Barry Manilow, Hits 2022, OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Thursday 23rd June, 2022

Barry Manilow is seventy-nine years old (well, most of him) and has been performing for longer than I have been alive. When I suggested jokingly to my wife we go see him, she surprised me by saying yes.  

Billed as Hits 2022, he certainly has enough to pick from with 12 number 1s and twenty-seven top 10s. He's regarded as the #1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all time, according to Billboard and R&R magazines. Did he live up to expectations? Well...

This audience was unlike one I'd ever experienced. These were ardent Barry fans, who perhaps don't go to many other concerts. They had to be shown by the staff how to link their drink container handles; many filmed the show with their camera light still switched on (until the battery ran out) and lots whooped when they recognised a familiar intro. Not cheered, whooped, the same kind of sound an audience makes when a quizmaster reveals the prizes. Looking around, I spotted many wrinklies and reckoned I could have made a mint selling No7 from the merch stall (though I'm not sure Boots would be happy with Barry as their new Face). There were a few younger people too who wouldn't have even been born during Barry's heyday, the 1970s.

Another audience newbie example came when, as the crowd filled, I noticed two individuals moving the location banner from in front of them so as to unblock their view, not realising said banners would be removed by the staff before the show started. I hope those people in sections 003 and 007 were suitably embarrassed.

Curtis Stigers was a good choice as support to warm up the crowd. He had a few hits in the '80s and works in a similar style to Barry, schmoozing the audience with his banter, for example, suggesting we all go buy his merch as he has a daughter to put through college, his ex-wife gaining all the royalties from his multi-million selling album in the divorce. He sang and played his saxophone as part of his jazz quartet, reimaging his tunes in this style. He's even recorded these versions for his new album, available in both CD and vinyl and all hand signed by him.

The intro to Barry's set was banging, mixing recent dance tunes with his hits as the light show pumped up the crowd building to the curtain pulling back revealing their hero. The reaction was electric, the audience on their feet singing and dancing (not those in wheelchairs).

I have to say I warmed to the night, perhaps due to the enthusiastic audience, the appreciation Barry holds for his audience and his sheer joy at performing his songs. Yes, he may move like a Thunderbird puppet and have the facial expressions of a ventriloquist dummy but his vocal control is unsurpassed and he's a pro when it comes to the audience. His songs are catchy and clever and I enjoyed hearing his stories about his early career, initially bombing but working hard till his efforts paid off.

He puts on a great show, with sing-a-longs, dance numbers, costume changes and classic songs. It wasn't a long show but it delivered what the audience wanted.

I took a few videos of the show and afterwards the two women sitting behind us wanted to know what kind of phone I had. They were impressed by the scale of my zoom. I'm not used to strangers of the female gender engaging with me, so I didn't reply "if you think that's impressive you should see the size of my... internal memory" and instead told them it was a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. My wife now wants to know if I'm approached this way at every concert I attend. She has nothing to worry about. I have a head like a fuzzy-faced, boiled egg. Only Barry fans might find that peculiarity interesting.

Afterwards, I had a good night's sleep, the first in a long, long time. It must have been due to Barry's feel-good factor.     

Ticket Price: £85 each plus per-item fees £11.50. Total £96.50 each.

Setlist

It's a Miracle

Can't Smile Without You

Stay

Somewhere in the Night

Looks Like We Made It

This One's for You

Sweet Heaven (I'm in Love Again)

Even Now

The Old Songs / Ships / Ready to Take a Chance Again / Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again

Dancing in the Aisles / Dancing in the Street / Let's Hang On

Bermuda Triangle

Could It Be Magic

I Made It Through the Rain

Mandy / Could It Be Magic

I Write the Songs (Bruce Johnston cover)

Copacabana (at the Copa)

Let Freedom Ring

It's a Miracle (Reprise)

Alanis Morissette, World Tour 2022, Celebrating 25 Years of Jagged Little Pill. OVO Hydro, Glasgow. Sunday 19th June, 2022

Alanis constantly races across the stage as if determined to get her daily steps up and although she's not as slim as she once was, her voice is still pure and controlled and has a fantastic range.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Beth Orton and her band, in support, gave a performance that sounded like it needed a proper soundcheck. Her voice was fine but the band sound was muddy and indistinct. I didn't doze but my eyes felt heavy for most of her time on stage. She has a voice reminiscent of Alanis's but I feel her intimate songs would have worked better in a smaller venue.

Later, when Alanis burst onto the stage with long, blonde hair, I was a bit surprised and wondered if this was an impersonator playing a prank on us. Alanis, as I remembered, had dark hair and was pencil-thin and didn't rush all over the stage as if attempting to avoid a sniper. Seeing the microphone held away from the mouth, even when Alanis's vocals are soaring further compounded this thought. After some time it became evident this was not the case and that this was Alanis as she is now. She had to hold the mike away from her mouth sometimes because she was singing so loudly.  

Her voice was the best part of the night. Everything else was a letdown. 

