Barry opened the show with a lot of energy. No, I don't think he's 100% yet - but he gave us a lot last night.
He opened with It's A Miracle, as usual. I think that will probably be my favorite of all of his songs for the rest of my life - it just makes me feel good. No matter how down I am, that song ALWAYS makes me feel good.
Barry was funny during Daybreak - he kind of did a funny little kick during the song. I actually remember him doing that before - probably a couple of years ago now. His facial expressions during Somewhere in the Night were priceless. He walked over to the right side stage area to shake hands, and I didn't think the people were going to let him go! Not that any of the rest of us don't understand the feeling - LOL!
Well, I don't how painful they are, but the hips definitely seemed to be working just fine during Looks Like We Made It. I think he made a point to show us that they do work. Definitely got a lot of response out of the audience.
He really seemed to emphasize the "hands in the pocket" portion of the song - I don't know how the rest of you feel, but there's just something so sexy about that stance. But tonight, he didn't put his hand in his pocket, really - instead, he hooked his thumb in his pocket. Kind of like what country folk do - LOL! It was just as sexy.
Weekend in New England was very nice tonight. It was kind of a soft performance - not greatly passionate or emotional. But still a great performance. Surprisingly, Barry didn't get a standing ovation for it. I couldn't believe it, but I actually got brave enough to stand up by myself and give him one. I saw one or two other people on the sides who stood, but I think I was the only one in the front row. Not quite sure why - it was a great performance of the song. And I'm not one that thinks every song deserves an ovation.
Yes, Melanie and Monica are gone - and will be very much missed. I didn't catch the names of the two new girls. But they did a great job and seem to fit in very well. Barry gave each of them a little hug after the show - I thought that was cute and sweet.
Bandstand Boogie was the first time we really got to see the new girls. Well, you can see them in the opening of the show, before Barry comes on stage. But the lighting has never been good for that segment of the show - we've never been able to see the girls very well. At any rate, they jumped right in to the clowning around portion of Bandstand Boogie like they've been doing it their entire lives.
Barry is still walking over to the left side stage area and grabbing a couple of people to sing Can't Smile Without You. Brave ladies! Barry seems to enjoy it, though - he seems to enjoy the entire song.
An incredible long note during Even Now - haven't seen Barry do it like that in a while. But, I'm jumping ahead of myself. He did the Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again/Even Now medley. It was a very nice performance - he seemed to put a lot of feeling in both songs - especially Even Now.
At one point in the show, they rolled out Barry's keyboard - I thought we might get some of the Mayflower segment - but that wasn't to be. Instead, he said that he was going to do an album cut - and he said it apologetically. He even told the audience that it was only two and half minutes. I don't know why he feels he has to apologize. Maybe (and really emphasize "maybe" here), there might be a couple of people in an audience of 1000 that don't want to hear something other than one of the mega-hits - that would actually get upset. That's really not a very large percentage, ya know? And what matters more? That person who is only going to be coming to one show in their entire lifetime - or those people who have come back through thick and thin, year after year? Yeah, I know - I'm on the fan side of the fence, and I don't know everything that goes on - I have a limited perspective. But, still...
At any rate, he asked if anyone had requests - lots of yelling - some folks yelled One Voice, but that really doesn't go well with the keyboard. Someone yelled Mandy - and Barry had a smart remark for that - like he would do a show without Mandy in there somewhere. Some British fans wanted Some Sweet Day - and I agree with the song, wholeheartedly, but it doesn't really fit well with the keyboard. Too bad I'm so introverted - I wanted to yell out See The Show Again - I haven't seen that one in a long time. Barry did try to do Some Sweet Day - just a snippet of it - you could tell he really didn't remember the lyrics. But, still, that little bit of it was nice. He stopped at one point and made a comment that Mike had started playing guitar along with him.
Barry ended up doing I Am Your Child. That was a very nice, heartfelt performance. For some reason lately, the lyrics from that song that seem to stick out in my mind are "I am what you taught me to be."
Barry did Brooklyn Blues next - performed about half of it at the keyboard - so that was very different from what we normally see. Then he got up and went back to his regular piano for the rest of the song. Brandon was doing some very nice sax playing during the song.
He followed with New York City Rhythm, complete with the keyboardist chase around the piano. I was really enjoying listening to the guys play. I always like to play a game and choose which "solo" I liked better each night. But honestly, I couldn't choose last night - I loved them all. I don't know if the game gets old for them, but it doesn't for me.
Barry hit another of those killer long notes during this segment of the show. His voice sounded really great.
There were no Christmas songs. I was kind of hoping we might at least get Christmas Is Around the Cornerr, since I can't go to either Palm Springs or Chicago (economy sucks, you know). But one of the platinum ladies said that he told her he wouldn't be doing any Christmas songs.
Barry asked Kye (who was offstage) if there was a bar stool available. "No? Yes?" Kye brought one out for him. Barry talked a little about having surgery on both of his hips and that he was "in agony" - you couldn't quite tell how much was truth and how much was joking around. And then he said, "But Vicodin is great!"
Then he started his intro to Somewhere Down the Road. Barry spoke about the song having been recorded as a power ballad with a big back beat - and then he said something like "Right, Russ?" Dead silence from Russ. LOL Okay, as far as I know, Barry has never done that - I'm sure Russ was sitting back there trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Barry slowly turned around to look back at Russ, and the audience was starting to giggle. And then Russ hit this one lone beat on the snare drum. Barry said something to the effect of "That's not what I meant!" LOL So Russ hit it a little harder. It was really kind of a funny moment.
The song itself wasn't funny, though - it was an emotional performance, very emotional. I even saw Barry reach up and wipe a tear from his face. Usually I don't want to take a lot of photos during this song - I love it so much, I just want to "feel" it. But for some reason last night I wasn't in a "feeling" mood, I guess - or maybe it's just that I know the shows at the Hilton are winding down. At any rate, I decided to try to capture some moments I normally don't get - such as wiping a tear away, or blowing a kiss at the end.
Ships was also very nice - he acted out the two parts very well. Walking away into the stars was also very nice.
I was interested to see how I Write the Songs would play out, since it always seemed that Melanie was the one who reacted to the line "make the young girls cry". The chemistry for that part of the show has definitely changed, but I doubt that most people would notice it. Barry had a happy look on his face as he sang the song. Still wearing my favorite white jacket, too.
They didn't do Copacabana up on the platform - they did it at stage level. I enjoyed that - it was different - the choreography is different. Again, I decided my purpose for the night was to document as much as I could from these last shows. So I took photos I normally don't take. Including when he turned around and shook it at us!
Those darn little mylar missiles hurt - man! I swear, sometimes I want to wear a football helmet for that part of the show. But it's pretty, really pretty.
Barry closed the show with the It's A Miracle reprise - as always. I'm sure this performance took a lot out of him, but you'd never know judging by the beautiful smile on his face.
I want to end this by saying what I couldn't say during platinum (not that Barry will ever read this) - but thank you, for coming back so soon after your surgery - thank you for putting so much of yourself into these performances, especially when you aren't feeling 100%. We, the fans, know you're human - but so are we - we have a lot of feelings where you're concerned - each of us has a unique perspective on this whole Manilow fan experience. Sometimes things just don't come out right when there are so many emotions involved. (Sometimes I think Mr Spock and the Vulcans may have it right - emotionless may be the way to go.) But never doubt that we really do care about Barry Manilow the person, and truly appreciate the efforts that Barry Manilow the performer puts into his work.
One of my last shots of the night was another that I don't normally catch - it's at the very end, when Barry points at the audience and says, "The miracle is you!" No, Barry - the MIRACLE is YOU!!!
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