Trevelise shares his thoughts from seeing Barry Manilow in concert

On Saturday night I went to see Barry Manilow with Dave Koz at the Prudential Center.

Can you believe it cost $35 dollars to park for a 3-hour show? If nothing else, that proves that you can still get robbed in Newark.

Then as we’re entering the venue, we’re told to empty our pockets and they wave a wand over us. I’m thinking, “Who would bring a gun to see Barry Manilow?’ Rick Astley maybe but Barry freaking Manilow??  BTW- Is it me or can Barry Manilow and Joe Namath be cousins?

The concert truly was awesome and that’s not a word I use very much. I had heard that he put on a great show years ago but he’s definitely still got it. You forget just how many hits he’s had and he added things like performing duets with an on-screen Judi Garland and even himself from a 1974 Midnight Special show.

At one point, as Manilow is beginning to perform a ballad where everyone’s sitting down, I was lucky enough to have the only 4 people who thought “Old Songs” was worth standing for. Each of these 4 people who decided it was a good idea to standwere so big that they easily could have played offensive tackle for the Giants.

At least I was able to sit back and enjoy the show, as opposed to all those people who were trying to record it on their cell phones. These people spend more time trying to get the right angle and adjusting their zoom that they actually miss a great show. When they play the video back later they’ll find out that the great sound they were hearing will not be coming out of those little cell phone speakers. Oh well.

When it was time to leave, I had a strategy to get out and on the road to beat the traffic ASAP. Figuring that Copa would be the last song, we made our move. I even re-wrote some of the lyrics to "Copacabana," to express what it is like trying to leave a concert in New Jersey. Check out my lyrics below.

”Her name was Lola, I knocked her over, as I was running from the show with 5 minutes left to go,but then my wife had, to make a pitt stop, and I was stranded by the stairs , waiting for her to come there, and then the crowd let out, and we were stuck no doubt, leaving  Prudential, Prudential Center. The easiest place you can enter.

I know it’s a stretch but that’s why Barry plays the Prudential and I write this article instead.