Barry Manilow, at age seventy, was incredible. He appeared to be genuinely humbled by the response of the audience. Imagine having been an artist for forty years and still fill an arena and still bring people to their feet and still sing really good music. I first saw Barry Manilow at the Five Seasons Center thirty years ago with my mom. Thirty years later, I see him in the same venue with Danny. As of right now, I have bookended my concerts. And as I start my next shelf, I don't think that I will be so fortunate to see someone quite like him again (twice). It's a Miracle.
Barry Manilow played on the little black AM radio that Bobby had in the basement. He (Bobby) would work on models and I would roller skate in what was once a huge (I was five) open area. I had all of two tricks in my roller skating repertoire, I could skate forward and I could spin in a circle very similar (not really) to what Dorthy Hamil was doing on ice. So you can imagine this little tow head hanging out with her big brother skating in circles to Could it Be Magic. Do you know the song? Well it is a beautiful love song with a huge sound at the 4:40 mark. I skated my heart out. It was magic. I know, I was there.
By the third song, he had slowed it down so the old ladies could sit down and sway and I suppose, so he could take a break from the hip thrusts and gyrations. No joke, he moves. Granted the hips and knees may not be original but that doesn't matter. It is, at this point, a hell of a show and we are nowhere near the biggies!
I had his greatest hits album, I wish I still did because vinyl is king. Anyway, I knew all the words then and with Barry in the lead, I still know all the words. I can't carry a note but who was going to hear me over the other six thousand singing along with me, Danny included. For years, Danny wanted to surprise me with a trip to Vegas to see Barry Manilow, well Crapids is no Vegas, but it Looks Like We Made It to Barry after all.
Barry Manilow had a big screen center side in the rear. The screen was filled with old album covers that he would talk about. He had quite the band with a percussionist that never quit! Two cute and bouncy backup singers and three or four pianos. The back up singers had their work cut out during Can't Smile Without You because there is an echo quality to this song and we all echoed. I have the video, you can hear me, horribly singing along and doing my very best to not kick my legs at the 2:29 mark. I never quite mastered kicking my legs while on roller skates, but this song definitely inspired me to try.
Before playing Bandstand Boogie, he showed a clip of his first appearance on American Bandstand. Do I age myself to mention this show and all that it meant to me on Saturday afternoons? I watched that show religiously and would absolutely love to see that one on DVD. This song is not a favorite of mine but it reminds me of the time he has put in this business and how long he has been a friend to me.
The Old Songs was not on the greatest hits album that I recall and I did not know this song as well. It slowed the crowd down a little and I used it as an opportunity to really study the big screen to the left of the stage. Barry was stretched pretty tight. That work had been done was obvious but I don't think he was frightening little children like Kenny Rogers is these days. He followed with Stay.
There were a few costume changes during the show. Barry changed from one shiny jacket to another. He rocked the look. I wore an adorable floral skirt and azure tank. I did not have a costume change during the show.
I don't know when I first got teary eyed. Well, when Barry first came on stage, for sure. But I don't think it was until Even Now that I got the way Hayley gets when she sees Brett Michaels in concert. Laugh if you want, but this man was there for my entire childhood. It wasn't until Duran Duran came into my life that I let him go. But this concert proved that he never let us go. He didn't come out and sing a bunch of stuff we couldn't sing along to, nope, he belted out the hits (not all of them, obviously) and let us all relive what ever it was. I can only imagine the memories that all those people had tucked in their hearts- mine was mostly roller skating- but there had to be romance and heart ache and every emotion in between. How cool that must be for him.
Barry talked about growing up in Brooklyn, how his grandfather used to take him to New York to record his voice on those little wax records, how the orchestra department saved him and how sad it makes him that the arts are being taken out of the schools. It was at this point that he shared his vision of putting instruments back into schools and shared that he donates a piano to the school district of the city he is playing in. True, he could donate a hundred pianos and still be alright, but he's putting his money where is heart is and that is cool. He shared old photos of himself while singing Brooklyn Blues. He followed the story of his grandpa with I Am Your Child. Never a big hit, but oh, so touching.
And then This One's For You. Prior to the opening cords, Barry talked about good lyrics. Man, these are good lyrics. Just saying, if someone ever wanted to sing this one to me, well, that'd be ok by me.
