I Am Your Child BMFC-Manilow Canada

Seeing Barry in Portland

By Jeanine Bailey

While this is about Portland I feel I need to go back a bit further in time. I have followed this wonderfully talented man’s musical career from the beginning. Because of where I live and my life I have never had the opportunity to see him live until the past few years starting at M&P in Las Vegas, 2005. Barry blew me away! When I wasn't standing I was on the edge of my seat.

After my shows got canceled the end of last year, for very good reasons of coarse, I was a bit bummed. I wasn’t mad. I was concerned for Barry’s health. It was just sadness because my friend and I had purchased those tickets 9 months before the show date because we just knew that once Barry did his media frenzy for The Greatest Songs of The Fifties that his shows would book up fast and they did, and you can’t wait to hear or get enough of that wonderful music. We rescheduled for February of this year and then they announced Barry would be in Portland to do a benefit concert for Cystic Fibrosis. I nearly died. I thought what a great foundation to give to, also I knew this was going to be the closest that he would ever be to where I live, plus the thoughts of finally getting to see him in a huge venue like this. Something I have wanted to do for some time now. So I got in touch with my friend, who by chance lives in Portland, and made arrangements to see the show with her. As she put it “good things come to those who wait”.

January came and there were several of us from the Northwest that knew each other. So we decided to all hook up before the show. We decided to get a party together at the Rose Room, which is the restaurant that is inside the Rose Arena. They were putting on a fabulous buffet for the event. It was beautiful. We are escorted to our linen draped tables and there were ceiling to floor windows the entire length of the restaurant. Out side you could see the tops of the winter trees encased in white miniature lights swaying in the wind. As everyone showed up it was so exciting to see everyone again and to meet new people. We ate, told stories and enjoyed our time together before the show. At one point we could even hear the band warming up. What great background music to dine to!

I’ll never forget the one woman’s story of how she had made it there. Her husband had passed away a few years ago. She was doing fine, but was having a hard time moving forward with her life. She has been a fan for a long time. One day she heard Barry singing “You’re There” and it gave her the strength to progress. She so badly wanted to see Barry in Portland, but just couldn’t afford to. Her coworkers knew what a big fan she was, as was her boss. They all decided to pitch in for her Birthday and bought her a ticket to the show. So her and her boss both came. As she sat there talking to all of us, we noticed that she wasn’t eating much. She said she was getting so nervous about finally getting to see Barry. She did manage to eat her salad, but after that she just couldn’t eat anything. Then I noticed the closer it got to show time the redder her neck and face got from being so nervous. It was priceless.

The time had finally arrived for the show. We were directed to our seats in the fifth row down on the floor. I looked around to see how huge the place was. I was told it can hold up to 14,000 people depending on the setup. Certain parts, of coarse, were roped off due to the stage and other equipment. I caught a glimpse of Garry for a moment and decided to go thank him for the wonderful job that he does and while talking to him he told me that there were over 9,500 people there and that they were hoping for 7,000. The place looked as if it were sold out. The excitement was starting to build. Then came the arousing beginning musical interlude with those well known lyrics “right here, right now”. We were all so jazzed the place was reverberating.

Unlike Las Vegas there was no scrim to raise up. Instead, all of a sudden the curtain dropped from the top and seemed to just float to the floor. The crowd was unbelievable. As Barry came out we all jumped to our feet. Not a single person was seated and no one was objecting. Barry looked so wonderful and refreshed since he had some time off. He was wearing his hair a bit different. Not as spiked with a bit more of a side bang. Sorry I used to be a cosmetologist, so I notice these things. It really looked nice on him. You could see he was just beaming and it showed throughout the entire show.

The stage was smaller than the Hilton one, it was also taller with the little round section that protruded from the front middle that raised and lowered from stage height to floor level. Barry had managed not only to arrange his band to fit perfectly on the stage, but he also somehow managed to precisely fit the Portland Symphony Orchestra on stage with them. The sound of all the music being made by so many fine instruments and talented people that filled the entire locale was phenomenal. There is nothing like it. I felt like I was sitting there that very first night again back in ‘05.

