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Ultimate Manilow-The Hits - Las Vegas Hilton - October 3, 2008


(View photo gallery here)

An excellent show! You know, I think Ultimate Manilow is actually better than Music & Passion. I thought M&P was, well, perfection. But honestly, UM is more elaborate, more polished - it's been taken to another level.

Doesn't really have anything to do with the review, but I got a lot of private emails yesterday from people wanting to know how Barry looks. (?!?) Barry looks wonderful! His blue eyes sparkle just as much as they always have. And I love his hair! And that has nothing to do with music - but WHATEVER! LOL

These past two nights Barry has opened the show with a lot of energy - and he maintained it throughout the show. He was playful again tonight - maybe not quite as playful as last night, but still playful. He also seemed to put more emphasis on playing "to" the audience - he frequently shifted his position on the piano stool so that he could look out at us.

Tonight's show tone seemed to lean a little more toward passion - last night seemed to be mainly emotion. But tonight there was a good balance. (hey, I don't care which it is - both are great!)

Didn't notice any sound problems tonight - it was all perfect!

Maybe last night I had a few doubts about Somewhere in the Night losing it's effectiveness now that he strolls across the stage while he sings it. Not any more! LOL He gave us enough in the first few lines of that song to keep us captivated no matter how much strolling he did - and then he picked it up again when he got to the far side of the stage. Only Manilow can keep a love song going like that! He had our little hearts just trailing along behind him as he walked across the stage... Ok, maybe that wasn't the best visual... But you know what I mean!

Weekend in New England was beautiful. When Barry got to the first "When can I touch you", someone yelled out - not unusual, I know. Again, those kind of things are cute once or twice, not so cute every time. But... I'll have to say that when Barry sings "When can I touch you", I've never heard anyone yell out, "Any time!" before. So, I had to laugh - couldn't help it. Barry got a slightly amused look in his eyes for just a second, but then wiped it away quickly and got back to the serious mode for the song. It seemed he really wanted that song to be taken seriously last night - and it should be. Barry turned toward the audience more than usual during the song. He put a lot of emotion AND a lot of passion into tonight. His ending was incredible - it really was. After the song was over, he stood up and passionately ripped off his tie.

During the decades medley, Barry forgot to dance with Melanie. LOL They had finished Bandstand Boogie, Russ was playing his drum beat, and Melanie was standing there waiting - but Barry just kept on talking - he went into the portion of the script for the next song. And then he started taking off his jacket... I guess he must have seen the expression on Melanie's face as he was taking off his jacket, because he said, "Did I forget something? Oh, yeah!" LOL But he went on from the point he was at.

Monica and Melanie's solo moments during the 60's part of the medley seemed extra special. I wish they would put just a little more light on them.

I'm still very impressed with the lighting. In addition to my observations from last night, I noticed at one point that the lighting was able to make the curtain look like satin. I'm still fascinated by all that.

Oh, my - Barry put everything he had into Looks Like We Made It. Haven't seen him perform it like that in a while! I would say this one was definitely all about passion! LOL To coin a phrase that I don't normally use - it was HOT!

The commercial segment was very cute again. Barry's mannerisms and facial expressions were even cuter. As he sang each jingle, the audience would applaud a little - but the applause was little less with each jingle - I'm sure we were all just waiting until the end to applaud. When Barry got to State Farm, there were only a few random claps to be heard in the audience. Barry gestured to us as if to say, "Come on, I need to hear you" - but there was nothing. So, he got a look on his face, and gestured again as if to say, "Nothing! I get nothing!" It was funny - he, of course, got his applause then.

New York City Rhythm was again very upbeat - well, it's an upbeat song. But I mean that they just put a lot of energy into it and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. Especially the keyboardists - they were a lot of fun. And I couldn't possibly pick a winner of the night because everyone was outdoing everyone!

The music also continues to impress me. I know some of it must be computer generated - I don't see a string section on stage! Although, who knows what all they can do with synthesizers these days - and Ron W. is certainly conducting *something*! At any rate, it's really beautiful - definitely one of those things that has been taken up a level in this new show.

Speaking of conducting, Barry did that again as they moved into Memory. I really tried to take photos of it, but the lighting is just too low. And if there were more light, it would lose some of it's effect. So I have a challenge facing me - I have to figure out what settings to change on my camera to capture what he's doing.

And Memory was outstanding, again. It always seems to get a great crowd reaction. Tonight's performance was very passionate - less emotion - much more passion.

Can't remember at what exact points during the show, but there were a couple of times when Barry would say or do something that would generate an audience response of whoops and hollers - and he would do it again to get the same reaction. There was one time in particular, when he made it very obvious he wanted to hear it again - so, everyone obliged him and then laughed.

