Tonight's show opened with the most energy of all. Barry was in a fantastic mood! He was bouncing all over the stage - literally! I even heard a comment from someone in the audience about it - they said, "Boy, he's in a good mood!"
Since it will be (at least) a couple of weeks before I can get my photos up on my personal website, I'm putting extras in the review.
Every night this week Barry has opened the show in a black suit. At the point in It's a Miracle where he calls the backups to the front to dance with him, he "flashes" the audience - opens the suit jacket so that we can see the brightly colored lining. He does it very, very quickly - almost in a teasing way, as if he were trying to be too fast for us to take a picture of it. Well, I was ready for him tonight! LOL
Barry is still emphasizing Somewhere in the Night - maybe he realizes that it makes us swoon! It finally clicked with me that for the opening medley, he starts Daybreak at center stage, then walks over the left side. Then returns to center stage to start Somewhere in the Night, and then walks over to the right side. Then he returns to center stage for This One's for You. So, actually, it's very balanced. And I just now noticed that. DUH!
Prior to the decades medley, Barry took a moment to praise Kye. He basically said he didn't know what he would do without Kye, and that if he could have a brother, he would want Kye to be it.
Leading up to the decades medley, Barry talked about his decades albums. He mentioned that the Greatest Songs of the Fifties had opened at number 1 and he seemed very proud of that - I actually haven't seen him express that in a while. Then he mentioned he was working on the 80's album - he didn't know what songs he was going to put on there yet, but we would love his "emotional rendition of It's A Virgin". I've heard that joke before, but I've never tried to capture Barry's facial expressions as he talked about it. Got 'em tonight!
Barry took the jitterbug out of Bandstand Boogie during the decades medley. You know, it just dawned on me... That song is actually at the beginning of the decades medley. As Barry talks about each section of the medley, he mentions that the music for Bandstand Boogie was actually written in the 40's. So I get it! Now I know why that song was placed at the beginning of the medley. DUH! AGAIN! I'm only a LITTLE slow!
I've read some criticism of the decades medley - well, I wasn't crazy about it the first time I saw it, either. But trust me, it has really progressed. I know that there are several songs in the medley that we (the fans) would prefer to hear more of. But I acknowledge that most of the audience is civilians who are there to hear the big hits. Even though we're only getting snippets, this medley is very polished now - it's really excellent. And Barry and the backups seem to be having fun with it.
Barry put a lot of effort into Weekend in New England tonight. Several of people yelled out during the song again - and in more places than just that one spot where someone usually does. Barry looked like he wanted to just proceed with the song, but then did smile a little. I've seen times when he really found it humorous and played it for all it's worth - other times he didn't seem quite so pleased that a beautiful ballad had been interrupted. Guess it depends on his mood when he starts the song - dunno. I'm the same way, sometimes it's funny - sometimes not. I didn't find it quite so funny tonight, although I had to laugh when I saw Barry's facial expression.
At any rate, this performance of WINE was "passionate". Someone mentioned that they didn't think there's a difference between being emotional and being passionate. Well, maybe it's just my lack of skill at writing - maybe I'm not using the proper words. But then, these reviews are meant to be a reflection of what *I* felt during the show - these aren't professional reviews, I'm not a professional writer. So, to me - there's a difference between being emotional and being passionate. Perhaps I should stop calling these reviews and just refer to them as my own Reflections. Anyway, back to WINE...
Barry really did put his all into the song. There are certain songs that I would love to hear in every single show - this is one of them. And in this case, it's not so much the song as it is Barry's performance of it. I've never been disappointed with one of his WINE performances. They differ from show to show - but to me, that's good. Because those subtle differences bring out new meanings in the song, and it's keep the song alive. And maybe Barry is doing that for himself. Interviewers frequently ask him about tiring of singing the same songs - maybe this is his trick to keep them fresh. Regardless, it works for me.
Barry gave us another sexy rendition of Looks Like We Made It. And those blue curtains and those blue eyes. Wow!
We also got another fantastic performance of Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again/Even Now. TTGTFA was a mix tonight - he started it off softly and what I would coin as "emotionally" - but finished it very passionately. And then continued Even Now in the same vein. A very powerful performance.
I have to include these photos from Even Now because, like the photo above that was taken during TTGTFA, these show the passion in his performance. And one of these is a little fuzzy, but look at the pain in his face. The man is just a master at living these songs.
Can't Smile Without You was kind of energetic tonight. I know there has been debate about whether this is a happy song or a sad song. I thought Barry's performance was kind of interesting. It was emotional, but not in the respect of feeling very happy or very sad. It was more of a frustrated mood - I'm trying to decide if that's the right word - I don't think it's quite right. If I could use a phrase to describe the performance, it would be as if Barry were saying, "I can't smile without you - I want to be with you but I can't - this is killing me." LOL How's that for describing it? Sorry, I couldn't describe my perception of the performance in any other way!!
Barry included New York City Rhythm with the chase around the piano. I also read some other criticism of this. But the audience loves this. The civilians love it, and at least most of the fans love it. And Barry and his band still seem to be enjoying it, too. As for a winner tonight - too close to call - all those guys are great on the piano.
