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Yes, we’re talking about Christmas in September, and it’s all Barry Manilow‘s fault.
The 75-year-old singer has announced that a special “A Very Barry Christmas” engagement will head to Tampa’s Amalie Arena on December 7. A release said fans will hear “greatest hits like ‘Copacabana’ and ‘Mandy’ as well as Christmas favorites.”
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, September 7 at 10 a.m. EDT and will cost fans $16-$246. The engagement is just one of three “Very Barry Christmas” shows Manilow is throwing nationwide (the others are on December 6 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena and on December 8 at Amway Center in Orlando).
Barry Manilow loves Christmas music, and in 2012, he told NPR why.
“Whenever I get an opportunity to do an album full of standards, I jump at it because I miss it,” he said, adding that he uses the opportunity to stretch the definition of a “Christmas song,” and that one of his favorites is “Violets for Your Furs.”
“I thought, ‘Well, it’s a winter song, it’s close enough.’ And people should hear songs like that!” Manilow said. “It’s a lovely song. Sinatra did it on one of his earlier albums. My stepfather showed it to me, and I never quite got over it.”
Get more information on the show — and then get in the spirit — below.
A Very Barry Christmas w/Barry Manilow. Fri. Dec. 7, 7 p.m. $16-$246. Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Dr., Tampa. amaliearena.com.
This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 6, 2018.