Barry sang the upbeat version of Could It Be Magic again. For those who questioned me yesterday about not mentioning BAMs - yes, he did BAMs. I didn't take any photos the first time around. But then he started to do it again and I thought, "What the heck?" So everyone raised their cameras - and he pointed at the audience as if to say, "Oh, no - you aren't getting photos of THIS!" - and he didn't do them. LOL Sorry guys, I tried... Actually, it was kind of cute, and the backups were all laughing.

Has anyone else been able to hear for certain the new lyrics he has for CIBM? Instead of singing "sweet Melissa" at the beginning, he's saying something else. It kind of sounds like he's saying, "You're my lifeline, angel of my lifetime." But I can't tell for sure.

After the song was over, he did his, "I'm still a sex god!" bit - put a lot of emphasis in it. That was really cute, too. (Have I ever mentioned that he's really cute? Yeah? I have? LOL)

Barry included I Made It Through the Rain again. Tonight's version seemed a little more heartfelt than last night's. He seemed to be singing it to the crowd. I really want to get some good shots of his facial expressions when he's listening to Grandpa Joe - they're priceless.

Oh, and he also sang Can't Smile Without You. I forgot to mention that one in my last review. He's putting a lot of feeling into this, especially toward the end when he gets up from the piano.



Kye brought out the stool for Barry to sit on during the next segment. Barry made a comment to "Nick" to put "that original score back in my monitors." That made it sound as if he hadn't planned on doing Somewhere Down the Road, but changed his mind. I'm glad he did, because that was the most beautiful song of the night. The emotion he put into that one was incredible. A couple of people did yell out during the song, which I thought was a little disappointing - especially in light of how much Barry was putting into it. When he got to the end of the song, singing it acapella, you could have heard a pin drop, though. It was so beautiful. And it was so touching. And the way he kind of waved, and then gently blew a kiss - man, took my breath away.

Prior to singing SDTR, Barry spoke again about song lyrics not necessarily being about romance. He really emphasized that sometimes they could be about family members. And he included the line about "dogs I've known." Again, there was some laughter in the audience. But then Barry, gestured out toward us and said, "You know what I mean." Yup, I know exactly what you mean.

We got the "performance" version of Ships again, as well. For the second verse, it really does seem like he becomes someone else. The way he walks toward one side of the stage, and the way he gestures. And even the way he turns and appears to be talking to someone else. That one was the second best song of the night, and that's only because nothing could possibly top Somewhere Down the Road. As the song ends, he walks toward the back of the stage into darkness (another nice effect). But he stops, turns around to the audience, and extends his arms in the air - the lighting on him is incredible. Last night I saw that and planned to be sure to take a photo of it at this show - but I forgot. I've got to remember to take one tonight, although it won't have as much effect since I'll be sitting a little over to the side. But I'm going to try. This particular "pose" with the lighting could turn into one of his trademark poses.

I did try to take photos of each of the band members tonight as Barry introduced them. I didn't expect much, because he goes through the names so quickly. I won't win any prizes for great photography, but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually did get fairly decent shots of some of them. So, I'll continue to do that. I've always felt badly that I had photos of everyone else, but not them.

Mandy/Could It Be Magic was less emotional tonight - but I don't mean that to say that it was less of a performance. It wasn't. It was an excellent performance. I think in one of my past reviews I stated that sometimes when he sings it he almost seems distraught because there's so much emotion. It wasn't like that. There was emotion - but it was more of a "I've resigned myself to this" tone than a "What have I done" tone. Does that make sense? Anyway, it was a great performance. And yes, he wore my favorite white jacket - must always mention the white jacket.

I Write the Songs also seemed to be directed more toward the audience than usual. It seemed as if Barry were making an extra effort at this show to "connect" with the audience. At first I thought that was a very strange statement to make about Barry Manilow, who's KNOWN for connecting to an audience - but then I decided it really isn't so strange. An audience can do a lot of whooping and hollering, but that doesn't mean they "connected" - it doesn't mean Barry "touched" them - just means they're having a good time. There's a big difference. So, thinking back on the entire show, it really seemed to me that Barry was making that extra effort to "connect".

Copacabana was performed the same as it was last night. Barry was kind of bouncy and energetic during this one. Very cute! He did some little hops and some little twirls - just really seemed to be having fun with it. Before the platform part, when Barry comes down the stairs singing, "I see you baby, shaking your ass", he got right in front of my section of the first row and and pointed and was saying something like "Come on!" We weren't sure who he was talking to - a couple of us were standing, but not, uh, shaking our ass. Then he said, "How can you just sit there?," and we realized there were people behind us still sitting. Whew! Sorry, Barry - mine won't shake - would like to be able to shake it - wish I could shake it - but the limit of my motor skills is being able to stand up and walk across the floor without falling down - and I'm not even successful with that sometimes! LOL It was a funny moment, although I'm not sure all of the "sitters" thought it was so funny.

They closed with It's a Miracle. All of the little mylar missiles missed me tonight - nyah,nyah! (I'll probably really get whacked tonight!) And it was over. Didn't want it to be over. Never do.

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