Bournemouth went Barry bonkers as Brooklyn's biggest superstar brought his One Last Time tour to the BIC.

At the grand old age of 73, after a 50 year career, countless tours, two hugely successful Vegas residencies and record sales in excess of 80 million, Barry Manilow has declared this his final tour.

And from the moment the huge red theatrical velvet drapes parted to reveal the youthful and energised entertainer - resplendent under the light of neon glow sticks given out to fans as they arrived, the excitement was almost tangible.

Screaming, singing, stamping of feet and standing ovations for song after song, the reaction of the crowd was extraordinary.

Dressed in a dark three piece suit and white shirt, he opened with It's a Miracle accompanied by a stunning band and backing singers and was soon into the crowd pleasers with Can't Smile Without You where the lyrics were projected on the large screen behind him and he led the audience in a rousing karaoke singalong.

In both an upbeat and reflective mood, he told the audience: "I'm always surprised by how I got here. I come from Brooklyn from a very rough neighbourhood. John F Kennedy once said, ' you don't know where you're going unless you know where you've been.' "

It was his introduction to the song he wrote about it, Brooklyn Blues , which he performed at the piano with his excellent support act, saxophonist John Koz, providing stunning accompaniment .

There was a number from his recent Dream Duets album - Judy Garland on the screen with Barry singing along with her to 'Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart' .

Probably one of the most moving points of the evening though was a video clip of the boyish " new star" Barry Manilow performing Mandy at the piano leading to him duetting with his younger self.

It actually highlighted how much better he sounds now than then!

Every song seemed to hit the mark from the "sexed up" uptempo version of his 70's ballad Could it be Magic to a rousing rendition of ' Memory' from Cats and his feel good cover of Frankie Valley's Let's Hang On to What We've Got'.

The 90 minute set reached it's natural conclusion with I Write the Songs followed by the final roof- raising Copacabana ending with multi- coloured streamers being shot across the crowd.

" I've been looking forward to this - I've got such great memories here...you make me feel like Justin Bieber! " he told his fans with a twinkling smile.

The allusion highlighted the age gap between them but judging by this performance I feel there will be a lot more shows to come!