Facebook Post For November 29th.

Hi Gang,
It's me Barry coming at you from Hot'Lanta Yes I'm in Atlanta already for Wednesday nights Philips Arena concert. Now Friday was "Black Friday", Saturday was " Shop Small"(Shop your local shops in your neighborhood.),  Monday was "Cyber Monday" and today is "Giving Tuesday."  In honor of Giving Tuesday I'm giving you fans two free digital downloads The New Girl In 2B and Who Is The Shadow Man? from Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.)  I've got some  great news to share with all of you. I made the cutoff period to be nominated for Grammys for 2017. So I just found out from Marc I'm up for three Grammy Awards for 2017. They are  Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance Male. Wish me luck gang. Also I was also asked to preform at the Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday February 12, 2017 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles CA. So you know where I'll be on Sunday February 12. 2017. In fact they asked me to open the Grammy Awards. I said sure I would gladly do that. I decided to do the gospel version of It's' A Miracle that Ray Charles taught me. So what's going to happen is we're going to take Ray Charles' part of It's A Miracle and put that on a screen behind me. That way it will look like he's performing with me. Like he did on my second TV special. I'm sure you all saw that photo of me standing with three other guys that was shared all over Facebook. Well that's my head but not my body. My head was photo shopped onto someone else's body.  I'm not that skinny people. I have no idea who the two guys on the outside are. I do know the second guy from the left is Scott Nevins. I know what Scott wants however he's not going to get that. I'm a very happily married man. I have been married for one year, five months and eighteen days. What Scott doesn't understand is I married my best friend on Sunday July 12, 2015. Scott has always thought I was bisexual. Which I'm neither that bisexual nor gay. The reason he thought I was bisexual is because he wants me as his life partner. Not going to happen ever. My life partner is Mrs. Barack Manilow. Also known also as Dr. Carly Manilow DMV(Doctor of Veterinary Medicne). She is the head veterinarian at the Bronx Zoo Bronx New York. Many of you fans also know Carly as one of you guys a Barry Manilow fan and fellow BMIFC member. Some of you are friends with Carly.  Some of you belong to the local sanctioned fan club she started called One Voice BMFC. just so you know I am not very sick.  Carly sent me a post from one of her Barry Manilow Facebook groups. Where some fan said that someone said I was very sick. Well I'm not very sick. I saw my general doctor last month. He said I gained five pounds since the last time I was there. I also got my flu shot. Maybe Brian Murphy  might be the one who's sick. I haven't seen him  since the Let Freedom Ring benefit on Veterans day. Up next is Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, San Antonio, Chicago and Denver. Then I'm off until Thursday December thirtieth and the thirty first NYE when I'm at Madison Square Garden. After that there's  four show in the US and six shows in Canada. Then I'll be off until June when I start my summer sheds tour across America. It's time to go for dinner. David just came into say everyone else is ready to go for dinner. To all who are coming to Philips Arena tomorrow night your in for a great concert. As Rachel Ray says "See you when I see you."
Love and sloppy wet kisses,
Barry.

