Barry Manilow played his first Tucson show in 1976 and his last one in 2002.
“I know you guys,” he said, which is why the Old Pueblo was among the nearly 30 cities on his “One Last Time” tour itinerary. The tour pulls into the Tucson Arena on Monday, May 2, with jazz saxophonist Dave Koz opening.
It’s a farewell tour, but not a retirement. The 72-year-old Manilow will still perform live, but he won’t pack up the bus and hit the road for months on end as he’s done over the past four decades.
“For me, it’s enough,” the legendary pop singer said early this month from his home in Palm Springs, California. “Forty years of room service is enough, thank you. But not performing and not the audiences. They are great and I won’t stop doing that. I just got to get off the road. ... It’s not retiring, it’s just no more touring.”
Manilow is pulling out the stops for the tour, recruiting college choirs in every city to join him on “I Write the Songs,” “Copacabana” and “It’s A Miracle.”
“Every night I turn around and there are a whole bunch of faces that are clapping and smiling and singing their hearts out and they always sound great,” he said of the choirs. “They rehearse before they get there. One of my musicians teaches them the choreography and to make sure they are singing the right notes, and they have a great time.”
And, frankly, so does Manilow. He might be tired of the grind of touring, but his love of performing has probably never been stronger.
“It is fun for me. I mean you’ve got to be dead not to be excited when the curtain opens and there are 10,000 people screaming,” said Manilow, who launched his career backing Bette Midler in the early 1970s. “Really, it’s an incredible gift that I’ve been given and that I’m still able to do this and still able to have audiences out there who are still coming. I can’t get over it. I’m a grateful guy.”
His show will hit all the high notes of his career, which have been many. Manilow has 50 Top 40 hits and has sold 80 million records. Next year he will release his latest album, “This is My Town: Songs of New York,” which he is recording now. The album is a mix of New York City standards and original songs, including the title song.
“I’m one of the lucky guys who has a catalogue of songs that people will recognize. So I’m doing all of them,” he said.
His setlist includes “Daybreak,” “Weekend In New England,” “One Voice,” “Mandy,” “Even Now,” “Jump Shout Boogie” and “Looks Like We Made It,” mixed with several songs that he hasn’t performed live in years: “Read ‘em and Weep,” “Somewhere Down the Road” and “Ships.”
“I don’t remember the last time I did these songs. It’s great,” he said.
Manilow said that even the songs that he’s performed night after night, year after year, have taken on new meaning in this tour, particularly in cities that he suspects he won’t ever play again.
“Knowing that it’s the end … and I’m saying goodbye to some of these cities and I don’t want to get emotional every night because that would be bad and disgustingly sloppy,” he said. “But these songs that I never really thought were emotional — ‘I Can’t Smile Without You’ — on an evening like that when I am saying goodbye, this happy hand-clapping thing means much more than it ever did. I’m finding that with a lot of songs that were great uptempo songs, but now because of the lyrics they’re becoming a little more emotional for me.”
The U.S. leg of “One Last Time” wraps up in Denver on May 7 before moving onto the U.K. for three shows in early June. Manilow said there is talk of adding shows in Australia, but as far as he knows his touring days will wrap up this summer.
“I don’t want to retire. I’m in great shape. My voice is in great shape. I got my hair. I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t got a potbelly yet and I’m very old. I’m older than I ever intended to be. But in my mind, I’m still 35 and I’m running around the stage like I am. They say when the lights hit you you don’t feel anything,” he said. I always thought they were full of it, but I’m telling you, it’s true. The lights hit you, everything goes away and you just have a great time,” he said. “But this is it. This is the end of the road for me. I can’t wait to put my Tumi luggage in the garage. It’s been out since 1974. It goes in the garage at the end of England.”
