What a difference a day makes! There might have been a lot of things at Friday's show that didn't quite work for me, but they worked tonight! And whatever happened to make them "work" was transparent - I can't put my finger on it. At first I thought it was just me - that I was in a better frame of mind than I had been the night before. But I've since spoken with several people who agreed. (I'm soooo glad because you have no idea how guilty I had been feeling about writing a review that wasn't 100% positive!) If you didn't come back after Friday's show, you missed out. Saturday's show was excellent! And there were very few changes - well, one big change (which I'll get to later) - but it didn't affect the entire show. This show was great from the moment it started.
Tonight's show was high-energy from the moment the curtain was raised.
I mentioned in my last review that I didn't think the intro seemed to fit the show. I've been trying to figure out why - and I think it's because of my "history". The intro actually seems very much like something you would see at any Las Vegas show - and this *is* a Las Vegas show. I think maybe I've just become accustomed to being introduced to a Manilow show by being inundated with...Manilow. This new intro doesn't do that. The graphics are beautiful - the colors, the images, even the music. But there's little in there that's really Manilow-centric - and I think that threw me. Also, after talking with another fan who mentioned that the old intro always got her excited, I realized that's what's missing from this one - there's nothing in this new intro to get us excited. But... Did the old intro get the civilian audience members excited? Or did it only have an effect on Manilow fans? Good question - it could be that this new intro will actually be better for the civilians in the audience. I mean, those blue eyes on the screen made all of us melt - but did the civilians even understand that? At any rate, I do enjoy the new intro. I think after a few more shows, it will seem as natural to me as the old intro did.
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I love the silhouettes! I know some people don't think those fit, either - and maybe it's the same kind of thing as with the intro. But I love them so much, I don't care if they seemed a little unusual at first.
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Something that really hit me as I was working on the photo gallery for the website was the way the lighting affects the tone of the entire show. For example, if you go look at one of the gallery pages from any of the Music & Passion shows, and then go look at the gallery page for one of the Ultimate Manilow shows, you'll see a striking difference - it jumps right out at you. Personally, I find that fascinating.
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The issues with the sound were much better tonight. I'm still having trouble hearing the girls as the show opens - I can hear them singing, but can't understand the lyrics. The lighting is also not so great (in contrast to the rest of the show, where it's much better for the backups than it was during Music & Passion). At any rate, I like what they're doing. From what I was able to hear, it's a take on It's A Miracle, and they're motioning for us to come with them, toward Barry. And then Barry comes out of the fog.
Barry came out in a beautiful red jacket - bright red. As I said, the show was high-energy from the start. I've seen him bouncier, but he still got the show started on a high note.
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I managed to get a few more facts straight about the set list tonight. For one thing, Ready to Take a Chance Again is now actually part of the opening medley. And he does stroll as he's singing Somewhere in the Night because that's now the dance song. Tonight's dance segment didn't seem hurried at all - in fact, it was very nice.
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After the opening medley, Barry sang Weekend in New England. Tonight's version was even better than last night's. Very emotional, very strong. At the spot in the song where someone usually yells out, I was expecting it. But there was nothing - for about a second - and then someone did. Barry kind of smiled, then said, "You're behind a beat!" LOL The audience laughed loudly. And it almost cracked Barry up, I do believe. Usually, he recovers from things like that immediately - it takes him no time to get back into the mood of the song he's performing. But tonight, his eyes sparkled for quite a while - you can see it in the photos.
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After Weekend in New England (and a well-deserved standing ovation), the band started playing Bandstand Boogie. The backups come out in their new silver costumes, while Barry remains in the jacket that he starts the show in. I didn't notice it during the show, but after reviewing my photos, it appears that someone inadvertently smacks Keely in the back of the head as they're all waving at Dick Clark. Very funny. (well, maybe not so funny for Keely, but she was laughing!)
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After they wave at the pretend camera, Keely walks over so that she and Barry can do their little dance. But tonight, someone was off on the count or something - because it had a hard time getting started - and that amused both Barry and Keely (and the audience). I have some great shots of that moment. (And that's what Barry gets for teasing us about being behind a beat during WINE! LOL)
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After Bandstand Boogie, someone starts bringing out the stools while the girls help Barry change into his silver jacket. Tonight as he was changing jackets, he pointed down at his belt buckle - it was a big M, much like the M logo that the show uses. By the way, when Barry comes in and out of the fog at the beginning and end of the show, the door is now that M logo.
The decades medley - I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. This is one of those "transparent" changes. I can't tell you what the difference is - but I loved it tonight. The 40's song that I couldn't remember from last night was Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree. There might be another - what he sings at the very beginning of that medley isn't familiar to me - but that particular song isn't all that familiar, so maybe it's all the same song. Dunno... They also have Chattanooga Choo Choo added into that portion of the medley.
Since they had already done Bandstand Boogie, the 50's portion of the medley was Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. For the 60's, again it was Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You and You've Lost That Loving Feeling. Those portions weren't any longer than they were the night before - but for some reason that didn't bother me tonight. It all just went so smoothly.
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Barry did the cute little "pretend to tap dance" bit again tonight (and it was just as cute) - but I still can't remember what song they're singing when they do it! It's during the decades medley and it's prior to Love Is A Many Splendored Thing.
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The song that the ladies are all featured on is What the World Needs Now Is Love. They're singing the actual body of the lyric, rather than just the chorus. When the backups and Barry join at center stage at the end of the song, the lighting on them is just beautiful.
