Say what you will about his music, Barry Manilow is a showman. Years of touring, playing to sold-out theaters may have taken its toll on him, but he's right at home at the Hilton in Las Vegas. He still does the shows, and he still packs them in, night after night.

The DVD celebrates Manilow's 100th performance, which was also made into a PBS special. I didn't see the special, but from what I've heard, the songs on the special were not necessarily in the order that they were performed in concert. I've never understood why that happens - a concert is something that you have to experience as it happens. I can see cutting a song here or there, but not playing them out of order. Thankfully, the original order of performance is kept on the DVD.

The concert is classic Manilow. One of my favorite parts was right at the beginning, when he's singing "Mandy" - a duet with his younger self. When he's singing, there are times when you can't tell if it's "live or Memorex" - you don't notice a difference vocally at all. But my favorite song on the DVD has to be "Brooklyn Blues." Yes, even more than "Copacabana," which I heard WAY too much when I was young. Not only is there a great blues feel to the song (even if it isn't real blues), but it kicks off an autobiographical set called "The Mayflower Medley" that tells a lot about Barry Manilow, the person.

The Special Features disc in this set is what I really enjoyed - which is not unusual. I typically enjoy the bonus material on DVDs just as much as the actual movie/concert. The video 'diary' that is included tells the story of how Manilow ended up at the Hilton, how the show was put together, and more. We again get to see a side of Barry Manilow that makes him far more human, and that helps us to appreciate the high-energy performances even more.

The "Tryin' To Get The Feelin' Again" bonus cut gave me some insight into Barry's performance. It seemed at first as if this was a "Barry needs to sit down and take a breather" song in the show - as he sat at the piano and sang, there was something missing in the performance. But then, he got up, and the energy was back. It was almost as if he just needed to sit and rest for a bit, to get his energy back, and then he could go on with the show. He could easily have multiple intermissions in a show, and fans wouldn't complain (as long as they were short intermissions), but he doesn't do that. The show must go on, and the showman must go on, too.

I'm not a Barry Manilow fan — I married one, so I guess you could say I'm a fan-in-law. But watching this 60-something year old man perform, I have to say that I'm impressed. I've always known that whenever we made it to Vegas, we'd have to go see Barry perform. I don't dread it nearly as much now.

Note: This DVD was also reviewed previously on Blogcritics.