Unscheduled Surprise Eighteen City Tour

Barry was on the road again.  It was Thursday morning seven am and everyone was at JFK for their flight to Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Tonight was the first night of  eighteen unscheduled surprise concerts that Barry was doing. It was Barry his usual band of suspects. Plus Debra Byrd and Dana Robbins and the Grant Street campus chorus. Barry went into his warehouse of clothes, props an sets for his Mayflower  fire escape set. That's the set he used back in 2001/2002 during his Manilow Live Tour. Barry was opening his show with I'm Coming Back from Here At The Mayflower. For the first half of these shows Barry was wearing a bolero jacket that looked like what a elevator operator would wear. Kenny Garrett was the designer behind the bolero jacket. The band was wearing bolero jackets too. Only in a different color than Barry's was. The girls Dana Robbins, Debra Byrd and Shelly Greco would be wearing black strapped dresses with sparkly bolero jackets. They all got to JFK at five am for their seven am flight. They would be arriving in Detroit at around ten am eastern time. Once they got to Detroit they went by bus to their hotel. After Barry got to his hotel room and put his suitcase down. He decided to go for a walk. He headed over to the Palace of the Auburn Hills to check it out. Once there he saw some fans standing there. He stopped to say hello to them, pose for pictures and sign some stuff for them. He answered their questions about why he was doing all these unscheduled surprise shows.  Hopefully you are with someone who can watch your spot while you go to eat,  hit the ladies room and change clothes said Barry. I went into my warehouse of clothes, props and sets. So I could bring back the fire escape sets from the Manilow Live Tour 2001/2002. Me and the boys in the band are wearing bolero jackets and black pants that look like an elevator operator outfit. That's for the first half of the show. And yes all these shows are two hours long. What I did to create this unscheduled surprise road trip. Was I made a list of cities across the US I wanted to perform in. Then I checked  to see if each city had an arena in them. I then checked their calendar to see when they had a free day that I could perform there. I quickly snatched the empty dates for this unscheduled surprise road trip. I'm doing major cities in the US and Canada from November seventeen to January thirty first. I checked to see which days were clear for me to preform in.  So that was how I figured out this unscheduled surprise mini concert tour. I'm off tomorrow. Then on Saturday 11/19 I'm at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh PA. Then on Sunday 11/20 it's the Barclay Center Brooklyn NY. Off Monday. Tuesday 11/22 it's the Prudential Center Newark NJ. On  Wednesday 11/23 it's the TD Garden Boston MA. Off Thanksgiving and black Friday. Then on Saturday 11/26 it's Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia PA. Off Sunday. Then Monday 11/28 Colonial Life Columbia SC. Last but not least Wednesday 11/30 Philips Arena Atlanta GA.  Yes I'm added eight shows in December and ten shows in January. I put up the new cities with their the dates in a Facebook message on my page. Go check it out the dates on my calendar section of my Facebook page. I hope to see you at one of those concerts. Yes they're all arena shows. so as many fans can come see these unscheduled shows as possible.  I'm also doing  Platinum Packages at all of them. Tickets will be the same price for those shows as the ones I'm doing right now. $75 Platinum, $30 front floor, $25 back floor, $20 lower bleachers, $15 middle bleachers and $10 nose bleed bleachers. Oh BTW I just added some Canadian dates in January. So the March Canada tour is now in January. We didn't get enough fans for the Weekend In Canada so we canceled it. Tickets for the Canadian dates are the same price as the US dates. And yes I'm promoting Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) album. Fans doing platinum will get a vinyl copy of that autographed. It's lunch time so I need to go eat. See you all tonight said Barry. Barry went back to the hotel to get the rest of his group. Then they headed to this restaurant he heard about on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. Back in two thousand fifteen Barry and company went to Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh for lunch. Every sandwich you got came with the works and French fries on them too.   Barry was glad he put together this unscheduled surprise road trip since his house was in a mess. The first floor which was the master floor was being remodeled. Barry had fallen in love with the farmhouse style. While he was out looking for new bedroom furniture. He saw the Magnolia Homes line of furniture by Chip and Joanna Ganes of HGTV's Fixer Upper.  He emailed Joanna Ganes to ask her about the master floor color scheme. He explained to Joanna that the master bedroom, bath and closets took up the first floor of his five floor brownstone. He wanted to paint the walls on that floor a sleepy blue color. Then would the shiplap bed in dove grey go with the silhouette five drawer chest mirror dresser and the cameo night stand all  in white . He took pictures of all these furniture pieces and the paint color and put them all together. He got a reply from her saying that everything would look fine together. Carly was in charge of everything while he was gone. Carly was coming with her friends,  Vicki Smith, Janice Primavera, Rita Zucker, Kathy Rooney Henrey, Melissa Lang and Libby Thomas. These were all members of the One Voice Barry Manilow Fan Club. The girls were going to the Barclay Center concert on Sunday November twentieth and the Prudential Center concert on Tuesday November twenty second. Barry had gotten all seven of Carly's friends including her Platinum Packages for the Barclay Center concert. Carly had taken Thanksgiving week off. On Monday the twenty first the girls were going into Manhattan to see Here At The Mayflower Barry's latest musical. Barry had gotten them tickets to see it. Kathy mentioned what a nice guy Barry was.  Carly then told Kathy Barry had gotten them tickets to his Wells Fargo Arena concert in Philadelphia PA. He had also sprung for the Hyatt at the Bellevue and the Amtrak tickets. This was for Carly, Kathy, Vicki and Janice. Now the four of them would be sitting in the second row center section. Carly also go a hold of Vicki and Janice to tell them about Saturday nights show at the Wells Fargo Arena. We have tickets in the second row center section, round trip Amtrak tickets and one night at the Hyatt at the Bellevue. Then on Sunday Barry said he was taking us to XIX (Nineteen) restaurant for brunch.

