The legendary Barbra Streisand played her first ever show in Manchester at the M.E.N Arena on Tue 10 July 2007.

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Manchesteronline > Posted Wed 11 July

". . . She rose imperiously into view in the middle of the stage just as her 58-piece orchestra reached the crescendo of a brassy Broadway overture.

Clad in black evening dress and sparkling necklace, that famous decolletage on view, she looked a good few years below qualifying for a bus pass.

As for the voice, it remains full, mellow, expressive as of old, the slight fraying of the years only just discernible. She can have few doubts about her vocal abilities to have started off with a song as demanding as Starting Here, Starting Now.

Then it was on through a set of standards - The Way We Were, Evergreen, My Man, People. Half way through the first set, she was joined by four young Broadway hunks for a skit about Streisand's age.

. . . . Everything about Streisand is on a grand scale. She is the best-selling female artist in history, her mantelpiece groaning not just with Grammys but two Oscars. Add to that the rarity value.

She did no large tours between 1967 and 1994, has never toured Europe properly before now and, since 1999, her every outing has been seen as a farewell to showbiz.

. . . . Stretch limos probably could not be had for love nor money in the city last night as fans - mainly middle-aged couple decked out in full regalia and a smattering of gay men - did the evening in style.

"People," sang Barbra. "People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."

Last night she had 14,000 of them, all eating out of her hands."

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