Paris Las Vegas - November 12, 2011

CC-29

I have a little spreadsheet (yes, I'm a geek) that I use to keep track of which shows I've attended and where I sat at each show. I don't know why - like, I said - I'm a geek. Geeks do things like this - we don't need a reason. Anyway, when I was putting that information in after the show, I remembered that tonight's show was my 200th time to see Barry perform between the Hilton and the Paris. I remembered that last week, but actually forgot about when I got here this weekend. Well, it turned out to be special in more ways than one.

The audience reaction as Barry approached the mic for Could It Be Magic was huge. Everyone was standing. The cheers were extremely loud. The look on Barry's face was priceless. See, this is why I struggle with guilt when I start feeling sad about Vegas ending. Because even if a lot of us will never be able to attend these upcoming shows, this is the kind of reaction he's going to get every night. And it seems to make him so happy. And he definitely looked happy tonight - his eyes were glistening. I'm sure mine were, too - for a multitude of reasons.

This was one of those special nights - the kind where you want to take home a ton of streamers to put in your memory box. It was an emotional night. I know a lot of that could just be us projecting our own feelings into the performances - but that doesn't matter. If it feels emotional to us, it's emotional. Barry wants us to "feel", remember? We do - or, at least, I do. If you don't allow yourself, then you don't know what you're missing. Although I have to say I would have more money for Barry tickets if I didn't have to buy so many boxes of Kleenex! I'm surprised Stiletto hasn't started marketing those - you know, little boxes of Kleenex with some kind of slogan or logo on the side!

I remember someone asked me a long time ago what I saw as the difference between emotion and passion - and THAT's the difference. Passion is just a performance. Emotion feels real. So, if I refer to what Barry is doing as being passionate, he's acting out the song, he's using gestures and facial expressions to emphasize lyrics - it's BARRY performing. But I when I say he was emotional, then it FEELs real - it's Barry connecting with his audience. Tonight it felt as if Barry were with us the entire night - didn't feel like a performance.

You can't tell for sure, but it almost looks like Barry was smiling as he took the stage.

Barry seemed to be in a great mood throughout the night in spite of the emotional overtones. Daybreak was extremely upbeat. I loved the way Barry sang the "fear, not here!" line. He was so emphatic, but in a good-natured way.

I can't find words to describe Somewhere in the Night. This time it seemed kind of different. The song had that smooth, makes-you-want-to-melt tone to it. But it wasn't as if Barry were striving for a romantic feel. I'm just not sure how to describe it - but whatever it was, I was loving it.

Again, Looks Like We Made It felt like a love song to the audience. Barry sang with wide, sweeping arm motions to take us all in.

And Can't Smile Without You was fun again. There was no lack of audience participation tonight. Barry gave us the fast version of the lyrics again - in fact, he didn't just do it once, he did it through two different choruses. I must not be the only person that enjoys that because I could hear some giggles around me.

We got a big surprise with the ballad of the night. Barry sang I Made It Through the Rain. And it was fantastic! It's been a while since I've seen that one. He used to perform this song a lot at the Hilton. It was always great, but I can only remember one other instance where I felt it so strongly. I remember the circumstances surrounding that - I won't go into them - but something had really shaken me. This is one of those songs that can connect to a really broad audience - most of us either currently have or have had in the past circumstances that would fit these lyrics. This rendition was more special than I ever remember it being before. There was a lady in the audience who looked seriously ill - made me wonder if the song might have been for her. Barry really, really connected with the audience. Looking out across the audience really isn't something that stands out in my mind from his past performances of this song (other than the one time I mentioned from the Hilton days - I remember him doing that then, too). But Barry did look out across the audience. The feeling was intense. Loved it.

Barry was so cute as he started Brooklyn Blues. As he stood next to the piano and spoke the lines about the song having a great groove, he gave us a little, well, hip movement. (No, not like that!!) It was just cute - got a rise out of the audience, too. As Barry has been doing with this song so often lately, he "connected" again, looking out at the audience as he sang. This time the feeling was so intense, I botched every photo! That's too funny. It's not even a mushy love song and he managed to rattle me enough I couldn't take photos. The long note was very long again. I wonder how many bars that is? I can't count - I'm always too amazed watching him.

The Grandpa Joe segment felt different to me tonight - probably my own mental state rather than Barry changing things. Or maybe not. I Am Your Child didn't feel quite as sad to me, although still very emotional. Barry seemed emotional, I mean. And a lot of people in the audience did, too. And it was still just as beautiful. Barry also didn't play around with Nature Boy as much as he used to. It was beautiful, as well. This One's For You was the killer, though.

