His Kind of Town

Chicago is definately Manilow's kind of town.  He loves it there and they love him.  
It was a long time coming but worth the wait for the rescheduled dates. 

Link to Chicago Thursday 7/12/12

 

Link to Chicago Friday 7/13/12

 

Link to Chicago Saturday 7/14/12

Title Town (Green Bay) 6/15/12

Who'da thunk....Green Bay would be so amazing.  
The roadtrip from Grand Rapids worked out beautifully.   We took the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan back to Milwaukee.   After a nice lunch, some rest and recovery we again hit the road north.

Although I felt the Green Bay crowd was great, it felt similar to Moline and Grand Rapids to me.   Maybe it was his impending birthday but Barry was loving the Green Bay audience.   An impromptu audience round of "Happy Birthday" was started and he seemed to really enjoy it.   This was the first time I've heard him say his real age out loud.  And proud he should be of his age and especially his accomplishments that continue to accumulate.     Anyway - he did his research for at one point when he was really feeling the love he said, "You make me feel like Aaron Rogers."  

 

 

Link to Green Bay photos

Grand Rapids, MI June 14, 2012

Another rearranged schedule and resulting roadtrip.

Originally this show was to be April 26, Green Bay was April 27 and Milwaukee was April 28.   Then came the cancellations and rebookings.  The plan was to drive to Grand Rapids, skip Green Bay and be back for the Milwaukee show.   First they announced that Green Bay was moved to June 15.   I though - heck I can drive up there so I bought myself a ticket.   Then they announced the Grand Rapids show was moved to the 14th but Milwaukee moved to August.  Suffice to say we needed a spreadsheet to keep track of who was coming and going.

It was very evident that Barry was feeling much better since Moline and Detroit.  
Link to Grand Rapids photos

...and on to Detroit - Fox Theater 8/15/12

Up and out from the banks of the Mississippi across Illinois to Detroit. Unbelievably beautiful clear weather for our drive.  Nothing like getting a little lost in downtown Detroit late afternoon on a Friday - not so much scary as eerie.  All part of the adventure and memories.

The comparison of the arena shows vs. the theater shows is interesging.  For the most part I prefer the theater venues because they feel so much more intimate and personal.  But there is something about the amount of people all gathering at an arena to have a great time in celebration of great music and a wonderful man.

Link to Fox Theater Detroit photos.

On the 2012 Manilow Highway

2012 turned out to be much much better for seeing Mr. Manilow that expected.   Although Vegas was over and there was NO Tour.....Barry did a fantastic job of wandering around the Midwest and points east.  Clearly this wasn't a tour because there was no tour t-shirt list all the visited cities and not tour program.   But those are actually 2 separate stories.

Let's back up to December of 2011.   Immediately following the end of Barry's run at the Paris he had more and very extensive hip surgery (not replacement already).  Whoever told him and his peeps that he would be back on stage by February for the 3-night run in Chicago has clearly never seen him perform.   After wat had to be a difficult and painful recovery for Barry, rearranging and moving show dates....we hit the Manilow Highway.   First up - Moline, IL:

Links to photos:

Moline, IL March 8, 2012
Moline, IL March 8, 2012 - part 2

Had I known how the show schedule would wash out, probably would have not gone to Detroit.   But it was definitely worth the drive with Robin and Peggy.