Barry is back at the Hilton in a big way! The show tonight was incredible. Barry looks great, sounds even better...well...maybe a tie between those two... At any rate, it was a fabulous show!
It's been 9 weeks since I've seen Barry perform (darn cancellations). In Manilow time, that's FOREVER! (I know - I'm very, very fortunate to see him as much as I do. But it still feels like forever!)
Barry opened in the bright red jacket. He seemed full of energy, happy to be with us. For a Thursday night, it was a very appreciative crowd. Heck, it was a very appreciative crowd for most any night.
There was one funny moment at the beginning - but only the Trekkies in the audience got it. Barry tried to do the Vulcan hand salute - badly. LOL (if you need lessons, Barry, I can teach you!) It was probably lost on most of the audience, but those of us who are here for the Trek convention as well as to see Barry appreciated it.
The opening medley was really cute. Barry was almost bubbly. Somewhere in the Night somehow managed to be a cross between cute and sexy. Not quite sure how you can do that, but Barry did. This One's For You was great, too - he definitely made us feel as if the show really were for us.
We got the soft Barry for Weekend in New England tonight. It was truly beautiful. I love when he performs the song this way.
Oh, before I forget - he had a new jacket. Black cloth jacket, but the sleeves were black leather. The audience loved it.
Anyway, everyone did yell at the appropriate moment during WINE, and Barry donned his adorable "I'm fabulous" facial expressions before announcing, "I still got it!" Well, of course you do! And if there were any doubt, at the end of the song he turned to the audience and gave us a look that would have made the most avid Barry-hater in the world turn to mush. I'm surprised that I can remember anything after that point in the show - I was melting! Barry poured his heart and soul into the song. We didn't know it at the time, but it was setting the stage for the rest of the night.
Looks Like We Made It was a knockout. It oozed sensuality tonight. The moves that make all the girls scream were there, just toned down a little. He didn't need them - his eyes, his expressions, his voice told the story. Barry really put a lot of feeling into the last part of the song. That performance had to rank up at the top of all the times I've seen him do this song. Sometimes it seems as if he's playing more with the audience than performing the song - but tonight was a perfect balance.
The Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again/Even Now medley came across a little differently tonight. TTGTFA was soft, kind of melancholy - and then Even Now was pure power ballad. Both methods worked. Barry put a lot of passion into Even Now. He held that note at the end beautifully.
Can't Smile Without You was extra happy tonight. Yeah, I know - the happy/sad controversy - whatever. Tonight it was happy. There were several kids sitting behind me - one little girl knew the words to at least half of the songs in the show. Someone held her up while we were singing CSWY. I think Barry saw her.
We got New York City Rhythm complete with musical chairs around the piano. Who wins? Hmmmm.... Ron W - yeah, I think Ron W won tonight.
Yes, we got Mayflower tonight - 3 songs!
The first was Not What You See It. I love that song. I swear, I thought he stole my heart with that song 7 years ago - but every time I see him perform it he manages to find another piece to steal. Barry did an excellent job - it was more than just a performance. He chose certain lyrics to really emphasize. Sometimes he used an accent. When it was done, I really thought that song would be the showstopper of the night. Turns out that it wasn't, but it could have been.
They did The Night That Tito Played. I'll admit, I really didn't care much for the song on the CD. But I've loved it every single time I've seen it live. It certainly appears that Barry loves doing it. He was very playful during the song. It seemed that maybe they've shortened the song a little, have a little less choreography. I could be wrong about that - it just seemed that way to me. Maybe I was enjoying it so much... They did something at the end of the song that I don't recall seeing at the convention in May - I suppose it could have been there and I just missed it because of the angle. At any rate, at the end, they kind of chased each other around in a little circle - it was really a cute ending. One of the things that make me think Barry really enjoyed doing the song was the big grin on his face at the end - he actually ran backwards toward the backups, grinning the entire time. Adorable!
Then we got Talk to Me. Showstopper. Incredible. Unbelievable! Barry's performance was overflowing with emotion and passion. He had the entire audience in the palm of his hand. He got a very loud, very long standing ovation. A little later in the show, Barry mentioned that Marty Panzer was in the audience and that he had written the lyrics for Talk to Me - and he said it in such a way that it sounded like he was crediting the ovation to the lyrics. The lyrics are great - Marty always write fantastic lyrics. But for the most part, that ovation was because of Barry's performance. It made you catch your breath. When it was over you just had to say "wow!"
Next we got a lovely, beautiful rendition of Somewhere Down the Road. Always makes people in the audience cry. Always makes me cry. I think we made Barry cry, too.
Barry sang SDTR so tenderly and softly - just beautiful. All those pieces of my heart that he's stolen during Not What You See...well, he just tears them apart during this song. But I love every second of it.
And Ships was also lovely. The performance wasn't quite as strong as some I've seen, but I think we were all (Barry included) trying to recover from SDTR. There was nothing wrong with the performance - Barry just didn't manage to take me with him on that song the way he usually does - probably because I was still "somewhere down the road." It was still beautiful.
Mandy/Could It Be Magic is always great - no surprise there. Barry is still wearing my favorite white jacket.
And guess what... Barry put I Write the Songs back in the show. I was very surprised to realize that I had missed it. For some of the songs that have always been a part of the show year after year, I find that they aren't generating a lot of feeling in me. (note: I said SOME of the songs - It's a Miracle and WINE aren't included in that - I always, always, always, always "feel" them!) Hearing IWTS tonight, I realized that there was a lot of feeling! I think the fans were very glad to see it back in the show - it kind of set the tone for what was left of the night. Everyone was smiling and happy.
Barry was very playful during Copa tonight - and so were the backups. The staircase at the back of the stage wasn't there tonight - instead Barry came from side stage in his Copa jacket. It seemed as if the platform wasn't going to come down - so Barry pulled Kye to center stage to do the routine there. But then the platform came down. Barry got a look of mock surprise on his face, pointing at the platform as it came down. And then he literally ran up the steps to do the normal Copa routine. When he came back down and sang his line "We fell in love...", Barry gave us one of his "oh, please" looks. Of course we fell in love - deal with it Manilow!
There was a huge smile on Barry's face during the It's a Miracle reprise. The show really ended on a high note - all of the audience was up, smiling and dancing. It was a great experience.
Barry lingered for a few moments to wave goodbye to us - he just stood there smiling back at us. Then he threw us a big kiss. I grabbed my portion of the kiss and put it in my locket. This is one of the shows I'll remember always.
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