The 70's portion of the medley really doesn't seem to be part of the medley, but I think maybe it's supposed to be. He starts it off with a portion of Looks Like We Made It - the bad thing about it only being a portion is that...it's only a portion! LOL Oh, well - if we got all of every song that we wanted during that show, we'd still be there. Not that I would mind...
Somewhere around this portion of the show is a Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again and Even Now medley. It would be logical for it to be at this point, but I'm not sure. I can't tell by looking at my photos. He did these two songs last night, as well - I just forgot to mention them. Again, the bad part about it only being a portion of the song... But they were still beautiful.
Barry also sang Memory again. It's not one of my favorite songs (because there's just something about it that kind of depresses me) - but his performance was awesome! Before he started singing it, he was sitting at the piano and just talking. He said something that I couldn't quite hear, but it caused everyone in the band to really laugh. And then he said that he had no idea what the lyrics were about - but that the emotion of the song was great! LOL In spite of the comedy, he sang it beautifully - an extremely passionate and powerful performance. And he got a huge standing ovation - he had a hard time getting us to sit down.
They performed New York City Rhythm next, and it was great again. (Ron P wins this time!)
Barry sang I Made It Through the Rain (beautiful - standing ovation). This was also an emotional performance.
And then Can't Smile Without You. There was a lot of energy in this one tonight. There was a cute moment in the song, when Ron W. decided to embellish the music just a little - at least, I think it was Ron W. because Barry quickly turned to look at him and then everyone laughed. So, I assumed that Ron was the one who had played it and it took Barry by surprise. It was the same little run that Barry used to throw in for us when he was in a playful mood - but he hasn't been doing that lately.
And then we got the biggest surprise of the night! Barry started talking about Could It Be Magic - and I was sitting there thinking, "WHAT?!? This isn't where he does that!" LOL And then I noticed the music that the band playing. All this time Barry is doing a long, drawn out introduction to the song - okay, it wasn't actually that long, but since my mind had already figured out what was coming, it seemed forever!
At any rate, I'll bet my eyes were as big as saucers - I couldn't believe it. I looked over at the backups - Kye was grinning from ear to ear. And then Barry finally said, "Donna Summer had a hit with this one" - and the audience went wild. So, we got the uptempo version of Could It Be Magic (yes, BAMs, too!). I was thrilled! I might have seen him do this version years ago, when I never had good seats to the shows - but I'm not even sure that I've seen it performed live at all. So, for all practical purposes, this was brand new to me - and I loved every second of it! Hope we get that one again some day!
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After the song, Barry got a huge standing ovation - the audience was really cheering. He exclaimed, "I'm still a sex god!" And then said, "But the sex god has to sit down."
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Next came Ships. Barry didn't sing Somewhere Down the Road tonight. Maybe because he added CIBM?? In a way it was a disappointment because I really love that song - but it might have been for the best considering my emotional reaction the night before - definitely don't want to be a blubbering idiot when I'm sitting about 10 feet away from Barry! Ships is also one of my favorite songs - and also new to me as far as seeing Barry perform it live. He did a great job with it - and he did manage to pull a single tear out of me. The exit from the stage wasn't quite as moving as it was the night before - I'm not sure if they changed it. On Friday night, he seemed to take longer - had a bigger effect on us.
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An interesting thought about those two songs came to me when I was flying home after the show (okay, probably interesting only to me and probably caused by sleep deprivation, but whatever). Both songs can be interpreted as being about lost love. Of course, Barry clearly stated the night before that they don't have to be taken that way - that they aren't necessarily about romance, but could be about any kind of relationship. But at any rate, if you think about the lyrics, Somewhere Down the Road at first seems to be a very sad, hopeless song - until the end when the lyrics say, "Maybe we've only just begun, maybe the best is yet to come." So the song actually does imply hope. Ships, on the other hand, really doesn't imply hope - it basically says that the people in the song have given up and accepted that they'll always be apart. So now, which one is really the biggest tear-jerker? Okay, so much for random thoughts - back to the review...
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I know some don't like where they've placed Copacabana and what they're doing, but I really like it. I like the costumes, and they way they change costumes during the song. I like the stairs - and I actually like what Barry is doing up on the platform now. And I like the way Barry comes out in a different jacket (tonight was the purple crushed velvet) and leans up against the wall to start the song. It's really cute.
At the point in the song where Barry is supposed to do his little dance and "Ole!", he said something off mic, then abruptly turned around and shook his butt at us. LOL Took me by surprise, so I didn't get a picture of it. Then he turned back around and finished the dance.
As Barry was finishing up the first half of the song, I looked over at the brass section - they had their own choreography going up there - it was great!
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No glitches with the baby Barry video tonight. And Barry did the Mandy/CIBM medley in my favorite jacket again. You ask when I'm going to stop talking about my favorite jacket? NEVER! I love that jacket! LOL (and while I'm discussing things that have nothing to do with his music, Barry's hair last night was just perfect!)
Although last night's Mandy didn't seem very emotional, tonight's version definitely was.
The lighting for Mandy has changed - for the better. Whatever they were doing back in May and June put a really strange blue glow on Barry - it was especially noticeable in the photographs. It was almost eery. Now it's just normal lighting. Looks much better.
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Barry sang I Write the Songs differently both nights this weekend. It "feels" like he's found a new meaning or new perspective in it. It's softer, and seems more introspective. At any rate, it's a nice touch.
This was a great show. If anyone has been worried about seeing the "official" opening later this month, don't be - this show will be perfect by next week. Barry and his crew are the most amazing professionals. I can't wait to come back to see the show again.
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