Facebook Post Friday November 18th,

 

Hi Gang
It's me Barry coming at you from Pittsburgh. Yes Pittsburgh where I'll be tomorrow night at PPG Paints Arena. There has been a big change in the schedule. I love it when people just plan forget to tell you they double booked. Meaning they booked one person first then forgot they booked that person and then booked you after. Which is what the people at Radio City Music Hall did. They booked both me and Tony Bennett for the same  dates Wednesday December twenty eighth thru Sunday January first. So I'm giving up my Radio City Music Hall shows. Since they booked me after they booked Tony Bennett's Holiday shows. Which were the same dates I asked for. Not to worry everyone. I added another eighteen more unscheduled surprise arena shows for both December and January. Starting with Sunday December fourth Amway Center Orlando FL., Tuesday December sixth Fort Lauderdale FL., Friday December ninth Smoothe King Center New Orleans LA., Sunday December eleventh American  Airlines Center San Antonio TX., Thursday December fifteenth United Center Chicago IL., Sunday December nineteenth Pepsi Center Denver CO. and Friday December thirtieth and Saturday December thirty first Madison Square Garden.  Tuesday January third Moda Rose Quarter Portland OR., Friday January sixth Key Arena Seattle WA., Sunday January eighth Oracle Arena Oakland CA. and Wednesday January eleventh Talking Stick Resorts Arena Phoenix AZ. Hey Canadian fans Guess what I'm coming to your neck of the weeds much sooner. Instead of coming in March I'm coming in January. Yes you heard me right I said January. Now the dates are as follows Rodgers Arena January 20th Vancouver BC, Rodgers Palace Sunday January 22nd Edmonton AL, Rodgers Place Tuesday January 24th Regina SA, Canadian Tire Centre Friday January 27th Ottawa ON, Centre Bell Sunday January 29th Montreal QC and Videotron  January 31st Quebec City. There will be Platinum's for all the January shows in the US and Canada. Ticket prices will stay the same front floor $30, back floor $25, Lower bleachers $20, middle bleachers $15 and nose bleed bleachers $10. Platinum Packages will be $75 each. Front row center seat, after show backstage meet Barry for ten minutes, photo taken with Barry, vinyl copy of Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) autographed and a disposable camera with photos of you and Barry. Oh and I'm still doing my summer sheds tour next summer. For anyone going to the  PPG Paints Arena concert tomorrow night. You're in for a treat. See you there everyone that's going.
Hugs,
Barry

Now What?