Barry conducting. I found it interesting that the lighting seemed to change from what I saw the last time I mentioned this. I don't know if they actually did change the lighting or if it was just because I was sitting in a different spot in the audience. But what appeared as a mahogany glow over Barry the first time, appeared as a midnight blue glow this time. Both were very effective - but I prefer what I saw tonight - it seemed to fit the song more. Still, I don't know if it was a change or just my different perspective. I did experiment with several camera settings while he was doing it - my photos were a little better this time. I would still like to capture a really great shot of this because to me, it sends shivers up and down my spine. I remember watching the video from one of CD recordings where he was singing and conducting at the same time, and it gave me the same feeling. I love his performances - but I love seeing this side of him, too.
This was followed by Memory - and it was again, a crowd pleaser. This is another song where Barry is putting it all out there. So much emotion.
There were a couple of little girls in the side stage seats that got Barry's attention. At one point one of them yelled, "I love you, Barry!" That seemed to touch Barry. Don't know if that was the reason he changed the set list or not, but he told his band to pull up the "overture." Then he said that he was going to do this because everyone was "in such a good mood."
So, Barry replaced his commercial medley with the William Tell Overture. That kind of surprised me, since Keely has a solo part in that song. Barry told about the background of the song, then said something about the "quintet" - he quickly corrected himself and said "quartet" instead. He asked the backups if they could do it without Keely - and Kye said, "We can try". Then Barry asked if Keely had a solo, and one of the group confirmed that she did - so Barry just said, "Well, one of you take it." LOL And they did - and it was marvelous.
Just another example of how talented they are. We have no way of knowing if this was planned all along and had been rehearsed before the show or if they were totally winging it. But either way, they pulled it off perfectly. Because if it were planned, it seemed totally spontaneous. And Kye hit his high note again!
As Barry went into the next song, he seemed to be looking over at the little girls to see what their reaction was.
Next came I Made It Through the Rain. This song has meant a great deal to me all week. As some of you know, I spent a good deal of September serving as a juror on a capital murder trial - on my 50th birthday, no less - although I have to admit it kept me from being depressed about turning 50! That in itself was difficult (for those who think it would be exciting - it's not). Sending someone to prison for life with no parole is painful - sending someone that you don't believe is guilty (or at least not guilty of the particular crime she was charged with) is even worse. They tell me it's "juror's remorse" - I think it's considerably more than that - but whatever... So, considering the fact that I was actually able to come to these shows and have a good time makes me feel like I Made It Through the Rain. Isn't it amazing how Barry has so many songs that are so meaningful for the various things that happen in our lives?
At any rate, this time I was really wanting to capture some of those cute expressions he makes when he's listening to Grandpa Joe. And I did.
Barry gave us the upbeat Could It Be Magic again. Just love it!!! Still not entirely sure of the changed lyrics, but several people emailed me privately to say they believe I'm right - that he's singing "You're my lifeline". (He's OUR lifeline, eh?) I was going to try to read his lips tonight, but someone stood up in front of me just as he got to that part. So, maybe next time...
Yes, I got a BAM shot for you. Enjoy it. I would much prefer to have the next shot I got in the series. (Don't get me wrong, BAMs are fun.)
Somewhere Down the Road was just as wonderful as last night. It's so beautiful. Barry makes mention that he's doing a "stripped down" version of the it. The audience laughed at his choice of words - Barry smiled just a little, but you could tell that he was much more serious about this song. His performance was soft and gentle - and EXTREMELY emotional. It blew me away - completely.
And Ships was also just as fantastic as the night before. Barry really does become someone else.
I also like the way this segment of the show starts off so softly and gently - but it finishes BIG. The ending of Ships is HUGE!
And I did manage to get a couple of shots of that pose I mentioned from last night's show. Not as good as I wanted - I kind of cut his fingers off a little, and I didn't capture that magnificent lighting on him. But hopefully he'll still be doing it when I come back and I'll get a second shot at it.
The Mandy/Could It Be Magic performance was excellent. Not overly emotional or passionate - just enough to sell the song.
I Write the Songs was kind of light-hearted tonight. It's not unusual for us to be able to see Barry mouth "I love you" over to his backups at the point in the song where the piano starts moving toward the front of the stage. But tonight he was mouthing, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you..." LOL A few of the die-hard fans in the audience noticed it and giggled a little. It was kind of cute.
Barry also seemed to be having a lot of fun with Copacabana. The ending of the show was just as energetic as the beginning. Barry seemed to be having a lot of fun with the lyrics - all the way from "dress cut down to there" to "who shot who".
I made a little progress with taking photos of the band. This is the first time I've ever got a shot of the percussionist.
It's really hard to get a good shot of Kye when he's doing the hip-hop bit (while the others are up on the platform) - but I tried to concentrate on him tonight since I wasn't sitting in a spot where I could really see anything up there. This shot's not too bad, considering the lighting on him really kind of, uh, sucks...
Barry was really cute at the end of Copa. Of course, at that point, post-Manilow depression was already starting to sink in for me! LOL
Yes, those little mylar balls whacked me, just like I thought they would. I think they sat up there in the ceiling all day and conspired against me. In fact, I think they decided to multiply just to be sure they got me - look at this photo!
Look at the stage, look at Barry, look at Barry's facial expression! LOL There were a gazillion of those things. I'll bet the cleaning people hate whoever loaded them up for tonight's show! LOL!!!
Then it was over. You know, Barry never needs to wonder if he's meeting his goal of making us "feel". In fact, I think he's being overly successful.
