A sea of neon green glow sticks flickered throughout Tucson Arena Monday night as Barry Manilow opened what very well could have been his final Tucson show.
"For those who don't know me, my name is Barry Manilow," he told the crowd of 3,500, barely enough people to fill half the arena.Β
But the thunderous applause they showered on the legendary pop singer filled the arena as if every seat was occupied.
And for the next 90 minutes, Manilow reminded them of the last time he stood on the Tucson Arena stage in 1981, when most of the seats were filled.
The audience and Manilow were kids back then, in their 20s and 30s, full of youthful untapped ambition. The years painted their hair grey β except Manilow, whose wavy light brown hair showed no signs of age β and wrinkles around their eyes were evidence of the decades that have passed.Β
On Monday night, they were all kids again. Music has a way of erasing the years, returning you to your youth when nothing could stop you from singing along as Manilow belted out all those great hits from yesteryear β "Daybreak," "Weekend in New England," "Mandy," "Looks Like We Made It," "Bandstand Boogie," "Jump Shout Boogie."Β
His setlist was a greatest hits rewind, some of it bundled up in medleys ("The Old Songs," "Read 'Em and Weep," "This One's For You," "Ready to Take A Chance Again," "Tryin' to Get That Feeling Again"), some sung at the piano with a solo light casting a warm shadow. During "Brooklyn Blues," he invited the opening act, superstar jazz saxophonist Dave Koz, back on stage and the two played the blues/jazzy finale like final, breathtaking scene of a great Hollywood musical.
It was hard not to forget that it's 2016 and Manilow hasn't had a charted single in decades. He surely was performing as if he was still that young hitmaker, singing songsΒ that sneak into your subconscious and stay there for days on end. Chances are you might run into a coworker today humming one of those songs. And ifΒ you ask them about the show, they will tell you that Manilow sounded pretty terrific for a man of 72, a man who has sung those songs for the better part of those years and still sings them with a sense that the audience is hearing them for the first time.Β
His voice was an octave or two lower and he couldn't hit the high notes of "Ships" as smoothly as he did in his youth. But he easily transcended into that higher register for the final chorus of "Even Now," holding that note for a good 20, 30 seconds.Β
It was impressive.Β
"You make me feel like Justin Bieber," he told the cheering crowd, some of them encouraging him with high-pitched whistles and screams. "You know I was Justin Bieber in the '70s."
Justin Bieber may have a few less decades on Manilow and he may dance with a little more swagger, but Manilow held his own Monday night. He boogied around the stage from end to end, dancing a little more deliberately but with the energy and enthusiasm of someone who loved the stage and all the magic it still held.
There weren't many young people in the audience beyond the occasional thirtysomething kid hanging out with their sixtysomething parent. But a group of Tucson high schoolers who could relate more to Bieber than Barry shared the stage with Manilow for his final songs. About two dozen members of the Tucson Magnet High School choir, dressed in bright red robes and wearing smiles that swallowed their faces, sang harmony on the midtempo ballad "I Write the Songs" and grooved along to Manilow's signature hit "Copacabana."Β
Manilow even dueted with Judy Garland on her hit "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," courtesy a large screen and some vintage black-and-white video of the late Broadway/Hollywood songstress singing the song. It's one of the "Dream Duets" Manilow recorded on his Grammy-nominated CD that includes collaborations with Whitney Houston, Andy Williams, Marilyn Monroe and other famous artists who Manilow grew up listening to. The singer rearranged the tunes to create duets, then mixed himself into the original recordings to create something entirely new and fresh.
This is Barry Manilow's latest chapter and one more reason to believe that Monday night was not a forever goodbye, just a so-long-until-next-time goodbye.
"We haven't been here in a long time," Manilow told Monday's audience; his last Tucson show was at Casino del Sol in 2002. "We've played here for years. What a ride this has been."
