Barry Manilow - In Concert

A landmark live love fest

Manilow was never the most handsome of fellows and his voice is barely average. That sentence isn’t the sniping of a music critic, but rather an observation made by the man himself. By Manilow’s own admission, he’s an unlikely superstar, and his bemusement at the levels of adoration he inspires is clear during this 1978 show.

Filmed in front of 72,000 fans at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, and subsequently screened on US television by the fledgling HBO cable station, it was a spectacular triumph for a performer who, only a few short years earlier, was playing piano for Bette Midler in pokey New York nightclubs. Manilow is humble throughout, displaying undeniable charisma and sending himself up with relish, especially when fluffing the whistling intro to Can’t Smile Without You.

Truth be told, he’s actually pretty good at what he does. The jump-jive medley is electrifying in places, while his reading of Randy Edelman’s Weekend In New England possesses a similar cinematic power to the trio of geographic tearjerkers Jimmy Webb fashioned for Glen Campbell (Wichita, Galveston, Phoenix). An unashamedly MOR prospect, perhaps, but few do it better.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Warner Music Entertainment | 5051865513025

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
<< Back to Issue 368

You might also like:

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk