It was January, 1977 when  Arnetta Boyd, a good  friend of mine  during  High School invited me to  go see Barry  Manilow at Vet's Memorial  in Columbus. We went, and I guess Manilow has been  my favorite pop  singer of all time. His Vegas show is glitz, glamour and most of all LOUD. Too bad, although Manilow's voice is not as strong as it used to be, it is still pretty good, but the music basically over powered him most of the night. The  concert  covers  all the big hits, some  intimate  moments  concerning  his grandfather who encouraged him at a very young age to pursue music, and songs from his newest CD "15 Minutes" which in and of itself is a very good album.

What can  you  say  about these two?  They  are  fun-loving , high energy performers who know how to entertain a crowd. Obviously, "Dancing with the Stars"has been good   for   these   two.  Donny finishing first, and Marie placing third   during   their   respective seasons. Their 90 minute show at the Flamingo, features song and dance, both solo and duet sets. All the while, films clips are being shown in the background spanning  their now 40 plus  years in show  business. The  Flamingo theater is small, so every seat is a good one. They absolutely discourage photo taking during the show, however I snuck the one above as they were exiting the stage! My tablemates  from Michigan and Canada were bigger  fans than I was, but we all agreed it was a fantastic show. Donnie looked good up close, Marie kinda looks like she's getting Dolly Parton/Joan River lips? Just sayin...

First of all, let me say  that I do not gamble at all when I go to Vegas. Some Christians do, some don't. I go whenever there's 3 shows worth seeing  over 3 days.  Wednesday night, I  went to Caesars Palace to see 70s & 80s icon Rod Stewart. He has definitely toned down his life and music since entering into his later stage of entertaining. His band is  amazing,  featuring  guitars, 2  drummers, keys, horns, 3  backup singers plus a lady fiddle and mandolin player who is simply gorgeous to  look  at, and  can out play  any of  the  boys  on  the stage. They roll  through a 90 minute  performance of hits, near  hits and a couple cover tunes. Stewart  is still on top  of his game, although he said his voice was a little weak that night, you'd never would have noticed. Plus, he still has that infamous "bed head" look for hair! A style that  has come and gone  several times since he  started wearing it back in the 70s. The  only negative thing about the show was the young British gal who sat next to me and managed to sing nearly every song with him. I'm told the Brits do this normally...just another good reason to break away from the monarchy IMHO!