Please Don't Let This Feeling End; MELISSA MANCHESTER at The Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa on February 25

The SHOW at The Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa is definitely the finest concert venue in the Coachella Valley and arguably the finest concert venue in Southern California. It is aesthetically spectacular, state of the art in every way and, for its size at over 2000 seats, incredibly intimate. It was the perfect setting to showcase the incredible talents of Melissa Manchester who, after taking time off the road to raise her kids, is back and better than ever.

Like a fine wine, Ms. Manchester's voice has only gotten better with the years – richer, more soulful. Her connection with the audience is immediately familiar, warm and endearing – like dropping in on an old friend you haven’t seen in years but picking up right where you left off.

For a solid ninety minutes, Ms. Manchester performed close to twenty songs, some old favorites and a few new, "soon to be" favorites. She was least effective with the "between song chatter" that is an obligatory part of the concert formula --- she didn’t seem completely at home with impromptu banter. But, when she sang – SHE SANG!  It was a musical journey covering decades of beloved popular music, and her audience happily went along for the ride, at times dancing in their seats or in the aisles.

Ms. Manchester performed many of her biggest hits – Through The Eyes Of Love (Theme From Ice Castles), Come In From The Rain, Midnight Blue, Don’t Cry Out Loud, to name a few, accompanied by a rhythm section and one back-up vocalist. Her gospel-inspired version of "I Know Who I Am," a song she wrote for Tyler Perry's film "For Colored Girls" was a showstopper. She seamlessly blended in a few Gershwin and Cole Porter standards ("Face The Music and Dance," "From This Moment On" and "Lady Be Good") which never sounded better – her vocal styling a perfect match for these timeless lyrics and melodies. A wonderfully "re-imagined" arrangement of "Be My Baby" was one of the concert highlights.

Ms. Manchester was at her best, however, when she sat down at the piano and accompanied herself --- acoustic, no band  -- just the lady and her music. It was there that she really showed off her vocal prowess and incredible vocal clarity with both "Come In From The Rain" and "Midnight Blue."

The big crowd pleaser was, not surprisingly, a duet with Barry Manilow –- he singing on pre-recorded video – a lifelong friendship in perfect sync as they harmonized on "The Way We Were" and "You’ve Got A Friend."  A standing ovation led to an encore --- Ms. Manchester once again seated at her piano debuting a brand new song, "A Mother And Father’s Prayer," dedicated to her children and a beautiful homage to parenthood.

The lighting design by Kevin Rummel both complimented and enhanced Ms. Manchester's performance at every turn. The sound, as always at this venue, was stellar. One can only hope Ms. Manchester’s road leads her back to The Agua Caliente again one day soon.

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