Barry Manilow and his Fanilows share a magical night at Resch Center for his 'The Last Green Bay Concert'

ASHWAUBENON - If it really was, as billed, “The Last Green Bay Concert” for Barry Manilow, it’s hard to think of a better way to go out.

The singer-songwriter of the 1970s turned eternal Las Vegas showman was onstage in a No. 10 Green Bay Packers jersey at night’s end on Monday, with “MANILOW” emblazoned in towering letters behind him as he waved to a Resch Center crowd covered in streamers and flashing glow sticks while his band did a reprise of “I Write the Songs.”

As he turned to make his exit, still waving, the stage cameras captured the image of “Love” across the back — an appropriate parting word, courtesy of Packers quarterback Jordan Love, for what felt like a lovefest between Manilow and his Fanilows for not just 95 minutes, but the last 50 years.

Then the curtains closed around him.

Somewhere in there, the 81-year-old entertainer who played the same building eight years ago on his One Last Time! Tour farewell trek also slid in an “I hope I see you again,” so ...

It was the fourth night of Manilow’s initial run of eight cities on The Last Concerts Tour that has him bidding adieu to fans in those markets. Another nine cities were added. His 15-year residency at Westgate Last Vegas has dates as far out as December 2025, and his 2023 residency at New York’s Radio City Music Hall has been extended into October.

Fans all but sold out the Resch Center for one more chance to feel the warm embrace of those iconic vocals and the gracious stage presence on a songbook that has been a soundtrack to their lives, from footage of the skinny newcomer in the pointy-collared shirt at the piano singing “Mandy” in 1975 on “The Midnight Special” to the parade of album covers forever tethered to their youth to the show-stopping “Copacabana (At the Copa)” that dares you not to get up and shake it.

Fanilows came wearing yellow feathers in their hair, like a certain showgirl whose name was Lola, and feather boas with blinking lights. Girls night out groups wore matching “Barry” T-shirts with big red hearts. The daughter next to me, who grew up on Manilow’s music, thanks to her mother, brought Mom to the show as a birthday present and wore her 1988 Big Fun Tour de Force concert T-shirt, the same one she slept in as pajamas for years.

That’s how deep the Fanilow bonds go.

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It’s hard to imagine anyone left disappointed Monday night. “Looks Like We Made It” and “Even Now,” with Manilow holding the final soaring notes of the latter to bring the crowd to its feet, felt like triumphs. He was at the piano for a divine “Weekend in New England” that culminated in a stirring finish that earned him the biggest response of the night. He seemed taken aback by the standing ovation that got a second wind and then a third.

“You’re killing me,” he said, shaking his head.

Fans got his romantic balladeer side with “Mandy,” a song that began with footage of him singing it on TV 49 years ago before he walked out onstage and finished it in person. Make no mistake: Time really does fly.

He and his 10-piece band and three backing vocalists cranked up the energy on show numbers like “Could It Be Magic” and, with the assistance of about 30 members from the New London High School Choir, “Let Freedom Ring.” He threw in Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" as a spontaneous "Manilow extra" he claimed the band and crew didn't know was coming.

It was a show that felt intimate and personal but also like a big flashy, splashy Vegas production with lighting that painted the stage in big swaths of knockout color. Unlike his last time at the venue, a merry Manilow talked between nearly every song, offering snippets of his life, insight into the songs and the occasional self-deprecating crack about his age and looks.

“I’m still a sex god,” he said, as he made his way to the piano. “Now the sex god is gonna sit down.”

He talked of being raised with love by his mother and Russian immigrant grandparents in a rough section of Brooklyn. It was his grandfather who first recognized his music abilities and would take him every Saturday afternoon to Times Square and pay a quarter at a little recording shop to try to get him to sing something. The scratchy record of a young Manilow with his grandfather coaxing him to sing “Happy Birthday” for his cousin played at the Resch Center as he dedicated “This One’s For You” to him.

Only a true entertainer can turn his early days as a jingle writer into arena fodder, but there was the crowd singing along to “I am stuck on Band-Aid brand” and “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”

Manilow’s visit comes just a couple of weeks after 83-year-old Mike Love led The Beach Boys in a joyful concert at Capital Credit Union Park. A pair of 80somethings proving its not about whether they hit every note. It’s about how intertwined their music is with people's memories — and a not-so-subtle reminder that music keeps you young.

Bay Port band teacher honored during show and met Manilow backstage

Before the concert, Bay Port High School band teacher Ashley Siegrist met with Manilow backstage to receive the $10,000 grant she won as part of The Manilow Music Project Teacher Award.

Ten local high schools in each city on the current tour were invited to submit the names of their favorite music teachers and then voted to select the winner. Siegrist was given $5,000 to use as she wishes and another $5,000 that will buy six marching baritones for the school's band program.

Manilow stopped by the green room to present her with the award and ceremonial check. He gave her a hug and wanted to know how she got started in music and what instrument she plays (primarily trumpet).

"So when you were starting out, so other than me, who were you listening to, what albums?" Manilow asked, approving of her middle-school boy bands phase in the '90s.

As part of the honor, Siegrist was able to invite nine guests along to the backstage meeting and concert. She chose her husband, Kyle Siegrist, with whom she team teaches at Bay Port, her mother, her mother-in-law and six "extra bonus moms" who have played important roles in her life. All of the women likely once had Manilow posters on their walls during their younger years, she said.

"It was absolutely awesome to call every single one of them and listen to their reactions on the phone when I invited them to come along with me," Ashley Siegrist said. " ... It was a wide range of screams and crying and laughing and goosebumps and the whole thing. So much fun."

She was also recognized during the concert, with Manilow running down her many musical duties at the school.

"This girl works!" he said.

Siegrist stood up in the audience as the spotlight shown on her and the crowd cheered.

It has been an eventful, star-studded year in the Siegrist household. In February, Kyle Siegrist starred in a Bellin Health commercial with Packers coach Matt LaFleur that aired during Super Bowl LVIII.

Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert. 

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Barry Manilow's 'Last Green Bay Concert' was a grand goodbye at Resch