I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!
Wednesday night, one of my dreams came true. I got to go see Barry Manilow live in concert. Loved it! Our seats were pretty far away but I didn't care. It was just so cool to see him perform live. His opening act was kinda lame. He was the creator of the TV show "The Mentalist." His tricks were cool, but after growing up going to all the David Copperfield shows, it was all stuff I had seen before. He was kinda crude too so that didn't help.
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| Me and my brother, Dean. Forgive the nostril shot! |
Then, you see the orchestra dance out and take their seats then start playing a medley of Manilow hits and I got so excited! The next thing you know, Barry is on the stage amid the lights and music and it was great! He sang pretty much all his big hits, "Mandy," Can't Smile Without You," "Looks Like We Made It," "I Write the Songs," "Copacabana," and ended the night with my personal favorite, "One Voice."
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| Live on stage (yes, that white speck is him). |
That song brings back some awesome memories for me. At my high school, Douglas Anderson, we put on a show every year called Extravaganza. It's kind of a showcase of the best of the best from each arts area. My sophomore year they celebrated the tenth anniversary of Extravaganza so they wanted to do something special to commemorate the occasion. Each year they do a big finale and the first year they sang "One Voice." So, they decided to revisit it for the tenth anniversary. In case you haven't heard the song, it starts out with one accapella voice, then steadily grows with voices and instruments as the song goes. The song talks about the power of one person speaking out because if one person speaks, then others join. Go listen to it on iTunes if you've never heard it. It's great! Anyway, the performance at DA started with one guy all alone on the stage back lit with a spotlight so you only saw his silhouette. He was then joined by an ensemble, then the orchestra pit ascended, carrying a group of about 100 singers, of which I was one, right in the front row. It was just a really cool effect.
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| I can't believe what a smooth voice he still has at the age of 68. Beautiful! |
So back to Wednesday night. The concert was coming to a close and he has already done 2 encore numbers. I was starting to worry. He came back out and said he had one more song. I looked at my brother Dean and said, "I really hope it's One Voice. I really want to hear it live." He begins to tell a story of how one night he got up in the middle of the night and recorded a melody in his sleep. He woke up the next morning and pushed play and he heard the melody. He immediately started to sing, "One Voice, singing in the darkness. All it takes is one voice singing so they hear what's on your mind and when you look around you'll find there's more than One Voice..." I looked at Dean, hit him on the arm multiple times and jumped up and down. He was singing my song!
Anyway, one of my dreams has come true. :) I sat in the concert and literally said, "Thank you, God that I have the opportunity to fulfill one of my silly dreams." I am so thankful that my God cares about my silly little desires and give opportunities for them to happen. How great is our God!
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| "When October Goes" |
1 comment:
Oh my word! That is so awesome you got to see him in concert. I'm jealous. My hubs and his best friend (and best man in our wedding) who plays the piano incredibly well would alway sing Barry Manilow songs. (oh, I abbreviated that and it didn't turn out so well: BM?) Our friend, Nelson, was moving one weekend and so we helped and we had to move his piano. So it was the only thing in the back of the moving truck. They had a driver for the truck and Nelson and his friends were all in the back of the truck playing Barry Manilow songs and singing while driving down the highway. It was a great memory. So glad you got to go and he sang your song. So cool!!!
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