This was a bare-bones production with minimal staging, average lighting and no cameras to show those on the upper levels what was going on. The three large screens at the back of the stage only showed video clips and images, nothing of the live performance. I ended up using the zoom function on my phone camera to watch the show. She practically sold out the OVO so she did deserve to be there but she put on a show that would have worked better in the Armadillo where the audience wasn't so far away. It felt like a show planned by the candidates on The Apprentice where they'd cut out anything non-essential that would risk their profit.   

The one time the images on the screens made an impact on me was when she showed footage of Taylor Hawkins, her former drummer, whom she introduced to Dave Grohl. It was touching to be reminded of him as a young man at the start of his career. The song Ironic carried a screen dedication to him at the end.

The fans were in fine voice during many of the songs, their chorus filling the auditorium, particularly during the more well-known numbers. Many also exited for the bars/toilets during the less popular album tracks, small streams of people flowing in and out regularly.

As usual, I can't go to a concert without experiencing some audience gripes. The female diagonally in front of me kept elbowing my knee whenever she put her arm around her partner (which she did a lot). And whenever the round girl beside me stood up to dance, I experienced flashbacks to the boulder scene from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. She was a big fan, knew all the lyrics and clapped like a seal between songs. Deep down, I knew I wasn't in any danger but there was always the fear she might trip. I was most surprised when she left with her pal during one of the more famous tunes and was away for ages. They returned later with armfuls of alcohol but then had to exit again later for a toilet break. I don't understand this behaviour. You've paid a lot of money to be at a show by an artist you love. So be there. Experience it. 

And then gripe about it afterwards like me. 

Ticket Price: £65 plus £10 in fees each. Total £75 each.

Setlist 

(The show opens with a video retrospective) 

All I Really Want

Hand in My Pocket

Right Through You

You Learn

Hands Clean (Segue 1)

Forgiven

Everything (Segue 2)

Mary Jane

Diagnosis (Segue 3)

Reasons I Drink

Head Over Feet

So Unsexy (Segue 4)

Ablaze

Nemesis (Segue 4½)

Perfect

Losing the Plot (Segue 5)

Wake Up

Not the Doctor

Ironic ((In memory of Tyler Hawkins))

Sympathetic Character (Segue 6)

Smiling

I Remain (Segue 7)

You Oughta Know

 

Encore:

Your House

Uninvited

Thank U

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, Barrowlands, Glasgow. Friday 17th June, 2022

I didn't feel too good before this gig. Not in a Covid way, fortunately. Just sore and tired. I'm now someone who sometimes takes drugs before a concert, albeit Co-Codamol (that constipation's going to bite me in the ass tomorrow).

They'd kicked in by the time I arrived at the venue. Inside, I was frisked and then asked to confirm I wasn't carrying any weapons (I resisted saying just my wits). After a brief pause to have my ticket scanned at the foot of the stairs, I was allowed up the steps. On the dancefloor. I picked my spot ready to watch the first support act, Lola in Slacks. The band were good but I didn't warm to the singer. She reminded me of a slowed-down, Glaswegian Stevie Nicks. Not in appearance. More in the way her deep voice droned. The songs were okay but nothing special. You could tell the singer was thrilled to be playing the Barrowland. A real wow moment for her if not for me. I did like the band though. Very tight.

While I was waiting for the next support, Callum Easter, I flicked through Facebook only to look up and see two giants had taken root between me and the stage. Time to move to another location. Fortunately, the dancefloor was relatively empty with plenty of spaces. I selected another position behind three shorter ladies of rather plump dimensions. No one was going to push in front of them, thus protecting my view. 

Callum had problems with his backing-track machine and lots of the sound crew were shining torches and pulling cables and twisting wires to get it to work again before he could begin his set whereupon a stand-up drummer joined him to belt out the beat. Callum does a poor Jack White impression on the guitar, using lots of distortion and feedback on his voice, possibly deliberately. A few isolated souls were really into him, dancing along and I really wanted to have my Blues Brothers hit-by-the-spotlight moment so I could join in but it didn't happen. I sense Callum is a triumph of confidence and swagger over talent.

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie were on top form, Martin Metcalfe acting as the maniac ringmaster to us, his circus of freaks. This felt like a gig of old with them playing the special songs they love rather than just the crowdpleasers from the first two albums. I felt the audience was a bit muted early on. The song Hard used to get a mosh on but this crowd were appreciative rather than active. Possibly down to their age or lack of Co-Codamol consumption. Later, they did find their voice and their bouncy feet and by the finale, the place was jumping. Indeed, I found my shoulder was often being used to support the gentleman beside me as he bounced and bounced like an inebriated Tigger.

My voice is hoarse but it was worth it. Highlights for me: Hard, Face to Face (because I didn't think they played it anymore), Goodwill City and the eponymous Goodbye Mr Mackenzie to finish.

Ticket Price: £27.50 plus £2.50 booking fee, £1.00 transaction charge

Total £31.00 

Setlist

His Master's Voice

Open Your Arms

Hard

Working On The Shoo-Fly

You Generous Thing

Sick Baby

Love Child

Blacker Than Black

Niagara

Amsterdam

Face to Face

The Way I Walk (Jack Scott cover - Big John on vocals)

Normal Boy

Now We Are Married

The Rattler

Encore:

Goodwill City

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie