Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow – His last concert

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015 was probably the last chance I will ever have to see Barry Manilow in concert.  And oddly, I debated getting tickets.  Way back in 1977, I saw him in concert for the first time.  Let me actually clarify, this was the first concert I had ever been to.  I followed a few years later with The Ramones, Elvis Costello, The B52’s, The A’s, and Blondie (to name a few) as my musical tastes expanded.  My more recent concerts were Glee, Victoria Justice, and Selena Gomez (as my musical tastes, well erupted – would that be the right term?).

 

Back to Barry.  I didn’t really have the cash to splurge on this.  Nor did I have the potential of someone to escort so I figured I’d get nosebleed seats (oddly as I had in 1977) and take Victoria.  I play a lot of different music with the kids and Barry is one of the artists they have become familiar with, so . . .   I gave her a month to decide if she wanted to go which would give me a few weeks to find a companion if she didn’t want to.  Of course she gave me just a week but ultimately I got someone to say yes.  Interestingly, for those of you who have had a chance to read some of my other stuff, it was an old friend who was the inspiration for the character of Geri in my multi chapter story.  I mention this because it ended up she was the perfect person to take to this concert.  She wasn’t too familiar with Manilow but there was something in the music that spoke to our friendship.  But I digress.

 

What a great concert.  He’s 71, but thanks to a lot of work he sure doesn’t look it.  And his voice just hasn’t changed.

He played “All the Time” which is the song I sang to my ex when we got married. The first time I ever heard that song I knew if I ever got married I would sing it to that new Mrs. Stickeler.  He played Weekend in New England, our song for my high school sweetheart and me.  He did some new stuff.  It brought back all kinds of good memories.  What a fun time.

 

I want to single out a couple of highlights.  He took a song from his new album, Dream Duets (where he does duets with famous and no longer living celebrities) which he sang with Judy Garland.  She was on the screen behind him and he sang with her from the stage.  Great melding of voices.  He did a medley of a lot of his older songs (at least 10) starting with One Voice, including I write the Songs and culminating in Looks Like We Made it.  And then he finished the evening with Copacabana.

 

All in all, just a fun night.  And “Geri”, who claims she only knew a few of the songs, seemed to have a really enjoyable time as well.

 

Definitely glad I went. Definitely glad I have a mug, a magnet, a hat, and a t shirt to remember the night.

 

That is all