The ECHO was in attendance as a man ran on the stage during the legendary musician’s performance
Barry Manilow’s show at the M&S Bank Arena tonight (June 13) was interrupted when a man ran on stage. The legendary musician brought his catalogue of classics to Merseyside on Saturday for a show named The Last Last Liverpool concert.
The 82-year-old thrilled the crowd at the waterfront arena with iconic hits such as Mandy and Copacabana, However, the show was hit with an unexpected interruption during Barry’s performance of This One’s For You. The ECHO was in attendance as reporter Christopher Megrath said a man climbed onto the right hand side of the stage with what looked like a pen and item for Barry to sign.
There was a brief moment of silence from Barry as he looked at the man before security arrived on stage to remove the stage invader. The musician laughed off the moment with characteristic showmanship as he said: “Throw him out, I’m just kidding.”
Barry smoothly continued with the show with what promises to be the last time the singer will perform in Liverpool. In the tour announcement, Barry explained his decision to return to the UK after a previous farewell tour.
He said: “I swear, I SWEAR I really meant it when I said goodbye to everyone in the UK on the last night of our fantastic run at the great London Palladium. The audiences there were fantastic as usual and that last night was very moving, knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing my U.K. friends anymore.
“It was odd flying home because I wasn’t tired, my voice had held up for the entire run and each show was more exciting than the last. I wasn’t even out of breath at the end of each show.
“But I guess “leave ‘em wanting more” was a good rule to follow. After all, I’m 100 years old and any day now I’m probably going to lose my hair, gain a big pot belly and need a cane to dance around to “Copacabana”.
“But, as of now I can still run around the stage, I can still hit the high F Natural at the end of “Even Now” and I still look fabulous! But I said goodbye and I meant it.
“Sort of. There was just one thing. I don’t wanna say goodbye! So we’re coming back. We’re going to have a great, big Barry Manilow concert!
“Hope you all come. We’ll have a ball. Love, Barry.” Barry released a new studio album, What a Time, on June 5, marking his first of predominantly original songs in nearly 15 years.
The tour comes after a recent health setback as he cancelled shows for his Las Vegas residency due to lung surgery recovery. In January, he pushed the dates back again, saying he needed more time to recover before returning to the stage.
Thankfully, the singer appears to be back in good health after the first show of the UK tour kicked off in Glasgow without a hitch. Last year Barry took to Instagram to reveal a recent scan picked up a “cancerous” spot and he was preparing to undergo an operation to remove part of his lung.
In the statement on social media, he said: “As many of you know I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks. Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI just to make sure that everything was OK.
“The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that [it] was found so early. That’s the good news.
“The bad news is that now that the Christmas Gift Of Love concerts are over I’m going into surgery to have the spit [sic] removed.” The singer explained
However, Barry explained the doctors do not think the cancer has spread so he’s unlikely to require chemotherapy or radiation treatment following the operation.
He added: “The doctors do not believe it has spread and I’m taking tests to confirm their diagnosis. So that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns.”
