Barry Manilow in SugarLand....

As I type, it is one o'clock in the morning.... and I am the only one awake in this house. My husband is sound asleep upstairs, and Savannah and Sweet Pea are sleeping in their pillow-beds down here on the first floor. And I am awake, awake, awake... because we went to see Manilow in concert tonight at a venue in SugarLand.

Wonderful show, as always, and what always strikes me at Manilow's concerts are his audiences... they truly connect with him and love him, even though he is right smack in the middle of country-western-music-mania when that Brooklyn-born man comes to Texas.

Just before the show began tonight, the speakers were playing non-Manilow music just to keep the audience entertained while waiting for Barry to come on stage. In the middle of our section, a young man with Down's Syndrome got up from his seat and started to dance. He was enjoying the music, smiling at everyone in the row where his seat was, and we all could see that he was 'in the moment' and loving every second of it.  When the music stopped, the audience around his section began to applaud, and that young man smiled even bigger and then he seriously and ceremoniously took a bow. It was just spectacular to see... and then he went back to his seat and his mother wrapped her arms around her son and gave him the biggest hug, and then she smiled at everyone who was applauding him and you could see by the look in her eyes that she was silently saying 'Thank you!'

Shortly after that, lights in the arena were dimmed, stage lights went on, and Barry came out from the back of the stage and his magic began... everyone singing along with his music... we all know the words, and I'm sure it's a great compliment to Barry that we are so comfortable with him that we are not just sitting there waiting for him to entertain us, we are ready and willing to be part of his music, part of his magic, right along with him.

As always, his audience will stand up when he sings their favorites, so during any song he sings in his concerts, there are pockets of people standing up and singing along and dancing in their places. And then you have the Barry fans who stand up for mostly all of the night, singing along and waving the glow-sticks and hoping the night will just never end. (I will not name names here, to protect the happily guilty.)

At the mid-point of the concert, Barry talked about last year's hurricane and flooding damage in and around the Houston area. Manilow has done so many concerts at Houston venues, and I know he appreciates his fans here. And one fan in particular got a special mention from Barry.... a young man was preparing for a major piano competition when the hurricane hit his Houston area home and destroyed everything in it, including his piano.  Someone in his neighborhood managed to obtain a small keyboard for the boy to practice on... but Barry heard about this boy's lost and beloved piano, and right there on stage tonight, after Manilow called out the boy's name and asked him to come up near the stage.... a big and beautiful grand piano was rolled out and Barry gifted that piano to the young boy.... complete with a huge red bow right on top of that gorgeous instrument. Needless to say, the crowd went wild, and we loved Manilow even more, if that is at all possible.

Beautiful concert... old songs, new songs, Manilow magic from start to finish... with no one coming out on the stage before Barry and his orchestra, and no intermission... just Barry and his outstanding musicians and singers, plus a local Houston choir to sing along with all of us at the end of the night.

I had planned to take my iPad to the concert, but at the last minute, I decided to leave it at home. I didn't want the interruption of taking pictures. I did what I always do at Manilow's concerts... I sang every word to every song, I did not take my eyes off of Barry and his musicians, I stood up for most of the concert and danced by my seat and clapped with a green glow-stick in my hands, and I was lost in the moment, every moment, from the first dimming of the lights to the pop of paper streamers at the end of the night. And yes, I came home with more streamers... trying to bring home a bit of the magic.

I have been to so many Manilow concerts over the years.... in and around Houston, in Las Vegas, in New York City and Long Island, and we would have seen him in London if our plane reservation hadn't been the day before his performance there.  After each concert, I walk away thinking "Tonight was the best one!" 

But tonight.... the audience applauding for the young boy who danced in the aisle, and then the piano with the giant red bow for the young pianist, and then... Barry sang "I Am Your Child" with such a sad and touching poignancy tonight... that song alone was worth twice the price of a seat in the 7th row.  "I Am Your Child" --- Manilow wrote that song for his mother, and when his mother passed away, Barry sang it behind a dark curtain and then waited a few moments before coming out on the stage and standing in front of his audience.

Walking out of the venue tonight, I knew that this was the best Manilow concert ever.  Until the next one, of course. So, Barry.... when are you coming back to town again?!