find in some rock songs. At any rate, Barry didn't get quite as passionate with This One's For You tonight, but the performance wasn't lacking at all. He had no trouble getting his message across - it came through loud and clear. I think Barry was having more fun than usual during New York City Rhythm. He had kind of a silly look in his eyes throughout a good portion of the song. He definitely had a huge smile on his face. Barry played air piano again as they did the "chase". I tried to get a shot, but I missed it. I don't think he was forced off the end of the piano tonight - I think he was just being silly. And then I know he was being silly when I got this shot of him flashing us with his jacket lining.  Love Is Here To Stay was just as romantic tonight as it was last night - maybe more! And Barry's eyes were glistening again. His voice was so smooth. He glided as he strolled across the stage. And, when he looked out into the audience and smiled as he sang, I could have just melted. I think he stole my heart and forgot to give it back when the song was over. That's okay - he can keep it! It already has his name permanently tatooed on it. The crowd is still going wild as Barry starts the 15 Minutes segment. And he always seems surprised. You know, this production of this song is so totally different from anything we've ever seen from Barry, and yet it's so totally Barry. The set, the design, the lighting all have such a different tone. And Barry himself takes on a different tone. But it's still classic Manilow. This is very fresh - I'm sure it must take some people by surprise. I love Barry's performance of this song - well, I love the song. It's now in the my top 3 favorites from this new CD. The music is fantastic, the music effects are fantastic. Barry had a lot of attitude in tonight's performance. I think I mentioned in my last review that sometimes Barry performs the song as someone with a lot of confidence in where he's going with his career, and sometimes he performs it as someone with a lot of defiance. I think tonight's performance had the best of both worlds - maybe the perfect combination of the two. This has got to be one of the best and most expressive photos of Barry I've ever taken. This is from 15 Minutes - "Can't call it a life, knowing what I got inside me - working a job that any poor slob could fill."  Bring on Tomorrow was beautiful - it's always beautiful. Barry wasn't as expressive toward the audience as he sometimes is, but of the three nights, I think tonight's performance was the "connecting". After Barry left the piano and came forward on the stage, he maintained the same tone that he had at the piano. That doesn't always happen - sometimes you see a pretty big difference. For instance, on Saturday night the last chorus of the song was very strong, and you could see it in the photo. Tonight's performance wasn't like that, but I don't mean it was lacking - it wasn't. Barry was just performing it with a different tone - a softer tone - maybe even a happier tone. Actually, it melded beautifully with the music. Between the tone Barry was using, the gentle emotion he was projecting, the lighting change and big ballad sound that happens as Barry moves into that last chorus, I just had to close my eyes for a second and absorb it all. It almost felt like something that you could breathe in. And then when Barry took his bow after finishing the song. Wowwwwwwww. The lighting did it's little fade thingy where everything starts going to black except a little golden spotlight just on Barry. As the gold started appearing, Barry gently put both hands to his lips and blew us a kiss, mouthed the words "thank you", briefly bowed, and then just stood there smiling at us for what seemed like an eternity. I absolutely went to heaven. That image will NEVER leave my brain. Everyone looked like they were having fun with Bandstand tonight. Well, they always look like they're having fun. There were just a lot of smiles and laughs. In this photo, Keely looks like she's doing, "I'm a little teapot...", Muffy looks like she's signaling a touchdown, Melanie looks like she's directing traffic, and then in the second photo Kye looks like he's sneaking in for the biggest photo bomb of all time! I really need to sit front row a time or two to get some better shots of these moments - if I can get over being self-conscious on the front row. I keep missing the shot at the end of the song where Keely grabs Barry's arm and starts dragging him to the back of the stage. He always turns to look at the audience as if he doesn't want to go, then waves at us as he's being dragged away. And I always miss the shot. I'm think I'm going to see if I can find one of the older models of my camera on Ebay, like the one I used at the Hilton - it would allow me to take multiple shots at a time. And I really want this shot!