Barrys voice was so strong and filled with such emotion, I found myself on the edge of that seat all over again. This was the first time I had heard New York City Rhythm live. He included Joe Melotti, Ron Pedley and Ron Walters, Jr. as a “piano quartet” for part of the song. Each playing a bar or two then running around the piano to pick it up again then finally all four of them together at once. They never missed a beat! I always love hearing Mandy / Could It Be Magic. This time the piano came up from under the stage. I just wait holding my breath to hear Barry playing the first cords before he comes out. The duet sent chills down my spine. By the time it was over I was chocked up. Barry had a special guest come up on stage to help him sing Can’t Smile Without You. I apologize if I get the spelling wrong. Her name was Alexie Ciancimino. She is 13 years old and has Cystic Fibrosis. She did such a beautiful job singing that Barry kind of faded out and let her sing most of it. She truly has a gifted voice as well. I love the way Barry Sings Moonlight Serenade. It is so beautifully done. He came out on the front of the stage that moves up and down and came down to floor level. He walked up the main aisle and stopped in front of our row. He turned to the opposite side and picked a lucky lady to dance with. He danced with her right there in the aisle and then sang to her as they walked back to the stage and while the lift took them back up to the stage where he proceeded to dance some more with her, before finishing the song. Ok so now I am a bit partial to the song since my stage seat this last February. I didn’t get picked to dance with, but just having him singing that song to you for even a few seconds is to die for, or is it to swoon to. But that’s another story, another place and time.

At intermission they handed out glow sticks to everyone. When the lights started to go back down I turned around to look at the arena and what I saw took my breath away. The enormous sea of green glow sticks in all directions was unbelievable. All I could think of was how great it was to see just how many people came to see Barry. Unlike Las Vegas where you get a ton of civilians from off the street coming to see what the show and Barry are about. These people were there strictly because they know Barry. They know his music, they want to hear that music and what he has to say. Don’t get me wrong. I know that we are out here in droves for Barry, but to actually finally see it first hand for the first time in my life was so moving, it brought tears to my eyes.

Barry sang Are You Lonesome Tonight with so much feeling, you could tell it was coming straight from his heart. We also got the entire song of Could It Be Magic. With the live symphony intertwined with Barry’s piano accompaniment, words can’t begin to do it justice, but the huge roar of the standing ovation that went on forever does. You could tell Barry was stunned, but then he stunned us. I totally understand why his show is named Music and Passion. It’s the perfect way to describe the entire show. He finished the show with the gospel version of It’s A Miracle and when he left the stage the audience wouldn’t leave. The standing ovation that ensued shook the place. We were just standing there with so much energy radiating from all of us. All of a sudden Barry pokes his head out of the curtain and the decibel level rose tremendously! He came out to thank us for being there and for Mr.Platt for putting this all together and how all it takes is one person. Of coarse we knew what was to follow. Barry’s beautiful, rich voice singing One Voice a capella did me in. I had tears streaming down my face when he was through.

As we left we bumped into our new friend from the dinner who was so nervous before. I asked her what she thought and with her hand on her heart her mouth flew opened and finally she said it was a dream come true for her. Needless to say the tears were flowing again. While the Hilton is a very intimate setting that thrills you just as much as the big venue, I have to say I was so very impressed with the huge arena and how many people love the music this naturally talented artiste makes for all of us. There is no one like Barry Manilow and there never will be again. He really does know how to make you feel.

The next morning I was listening to the local radio station and they said that at last count, the concert brought in over $400,000 for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. A listener called in to say that all the sales from Barry’s memorabilia was also donated to the foundation.

While I stayed in Portland, my room was too quite so I would turn the radio on low before I would go to bed at night. Every morning like clock work I would be awakened by that wonderful voice of Barry’s. There is nothing like hearing Can’t Smile Without You, Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, Daybreak and It’s A Miracle as you wake up for the day. When I got back home my family greeted me at the airport and took me to dinner. As we walked to our table at the local restaurant I started to giggle and grin from ear to ear. Everyone was wondering what was going on with me and I told them to just listen. They still didn’t have a clue what was going on with me and I explained as I pointed to the speakers in the ceiling. There was Barry singing Can’t Smile Without You. What a welcome home that was.