This One's For You was one of the high points of the night. Again, Barry seemed emotional. One moment he was looking at the audience, the next he was looking off into the distance. But even when his gaze wasn't directed at us, he was connecting. There was just something about the look in his eyes. It was kind of haunting at times. As he approached that line that has been killing me (the "miss me" line), he turned his head to look out across the audience. It felt like he was singing to all of us - the line "I sing for you" felt totally genuine. I figured I would be a goner when he got to that point in the song, but...

I actually didn't get that old lump in my throat when Barry sang the "might just miss me, too" line tonight. I was thinking it - I was thinking, "Oh, heck, yeah - I'm going to miss you". But there was something about the way Barry delivered those lines tonight that made it all better, at least for that moment. He took away the lump and the tears... (NOW is a totally different matter, however - the old throat is tightening up just thinking about it.)

But I found a totally appropriate quotation - explains it all:

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."
~Kahlil Gibran

So, see? We're just sad because Barry has made us so happy. I'm sure philosophically that makes all kinds of sense. Most of the world is still going to think we're nuts - but at least we'll have a great quotation to throw at them. It should confuse them enough for us to get away.

Barry performed the ending of the song very emotionally. Actually, there were two things going on. Even though This One's For You is one of the big Barry ballads, I rarely get that feeling from it. I get a lot of different feelings from the song, but not that feeling of being wrapped in the music. This song always has a much more personal feeling for me, probably because the lyrics can express a lot of different things. But tonight I got the big ballad feel from the last portion of the song. It felt huge - felt like I was being enveloped by the song. At the same time, Barry had a lot of emotion going on. And I, we, all of us have a lot of emotion going on. And "it", what we were experiencing, just felt gigantic. I have to say "it" - I refuse to call what I was seeing a "performance". I know that's what it was, but this was so special tonight - using the term "performance" just doesn't do it justice - it takes something away from what Barry was doing.

On top of that, Barry did something I've never seen him do before. There have been a variety of ways that he sings the line "it's all I can do". Sometimes he just sings it - nothing special. Sometimes he clinches his fist with a frustrated look on his face. Sometimes he gestures toward the audience with a pained expression. And sometimes he even kind of looks apologetic. But at tonight's show, I saw something new... And for once I was really glad I was sitting in 3rd row instead of 2nd - because I'm not sure I could have seen all of it otherwise - I think I would have missed his eyes. Barry threw his head back and looked straight up at the ceiling, at the heavens, at whatever was up there listening. The expression on his face was like a combination of all of the above - and maybe add a little "desperation" in there. Barry sang the line. And then, still with his head thrown back and eyes gazing upwards, he threw both arms out to the side, completely outstretched. It really did look like someone sending out a desperate cry, "WHAT can I do?"

Well, if that still wasn't enough to rattle you, Barry proceeded to finish the song very emotionally. There was tons of emotion in his performance - when he's like this, it doesn't feel like a performance at all - it feels totally real. Well, and I guess it IS real for him at the moment. And it's real for us, too. Barry finished out the song with that same degree of feeling that saw when he had his head thrown back and his arms outstretched. I snapped off a few shots at the ending - I had to - I was getting too emotional myself. (have to "work" sometimes to deal with it) His fist was clenched so tightly he must have had finger imprints in the palm of his hand. And then the look on his face as he left the stage...

Normally when Barry comes to the stage for New York City Rhythm, even if This One's For You has been really emotional, he appears to be the happiest guy in the world, loving his music and loving his NYC. But for a brief moment tonight, just as he walked back on stage, that wasn't there. Didn't last long - by the time the dialogue got to "and the music", he was mostly back into that familiar mode. After the first verse of so, he was completely back to what we're used to seeing. Barry was very funny with his Dancing With the Stars dialogue - and mainly his facial expressions. He seemed to be having a blast with his piano solo. But the shot I'm going to use for illustration purposes is this profile shot - just too cute!

Yes, we definitely have a competition going with the keyboard guys! This time it wasn't during the piano chase - this time it was during each guy's solo. Ron P was so intense with the Gershwin. Joey started off in a totally different direction with his solo - he was playing in a completely different style from what he normally does. As Ron W jumps down to head toward Barry's piano at center stage, Barry always says "Take us to church, Ron!" and then they go into the little It's A Miracle snippet. Tonight Ron W was doing something completely different on the piano - or maybe not so much different as just "extra". It really jumped out at me. So, I have to say Ron W wins tonight!

