Barry Gibb: Let It Rain Gala

Barry Gibb: Let It Rain Gala
january 23Th 2004

Barry Gibb was the guest artist at the Let It Rain Gala hosted by Lea and Roy Black to benefit the Bay Point School (Key Biscayne, Miami). Bay Point School is a boarding school program for students with behaviour problems.

He sang:

1. Memphis, Tennesse
2. Be Bop A Lula
3. Will You Love Me Tomorrow?
4. Words
5. I Can't Stop Loving You
6. To love somebody
7. Islands In The Stream
8. You'll Never Walk Alone
9. Stayin' Alive / You Should Be Dancing
Jon Warech wrote this review for the

Friday Night Fever

 

Criminal defense attorney Roy Black and wife Lea hosted a charity gala event at their gorgeous Coral Gables home last Friday to raise funds for Bay Point Schools, a boarding school for troubled teens. Named the “Let It Rain” Gala because of last years downpour during party hours, the evening brought out 450 of South Florida’s elite with ticket packages ranging from $500 to $10,000. All it was raining was money this year, as people splurged on auction items like a Madonna-autographed guitar and a night in the former Versace mansion. Some neighborhood names, like Eileen B.’s Eileen Burstyn and Ted Fine, principal of The Home of Fine Decorators, joined the South Beach movers and shakers in the upscale charity function that ultimately raised a half-million dollars.
The highlight of the night was a performance by Bee Gee, Barry Gibb. I was by no means a diehard Bee Gees fan before the night, as I used to equate the Bee Gees with turning sweathog John Travolta into a 70’s ballerina.  In fact, it wasn’t even long ago that I found out it was them and not Alvin and the Chipmunks who sang “Staying Alive.” But, standing in the Black’s home watching Gibb changed my outlook entirely.
Gibb belted out songs like “Memphis, Tennessee,” “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” and “To Love Somebody” and then tore into a medley beginning with “Staying Alive.” It was probably the most incredible live music experience of my life – topping both the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney South Florida concerts. It wasn’t just the fact that he was singing to a small VIP crowd of 225 people or that I stood at an arm’s length from a musical talent that shaped a generation. What made the night special was the power of Gibb’s voice, which lifted the crowd and forced even the most plastic people (literally) in the room to escape high society momentarily and get lost in rock and roll.