Barry and Carly came back from their early Saturday morning bike ride.  They got off their bikes and put them away. Carly went to clean the dogs water bowls and get them some fresh dog food. Barry went upstairs to make breakfast waffles sounded real good to him. Now a few things had changed for the week of November thirteenth thru November nineteenth. First off the album signing location had changed. It was going to be on Monday November fourteenth at Barnes and Noble book store. Rough Trade records had a small fire l two weeks ago. Barnes and Noble book store is located at 106 Court St. in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. Barry was still doing The Late Show with Stephen Cobert on Tuesday and Later With Seth Meyers on Wednesday. The Today Show was being postponed until Friday December second. Rachel Ray's show got canceled because Rachel came down  with a sever case of pneumonia. Barry sent her a bouquet of flowers. One the card he put "Take care. See you when I see you. Barry" Amy Grant was doing The Today Show on Friday November eighteenth and that was fine with Barry. He was doing six surprise concerts to promote his latest album Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) Palace of the Auburn Hills Detroit MI Thursday November 17th, PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh PA Saturday November nineteenth, Barclay Center Brooklyn NY Sunday November twentieth, Prudential Center Newark NJ Tuesday November twenty second, TD Bank Center Boston MA Wednesday November twenty third and Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia PA Saturday November twenty sixth. Tickets for all six shows were front main floor thirty dollars. back main floor twenty five dollars, lower bleacher seats twenty middle bleacher seats fifteen dollars and nose bleed ten dollars. The money was going to The One Voice Foundation.  Then the Barclay Center concert money was going to The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology, Progress High School for Professional Careers and The High School for Legal Studies. All three high schools use to be Eastern District High School until the spring of nineteen ninety seven. Eastern District High School was the high school Barry graduated from in nineteen sixty one. Barry will be bringing his band of musical suspects. Russ McKinnon drums, David Rosenblatt percussions vocals, Marc Levine bass vocals, Mike Lent guitar vocals, Ron Pedley keyboards,  Rick Turner trumbone, Kevin Simons trumpet, Dana Robbins saxophone/vocals, Debra Byrd vocals, Billy Kidd keyboard vocals, Shelly Greco vocals, Kion Harris vocals and Joey Melotti keyboards, musical director and vocals.  The Grant Street chorus was going on the six city road trip with Barry and company. The proceeds from the Barclay Center concert was going to the Grant Street campus high schools for musical instruments. They were getting a Yamaha U1 upright piano and a Yamaha Avant Grand N3 piano. The Grant Street campus chorus was going with Barry on his eight city unscheduled surprise mini concert tour. The Sunday November twentieth Barclays Center concert proceeds was going to those three high schools for new musical instruments.

Facebook Post Sunday November 13th.

Hi Gang,
It's me Barry here on Facebook. I have some very exciting news to share with all of you.  I've planed some unscheduled surprise concerts starting on Thursday November 17th and going thru Wednesday November 30th. That's a total of eight arena concerts. Yes I know I said I hated arenas. These arena concerts will give more fans a chance to see these unscheduled concerts. These are the unscheduled concert cities and dates. Thursday November 17th Palace of the Auburn Hills Detroit MI. Saturday November 19th PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh PA, Sunday November 20th Barclay Center Brooklyn NY., Tuesday November 22nd Prudential Center Newark NJ,, Wednesday November 23rd TD Bank Gardens Boston MA., Saturday November 26th Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia PA., Monday November 28th Colonial Life Arena Columbia SC and Wednesday November 30th Philips Arena Atlanta GA.  I'm bringing my usual musical suspects with me. Plus two extra surprises Debra Byrd vocalist and Dana Robbins saxophonist and vocalists. And my regular band mates.  Russ McKinnon
drums, David Rosenblatt percussion vocals, Marc Levine bass vocals, Mike Lent guitar vocals, Ron Pedley keyboards, Rick Turner trombone, Kevin Simons trumpet,  Billy Kidd keyboard vocals, Shelly Greco vocals, Kion Harris vocals and Joey Melotti keyboards, musical director vocals. Then I've invited the Grant Street Campus chorus to back me up for my eight city concert dates. To give you a little history on the Grant Street Campus. Back on February 5, 1900 Eastern District High School opened at Driggs Avenue and South 3rd Street. Then in 1907 it moved to 227 Marcy Avenue where I went to school and graduated from. It moved one more time in 1981 to 850 Grant Street it's last address. Eastern District High School folded in the spring of 1996. Then it reopened that fall 1996 as four smaller schools The High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology, Progress High School for Professional Careers, The High School for Legal Studies and Eastern District Senior Academy. Eastern District Academy folded after just two years. The other three are still going. So I am bring their chorus along on my eight city road trip. They will be backing me up on One Voice and the Ray Charles gospel version of It's A Miracle. Ticket prices are as follows.  Front floor except first row center. $30, back main floor $25, lower bleachers $20, main bleachers $15 and nose bleed bleachers $10. The proceeds from all eight shows are going to The Manilow Music Project and The One Voice Foundation. Just show up at the venue the day of the show. It's first come first serve for seats.  Except for the front row center which is being saved for Platinum Packages. There are fifteen seats in the font row center at each venue. Those fifteen seats are going as Platinum Packages for $75. The Platinum Packages consist of One front row center seat, after fter concert meet Barry for ten minutes, photo with Barry and autographed vinyl copy of Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) and disposable camera with photos taken by David Taylor personal assistant. There are fifteen Platinum Packages for first come first serve fans. For those seats call the BMIFC number on Monday November 14th at  one pm. Those seats are first come first serve for fifteen lucky fan club members. Can't wait to see you guys at one of these eight unscheduled shows.
Hugs,
Barry

