He Sings The Songs And Barry Manilow Finds An Appreciative Audience At Spokane Concert

Barry Manilow Friday, Nov. 7, the Arena

If you’re a Barry Manilow fan, you likely came away from his Friday night performance at the Spokane Arena all atwitter with the good vibes that made up his show.

During his performance, you likely went weak when his powerful voice soared through love-lorn lines like “Letting go is just another way to say I love you.”

You may have swooned with jealousy as he brought a young female fan on stage to join him singing the jaunty, “Can’t Smile Without You.”

You may have jumped out of your chair and thrown your arms into the air when Manilow worked “Looks Like We Made It” to a bombastic climax - with the help of a five-man back-up band.

You may have even shouted, like the woman behind me, “I want to marry you, Barry!”

Now, if you aren’t a big Manilow fan like, say, me for instance, you probably were flabbergasted by the outpouring of adoration for this guy with a big goofy smile and sometimes schmaltzy repertoire.

You may have yawned through any number of the love-lorn ballads (although “Mandy” probably broke its way into even your cold heart).

You likely got up and danced with everyone else to his two renditions of “Copacabana,” for how could you not, really?

And, in the end - if you were trying to keep an open mind - you probably admitted to yourself that this guy is a consummate performer with a great voice; a man who does what he does very well.

And he’s got the moves too. A hip swivel from this 51-year-old songsmith sent the women behind me into teenybopper hysterics.

Manilow spent the two-hour show Friday touring the audience through his 25 years in music, belting out tunes from his 1972 self-titled debut album as well as songs from his latest release called “Summer of ‘78.”

He even allowed audience members to pick some of the albums he sang from, chatting amiably with the crowd between tunes.

“Here’s my advice. Have fun. Just do what you love to do,” he told the crowd.

Manilow knows better than anyone that he is alternately loved and loathed by music fans and his self-deprecating sense of humor Friday was both funny and endearing.

“I looked like Big Bird on acid,” he quipped while talking about some old photos he came across of himself in a Copacabana shirt.

Before he started into a medley of his hits, Manilow told the audience, “For those of you who were dragged here tonight, this medley is going to be agonizing.”

Actually, it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo