Thursday, September 3, 2009

The demise of "Here at the Mayflower"

After reading the latest show reviews, I'm so incredibly glad I was there the night he came back after vacation in July. There were some glitches. Perhaps the show didn't flow as well as people would have liked. There weren't as many hits. But...there was "Here at the Mayflower." Hearing those coveted songs: Talk to Me, The Night that Tito Played, Not What You See, Welcome Home and Sandra (although not on the CD but should have been) is the reason that I went back after such a long break. And I'm glad I did.

There is no better performance than Talk to Me. That song is the absolute best one on The Mayflower album. And Barry's performance of it brought every single word to life. The ups, the downs, the anger, the sadness, the frustration that people experience in relationships came out that night when he performed it. It was the quintessential moment in all the shows I've seen. Although I've had other "great" show moments, this, for me, embodied the essence of Manilow.

It's such a shame that things went back to "normal" and the show only contains two Mayflower songs. But alas...

I think Rick Nelson said it best, "you can't please everyone, but you've got to please yourself".

People want what the want,
Texas Fan

5 comments:

Unknown said...

That is sad in a way. I,too, like those Mayflower songs. But people dont want them, I guess. Other songs "sell" better.I just wonder was it his idea or the fact that some of the audiences may not know these songs. I would not have known those songs either cause the last time I saw him in concert was when he played the Cynthia Woods outdoor theater somewhere between 1999 and 2004. It's been a long dry spell for me.

Survivor said...

I too was so glad I was there to see Barry perform those 5 songs live. I wish he would do the whole album live, it would be absolutely unique and brilliant.
I agree that Barry's performance and interpretation of Talk To Me was nothing short of magical. I just can't find the right words to describe it. He sang that song 6 times when I was there and every one was better than the one before. You would have to be dead not to connect with those lyrics and music, we have all been there, I know I have many times in recent years. Watching Barry interpret those words on stage was breath-taking. The emotion, the angst, the sheer brilliance was what is essentially Barry Manilow at his absolute best!
The audiences in the future will never know what they have missed!

Peachy said...

I think the Mayflower segment is lost on the Vegas crowd. Since it is mostly made up of tourists that are looking for something to fill the night and not all fans, they want to hear what they know (Mandy, Copa, etc.). I think Mayflower would be good for the arena shows because those crowds are filled with fans and would definitely appreciate it more. There was a show review in the a Vegas paper recently that was not so flattering, and a friend of mine and I were saying that after that so-so review Mayflower would be dropped and it was. Too bad, maybe the next fan club event he will throw it back in there.

you begin again.... said...

"Talk to Me" and "Tito" are two things I would pay to see on ManilowTV. No kidding.


Hint hint hintitty hint...........

texas_fan said...

I think I might pay for "Talk to Me" as well. But...I would LOVE to see a flawless "Sandra" without the sound difficulties.

Hint..hint...hinttty...hint

 
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