![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
klwilliamsOn Saturday, I flew to Las Vegas to meet up with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
annmprice, in order to fulfill a longstanding desire both of us had: to see Barry Manilow in concert. On Saturday he was doing one of only two shows this year (the other is in England), and quite possibly the last show of his career.
We were staying at the Sahara, and had to wait around in the casino until our room was ready, so we watched the Belmont. And, of course, we bet on it. I put five dollars on Master David to win, largely because I liked the name. Smarty Jones was the favorite, because he won the two previous major races whose names excape me.annmprice bet on Smarty Jones and Tap Dancer (whose name caught her fancy).
When race time came, we went to the sports and race section of the casino, which has a wall of TV screens showing current sports action. The Belmont was on a couple of screens, and other tracks (including Bay Meadows) were on other screens. We got a seat right in front to watch the race. Behind us were about thirty or forty people, most of whom, based on the slips of paper clutched in their hands, had bet on the race.
What an amazing experience. Not the race, even though it had an upset (Smarty Jones came in second or third), but the energy level flowing across us from the shouting, cheering people towards the screen. It felt like a wall of electricity pouring through the air, and the noise was deafening. Wow. (None of our horses won.)
After that, we checked into our room, got dressed up, had dinner, and went to see Barry. I had a crush on him when I was in high school, and had all of his albums up to that point. I think he's still hot, and his voice is still beautiful. He put on a great show, in an arena packed with 12,000 people (not his usual venue, I understand). He sang for over two hours total, and the only warmup was one song by some guy I'd never heard of.
One of the nice moments was a clip from thirty years or so ago, of Barry playing the piano and singing "Mandy" from a TV show. During the song, Barry rose up through the floor, playing "Mandy" on a piano in time with the clip, and the screen cut seamlessly to the current Barry, in the same position, singing.
Barry also sang along on duets he did with Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler, with their parts played by a recording, but then he brought out Donna Summer to sing "Could It Be Magic" with him. She still has a strong voice and a lot of energy, and that was fun to see and hear.
All in all, it was a wonderful concert.
Later, I'll fill you in what we did on Sunday.
annmprice, in order to fulfill a longstanding desire both of us had: to see Barry Manilow in concert. On Saturday he was doing one of only two shows this year (the other is in England), and quite possibly the last show of his career. We were staying at the Sahara, and had to wait around in the casino until our room was ready, so we watched the Belmont. And, of course, we bet on it. I put five dollars on Master David to win, largely because I liked the name. Smarty Jones was the favorite, because he won the two previous major races whose names excape me.
annmprice bet on Smarty Jones and Tap Dancer (whose name caught her fancy). When race time came, we went to the sports and race section of the casino, which has a wall of TV screens showing current sports action. The Belmont was on a couple of screens, and other tracks (including Bay Meadows) were on other screens. We got a seat right in front to watch the race. Behind us were about thirty or forty people, most of whom, based on the slips of paper clutched in their hands, had bet on the race.
What an amazing experience. Not the race, even though it had an upset (Smarty Jones came in second or third), but the energy level flowing across us from the shouting, cheering people towards the screen. It felt like a wall of electricity pouring through the air, and the noise was deafening. Wow. (None of our horses won.)
After that, we checked into our room, got dressed up, had dinner, and went to see Barry. I had a crush on him when I was in high school, and had all of his albums up to that point. I think he's still hot, and his voice is still beautiful. He put on a great show, in an arena packed with 12,000 people (not his usual venue, I understand). He sang for over two hours total, and the only warmup was one song by some guy I'd never heard of.
One of the nice moments was a clip from thirty years or so ago, of Barry playing the piano and singing "Mandy" from a TV show. During the song, Barry rose up through the floor, playing "Mandy" on a piano in time with the clip, and the screen cut seamlessly to the current Barry, in the same position, singing.
Barry also sang along on duets he did with Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler, with their parts played by a recording, but then he brought out Donna Summer to sing "Could It Be Magic" with him. She still has a strong voice and a lot of energy, and that was fun to see and hear.
All in all, it was a wonderful concert.
Later, I'll fill you in what we did on Sunday.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-06-07 12:35 pm (UTC)Back in high school, in the early 80s, I was very much a Barry Manilow fan, even though by then it was very much Not Cool to be one. :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-06-07 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-08 10:02 am (UTC)Glad you had fun!