The Latest Stuff.

Barry just got home from the local Verizon store. His brand new iPhone 7 had died on him about two weeks ago. So he took it back to the Verizon store where he got it from. The guy who does the repair work told Barry he had a defective iPhone 7. The guy also said there was a batch of  iPhone 7's that were defective. He told Barry he could get another iPhone 7 or a different cellphone brand free since this one was defective. Barry decided not to go with another iPhone. Instead he decided to go with a Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge. That's the phone his wife Carly had and she said she had no trouble with hers. In fact Carly had an iPhone 3 when they came out. That one was defective when Carly got it. Carly decided not to get another iPhone 3. Since she heard from some of her other friends that they too were having trouble with their iPhones. She asked her family and friends what cellphone brands they had.  Two friends said they had iPhone 3's.  One friend had an LG Terra flip cellphone.  Danny and Tony two of her employ's had Sharp cellphones. Jeff her second in command had a Samsung cellphone. Her parents both had Samsung cellphones, Her sister Jill and husband had iPhone 3, She decided to try the Samsung's Galaxy brand. Carly went with the Samsung Galaxy Note brand which ended up working fine for her. That's the cellphone she'd been using ever since. Barry decided to go with the same Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge that his wife Carly had. Once he got his new cellphone working he called Garry to check it out. Hello said Garry. Hi Garry it's Barry. Oh  so what's up/ asked Garry. Well my iPhone 7 died on me and I took it to the Verizon store. The guy who fixes the phones there called me to tell me I had a defective iPhone 7. He said the Apple had a bunch of iPhone 7's that were defective. So I could get another iPhone 7 or a different brand free. I switched to  the Samsung Galaxy Note 6 Edge which is what Carly has. I'm calling you on that right now. It has everything that I wanted in a cellphone. In fact the Galaxy Note 6 Edge has a very cool design to it. As for my other Apple products they're working just fine. Now I did get a new iMac desktop. I was due for a new one of those any way said Barry. Our vacation to Denver was great. The Sheraton in downtown Denver is going to be great for next years BMIFC convention in June.  I talked to the head of Red Rocks about next years barbecue on Saturday July eighth. Then while I was there I asked about adding one more concert to the three I was already doing. there. They checked their calendar schedule for July. They told me I could add an extra concert on Monday July tenth. So that's what I'm doing adding an extra
concert to my Red Rock Amphitheatre shows. I'll still be able to get down to Dallas for the Thursday July thirteenth Gexa Amphitheatre  show said Barry. Now you and Denise are still coming out for Thanksgiving? asked Barry. Sure said Garry. The guest list consisted of Gary and Denise Kief, Marc Hulett and Andy Bernstein, David and Christy Taylor and Bruce Sussman and Rob Shuter. So that's ten people total. Dinner consists of smoked turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole,  corn casserole, cranberry relish and crescent rolls. For desert Dutch apple pie and pumpkin pie with your choice of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Garry was providing the wines for the dinner. Two bottles of Gallo Pinto Noir red wine and two bottles of Gallo Chardonnay white wine. Marc and Andy are bringing assorted appetizers . Bruce and Rob are bringing homemade cookies from the US and UK. David and Christy are bringing Christy's homemade vanilla ice cream. One of Barry's birthday presents was a smoker from his father-in-law John Simon. So that's why Barry decided to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving. Then