And so, it came to pass, 8/14/2022…
My wife and I are both longtime fans of Barry Manilow. We had his LPs growing up – as a matter of fact, the first album I ever bought was a Barry Manilow album, One Voice. A few months back I was able to procure two tickets (section 102, seats 7 & 8) to see Barry in Philadelphia. The day came and we started to balk. We did some hemming and hawing, but we went to see Barry Manilow on 8/14/22 for the Manilow: Hits 2022 tour. The hemming and hawing were not because we don’t love him or his music, no; we were concerned over the ravages of time. We did not want to behold a cherished singer from both our pasts not be able to do what he did so well – sing the truth from his heart. It would have been a stark reminder of the toll the passage takes – of what was and is now diminished or even gone.
Well, that is not living in the moment, is it? No. We are given only so many of them and we must make them count for something while we are here. We went and beheld a 79-year-old Barry Manilow knock us dead. What a GREAT SHOW! There he stood on stage at the Wells Fargo Center in all of his modest glory performing the songs that we know so well, and he was so good. Hearing those songs, sung by Barry, and sung so wonderfully, defied time. His performance declared, we are still here and we have a voice. So use that voice. He celebrated all the moments from the 70’s to now and we celebrated them along with him.
Here is the set list…
1. It’s a Miracle
2. Can’t Smile Without You
3. Looks Like We Made It
4. Brooklyn Blues (w/ Dave Koz – who opened the show)
5. This One’s for You
6. Daybreak
7. Even Now
8. The Old Songs / Ships / Ready to Take a Chance Again
9. Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again
10. Weekend in New England
11. Let’s Hang On
12. All the Time
13. Could it Be Magic
14. I Made It Through the Rain
15. Mandy / Could It Be Magic
16. I Write the Songs
Encore:
17. Copacabana
18. It’s a Miracle (Reprise)
Encore 2:
19. Old Friends
20. Once Before I Go
I’ve seen a few shows in my time but this one touched me. There were moments that brought tears to my eyes. I’m a softy and the tides of time and of nostalgia rose over their banks. He told a story of his grandfather recognizing that a 4-year-old Barry was musically inclined taking him to Brooklyn every Saturday to record his voice in a sound booth designed to cut records that could be taken home to play. There were pictures and samples from one of the actual recordings. He told of how years later – the first time that he played Carnegie Hall, how his grandfather led the standing ovation when he came on stage and how he kept standing and clapping when everyone else started to sit down. He said, “I think of him every single time I play…” and then he started This One’s for You. There were tears.
With, Could It Be Magic he did a duet with himself from 1974 via archive footage. Yes, it was magical.
Within this bag is glow stick that was handed out to everyone upon entry, one of the streamers that blew out into the audience at the end of the show, and, of course, this write up.
Thank you for defying time and reminding us that we are still here, we must appreciate the moments we have, and that we are – still after all these years able to hear that one voice singing in the darkness.
For a life’s worth of memories, songs, and feelings, thank you, Mr. Manilow.