Mandy made me sad. Because I knew the show was almost over. But Barry's performance of Mandy was great. He managed something tonight that I've rarely seen at all, and not sure I've ever seen here at te Paris. Barry looked out into the audience and for a moment it actually looked like he saw us. So, I'd better clarify that. A lot of times when Barry performs Mandy, he seems to be in a far away place - it's definitely a big ballad performance, directed more toward the universe than the audience. Lately Barry has been turning toward the audience as he sings. And while that does give a more personal feel to the performance, there's still a far away look in Barry's eyes. I have no idea what that lighting is like for Barry, but from the audience view of things, it appears to be so bright that he probably can't even see the piano much less his audience. So, when he turned toward the audience and it actually appeared for a second that his eyes focused on us, it was a big deal! Okay, if you've never sat in at least the first 4 rows, you're not going to get that comment at all, because further back than that you aren't going to be able to feel it. But if you're sitting close enough, you can "feel" when Barry makes that connection. I felt that tonight during Mandy. Barry must have been in a teasing mood tonight during Copa. He hasn't done it in a long time, but tonight he did the "ah, love... ah, romance... ah, sex!" bit. I thought he was going to do it last night, but then just before he did, he gave us a sly look and didn't do it - almost as if he were teasing us. Tonight, he went ahead and did it - and THEN gave us that sly, teasing look. And of course I didn't have my camera ready! I half expected him to go skipping across the stage saying, "nyah, nyah". That's what his eyes were saying, anyway!  I keep mentioning that Barry has been giving us big eyed looks during some of the songs. I wish I had taken a shot of what Barry did to us when he came back up through the trap door in his tux. Well, I did snap one side shot just before he got rid of his top hat - but I would have loved to have one of him looking straight out into the audience with that expression on his face. He came up through the trap door with that "look" that he always has. Then that look turns into the "am I fabulous?" look. But then tonight, THAT second look turned into a wider-eyed look - and then it turned into a REALLY wide-eyed, silly look. That's what can be seen in this photo. Even with goofy expressions, he's still totally adorable in that tux!  And Barry continued being silly as he walked back to do the "shirt on acid" bit. He got in front of the shirt, stood perfectly straight, arms locked down to his side - imagine a toy soldier. Then he started doing funny faces - REALLY funny faces. Usually he uses his arms almost as if he were painting all of the colors that are blossoming forth on the screen behind him. But tonight, he just stood there making funny faces and moving his body as if he was actually a part of all the craziness going on behind him. I was laughing way too hard to get any good photos of it. I got a couple of shots of half his head, and things like that. More eyes glistening as Barry sang the final lines of Copa. It looks like there are diamonds in his eyes. Easy to see what he's singing in this shot - tongue on the roof of his mouth - "We fell in love!" I think that's stating the obvious!  Hey, Barry - the button on the left sleeve of your tux is about to fall off! Ha! We got It's A Miracle again. This time, I wasn't the one bouncing - Barry was. As the song started, he just kept bouncing and bouncing and bouncing. I finally had to laugh out loud - he was so cute. When he sang, "The miracle is YOU" tonight, he had the tone that he wasn't taking no for an answer. Well, if we insist he's our miracle, and he insists that we're his miracle, then I guess we'll have to just agree that this entire experience is miraculous! I didn't want the show to be over, of course. Barry headed back toward the curtain, but then he turned around to face us and gave us the most beautiful smile you've ever seen. Just like at the opening of the show, his eyes were glistening.  It was still hard watching that curtain come down - in my mind, I can still see Barry standing there, mostly in the dark - just enough light to see a slight smile as he looked out at the audience. It kind of seemed that he might be looking at us the way we were looking at him - wanting the image to stay in our minds. I felt sad for a few moments because the weekend was over - Barry always does that to us, doesn't he? But, then I remembered the image of him bouncing. Bouncing like Tigger! Come to think of it, Barry has something in common with Tigger. He's the only one!
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