on  black Friday everyone was going to Rockefeller Center to go ice skating. Then afterwards they were going to go to Serendipity 3 for a frozen hot chocolate or what ever sweet treat you wanted. Barry told Carly he was going out of town Saturday November nineteenth, Sunday November twentieth and Monday November twenty first. Oh you are she said. Yes I'm doing three unannounced concerts. Saturday November nineteenth is PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh PA., Sunday November twentieth is Palace of the Auburn Hills Detroit MI and Monday November twenty first United Center Chicago IL. The shows are two hours each and they start at eight pm eastern  Pittsburgh and Detroit and 8pm central Chicago. Tickets will be given out at the venue. It's a first come first serve as to where you'll sit. Get their early and you'll sit close. Get there late it's nose bleed. Tickets are twenty five dollars main floor, twenty dollars lower bleacher section, fifteen dollars middle bleacher section and ten dollars nose bleed section. Do you and Cathy  Zaleski Wais want to go to all three shows? asked Barry. Sure let me send Cathy a private Facebook message asking her if she can go. Then go to your Facebook groups and tell them this news. I sure will said Carly. Carly message Cathy privately on Facebook. Cathy said yes without hesitation. Then Carly went to each Facebook group Manilow Forever Night Songs, Barry Manilow and Friends, Friend-ilows, Barry's Girls and Friends Who Love Barry Manilow. She told the members in the groups about Barry's three unscheduled shows in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago. a couple of members said to Carly "You must be joking." Carly told them no she wasn't joking. I have a sinking feeling that Barry's going to debut some songs off Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) during these. shows.  Barry was on the phone when he came down to Carly's computer room to tell her he was taking the dogs out. After he told Carly that he told the person he was talking to that he was doing all the songs from both Here At The Mayflower and Here At The Mayflower II (Many more stories inside.) at the shows. So Carly passed on that little piece of information to the ladies in those groups. The Let Freedom Ring benefit concert went off without a hitch.  Artists who took part in this benefit were Billy Joel, Kenny G., Dave Koz, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkle, Carly Simon, Carole King, Santana, Melissa Manchester, David Grohl and Brian Murphy. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle did their song Sounds Of Silence. Together they all raised $734,697 for The Wounded Worrier Project and American VetDogs.

Facebook post Wednesday November 2, 20176.

Hi Gang
It's me Barry again with some exiting  news. Here's the new news that's fit to print. So I'm printing it Drum roll please. I'm doing three unscheduled shows.  Three unscheduled show OMG! No way. Is this a joke? Really everyone this is not a joke. What about tickets? When will they go on sale? OK all you have to do is show up at six thirty pm. Doors will open at seven Ticket are get ready guys twenty five dollars for the floor, twenty dollars for lower seats off the floor, fifteen for the middle seats off the floor and ten dollars for the nose bleed. The proceeds are going to American Vetdogs and my One Voice Foundation. Here at the three venues and the dates Saturday November nineteenth PPG Paints Arena Pittsburgh PA. Sunday November twentieth Palace of the Auburn Hills Detroit MI, Monday November twenty first United center Chicago IL.  Can't wait to see you there. I had my physical on Wednesday November 2md. My Doctor Chris Matthews said I'm in good health. Because I'm seventy three I got my annual flu shot just to be safe.  I hope to see some of you in either Pittsburgh, Detroit or Chicago.
See you when I see you.
Barry