This may be the second moment when I became pretty overwhelmed. Most everyone had sat down for this one, but I just kinda stayed there in that moment. And Danny, bless his heart, put his hand ever so gently on my back. Because I had been in a real shitty mood for way too long and I got to get away from all of that for these two hours. I got to go back to when it was possible to roller skate in my basement, when AM radio was still a thing, when all that was good was truly grand!
New York City Rhythm was Barry and backup singers big dance number. Not really big, but it showcased his backup singers and his band. I would imagine that there is a pretty high degree of perfection expected from someone that has been around for forty years.
Weekend in New England. This was my other skate favorite. The skate gets very dramatic at the 3:45 minute mark. I didn't know where New England was, not a clue, but boy it seemed like the place to be.
Barry then talked about his songs of the decades albums. I never really cared for them mainly because I loved his music and not necessarily other people's music. He did a couple of Frankie Valley numbers and that was fun. I think it was a gift to that generation of fans that filled his audience. Lets Hang On and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You must have really stirred up some memories for those fans.
Barry Manilow wrote a musical and it is opening in Atlanta and why we are not going to Atlanta is really beyond me. He sang one song from Harmony - Every Single Day.
And then there was Trying to Get the Feeling Again. I sang back up on this one as well, I have the video. There is no picture really, just sound. Barry's timeless voice and mine. High (high) Low (low). Not much of a love song mind you, but damn, could you imagine trying to get that feeling. Looking high (high) and low (low). All for naught. Naught, indeed.
I can't remember which song that Barry did a duet with himself. Actual Barry left stage and they played a clip from an old show. It was 1970's Barry on the piano and midway through the video, live Barry came out on the piano and the two of them did a duet. It was so cool, so very cool. Just a man and a legend singing a song.
The next song has always been one of my favorite car songs. It is full of fullness and drama and this and that and all those things that are required on an open stretch of road. Much like Meatloaf music, this is, for me, one of those songs. I Made It Through the Rain is so pretty in the beginning. It remains pretty but as the song plays on, it gets a little oomph. I think it also reminds me of the songs that Kermit would sing. Kermit and Barry, two old friends.
And I am a hell of a singer in the car. Danny did some fist clenching during this song. He's made it through the rain as well.
And then those piano cords from Could it Be Magic (Damn why wasn't I named Melissa?). Another skate classic. I did not know at the time but a crescendo is very important for a basement roller skater. This was followed by Mandy (Damn Damn Damn Damn (like Henry Higgens says) why wasn't I named Mandy like Hayley named her cat?). I am quite certain that this was the one that brought the true roll down the cheek tears. Why did he send her away? Why have I never named a pet Mandy?
And then Copacabana. I SANG COPACABANA LIVE WITH BARRY MANILOW! I have sang YMCA live with the Village People, but this, this has no compare. Did you know that if I were Lola and Danny were my Tony, he would have disarmed Ricco with one of his kickass Ranger moves and then the punches would have flew. Flew indeed my friends, with my Tony getting Lola in the end. We would have kept the show going and would have still drank. At the Copa, Copacabana.
Not as catchy of a lyric, but true story.
At this point in the concert I have come to accept that there will be no commercial montage, there will be no more songs from the decades (that's ok) no Ready to Take a Chance Again but there will be I Write the Songs (which he did not write!).
This was the one, folks. This is the Barry Manilow song for me. It was a song I could sing along to, to skate to (see a theme) to be happy about. I was six. Except for Happy Birthday and Christmas songs, this is probably the song that I have really known all my life. This song popped up over and over again in my life, always lifting me back to roller skates and top knots and Barbies and all that kind of stuff. Good Lord, it was fantastic. Can you imagine? No, because what you imagine will only be a fraction, like 1/96 of how awesomely awesome it was.
Since the concert, there has been frequent discussions about this show and others at work. Several of the people I work with have no idea who Barry Manilow is. And that makes me sad. My kids are the same age and they know who he is, they know Lola's desperate fall into despair, they know that you have to look high and low to try and get the feelingagain, they know that New England is where it's at, they know because we let them listen. Hell, we would have let them roller skate in the basement. But these kids missed out on just really good music. So when they ask (and they are always sorry that they do) I tell them
He writes the songs that make the whole world sing. He writes of love and special things. He writes the songs that make the young girls cry (pause for effect),
He is music and he writes the songs.
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