And Barry played air piano tonight. The audience is loving that. From the grin on Barry's face, I'd say he knows it.

Tonight's performance of Love Is Here To Stay was the best I've ever seen. It had all the same attributes as Barry's previous performances. But tonight... The biggest change was the smallest thing. Barry slightly changed the way he delivered the lyrics. As he was singing the first verse, he inserted a pause, a hesitation as he sang one of the lines. I know, that doesn't sound like much, but... Wow! That grabbed my attention! Barry really doesn't experiment much with the delivery of the lyrics on this song - at least, not that I've been here to see. Oh, I've seen him sing the song in a whimsical fashion - that "romantically silly" way that I've mentioned a time or two. But I've never seen him perform the song like this before... There was another instance or two where Barry did something similar with the song, but all it took was once. Man! He is SO GOOD at this!

I keeping wanting to get a shot of Barry at the point in the song where he's about to start "changing" the paintings - you know, he motions to each one and the picture changes... He frequently gets this super cute expression on his face. And either I'm never ready or I just plain miss the shot. Well, tonight, he not only gave us that adorable expression - he also paused and just stood there for a moment. I couldn't have taken a photo if I'd wanted to! I took this shot about halfway through the song. But there's no shot that could do justice to what Barry was giving us tonight.

And we went from melting right into rockin' out with 15 Minutes...

Intense, attitude, awesome! I love this song! And I love the way Barry is performing it. He kicked it up another notch tonight. He put so much into it. At one point he slapped his thigh as emphasis. And then the foot stomp - not just the little foot stomps he sometimes gives us. This was a STOMP! I'm surprised he didn't go right through the floor with it. (that generated a little excitement in the audience!) His eyes! These expressions I'm catching aren't what we're used to seeing. I love this! There are no words to express how much I love what he's doing with this song.

Bring On Tomorrow was just as wonderful as always. I love this song - always love Barry's interpretation of it, even if it doesn't totally match what the song means to me. Tonight's performance didn't quite have the exuberance of last night's, but it had a depth that made up for it. Barry was just a tad more serious during the beginning of the song. The ending had the same mix of defiance and hope, though. This was another of the nights when the "big sound" really grabbed me - not just the sound, but the lights and Barry's performance - the whole enchilada. It was one of those times when I felt like I was able to breathe in the entire thing. I love that feeling.

Barry pretended to dive into the audience at the beginning of American Bandstand tonight. That was cute. He seemed to be having a blast up there. Everything he did was cute and funny - and just fun. There's so much going on up there. I really think I'm going to come to the end of these shows and still not have managed to capture all of it.

Mandy grabbed me again tonight. The beginning leaned more toward his subtle performances - emotional, but not overly so. But when he got to "the pain is calling" it really picked up. And then as he moved into the Could It Be Magic part, he pulled out all stops. Usually it's the Mandy part that gets me, but tonight it was the CIBM part that made me catch my breath.

Barry again connected with the audience during I Write the Songs. He looked out toward us, scanning the audience throughout the entire song. Well, almost... At the spot in the song where Barry usually says something to the backups, I could see him say "I love all of you". And then he said something else. And I didn't look over at the backups this time because Barry was doing something different than what he normally does - so, I didn't see if they were talking back to him. But then he stopped and looked at them with his mouth open, as if he were listening to something - as if someone were talking to him in his ear monitors. And he almost went past the point where he was supposed to start singing again - he got a surprised look on his face and hurriedly started singing. I don't know if that was for show, or if someone really distracted him. But it was funny. And regardless, it served a fantastic purpose - because at this spot in the show, we're all starting to really slide down into the depression. That lightened things up!

Barry was very funny during Copa. I didn't try to catch any shots of him being cute - I just enjoyed it. I couldn't get good shots of the trap door segment because there were too many people in front of me. But Barry came back up with one of his cute expressions. When he threw his top hat to Kye, Kye almost missed it - and that made Barry laugh.

As Barry came back out for the It's A Miracle ending, he mentioned again that he would only be in Vegas a short while longer and told us that we should "watch our ads" to see if he was coming to us. I wish. I know he said he wasn't going on the road, but, but, but... He has no idea how much this is killing us. Or maybe he does - maybe that's why we're seeing so much emotion.

One more show - and then only 5 more after that... Okay, here I go again... There's not enough Kleenex for this....

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