| First of all, let me apologize for not personalizing this more. As it is, I have to do this report in 3 languages! As you know, I have been a fan since early in my Paris trip, but always from afar. So when the opportunity for this Laval trip came up, it really changed everything. I started visiting his guestbook not as a very warmly welcomed outsider who would probably never experience the kind of things they talked about, but as a fan on track to become a fully initiated groupie, with Bruno memories and Bruno stories and maybe even Bruno pictures and an autograph of my OWN. It actually took me while to wrap my mind around the concept. Once I did, however, I hatched a little plan. One of his songs from this album--Loin de chez moi--really feels like I wrote it myself. It depicts EXACTLY the impulses that keep leading me to the far corners of the world, and how these travels help me to better appreciate my own home. It was often my sanity break while writing my thesis. I would blast it at nearly full volume and sing at the top of my lungs. So, not surprisingly, I started composing bits and pieces of an English version. And I bet you can guess what my idea was. ;) I couldn't think of a more fitting homage. I didn't want to send it to him, though, partially because he gets hundreds upon hundreds of unsolicited songs, most of which never get read. But even more than that, I didn't want it to be seen as a career move. Because, for obvious reasons, it is not. Not that I would have any objection to hearing my favorite voice of all time give voice to my words, mind you! However, this is a lot of effort to expend for something I may or may not be able to give him in the first place. But I also knew that if the opportunity came and I didn't take advantage of it, I would kick myself all the way back to Virginia. So I decided to just do it, and have it on hand just in case. SO. . .the big day finally came. September 28th, 2000, also known as Bruno Day 1. I spent most of my flight listening to Loin de chez moi and Cathedrals over and over again. Finally the plane landed and for the first time, I WAS IN BRUNOLAND!!! A lifetime later I had cleared customs and walked through the gate, where I simultaneously heard "Oh, here she is!" and saw three ladies standing there holding pictures of Bruno on their heads. This is when the giddy grin on the inside became a giddy grin on the outside, where it stayed for a good long time. :) Diane Alfonsi, Jocelyne Chaput, and Prisca Campbell, all as wonderful as I could ever have hoped. Althought I didn't make the connection for some time, Diane reminds me very much of Aunt Kris. Jocelyne and Prisca remind me of nobody I've ever known, and in the case of Prisca, of nobody I ever expect to know again. And yes, in both cases that is a compliment. :) We went to a charming little Italian restaurant that felt very Paris to me, and before long I was happier than I had been in a long time. But I still hadn't quite grasped the reality of it all. Diane passed on a couple of pieces of encouraging news: since this leg of the tour had begun, at every show he had done both an autograph session and circulated through the audience during the final song before the encores. Very promising signs. Then she added: By the way, Lisa, did you know that you get the aisle seat tonight? At that moment, the reality clicked in. I had a very clear picture of a very real possibility of being close enough to touch BRUNO PELLETIER. Mr. Cathedrals himself. My reaction--and I'm talking physiological as well as emotional--took me by surprise, and sent my dinner companions into hysterics. I choked and couldn't breathe and turned white and red and probably purple. For the rest of Bruno Day 1, that was my excuse for any sudden fits of giddiness, the reason why my hair had to be just right, etc. "SHE'S ON THE AISLE!!" We took a very scenic route home, and I felt like I had left Paris for Switzerland. We unloaded our stuff at Diane's where Prisca was staying, and where I would be getting ready for the concert since Cynthia had to work right up until showtime. I heard Diane saying "Prisca, your room is back here, followed by a second of silence and shrieks of laughter. I ran back to find a life-size Bruno doll which Diane, Jocelyne and their respective families had spent the past SEVERAL weeks working on. He was reclining on the couch, waiting for Prisca with a rose and two wine glasses. WHAT A ROOMMATE!!! I still had to keep the surprise, though, because the rest of our party would not see him until the Super Supper on Saturday night. Once we started breathing again, we enjoyed the photo album "The making of Bruno." By this point I was thinking that even without the concert, it would still be one of my greatest days ever. Jocelyne went home to get ready, and Diane's husband Pio came home. A great guy, with a fabulous sense of humor nad all the patience necessary to put up with a house full of BruNuts. We got ready and left to meet Jocelyne at her mom's, from where we would walk to the concert. We enjoyed a Bruno of a sunset en route, then walked into the lobby and saw his sister Dominique manning the souvenir stand. The reality of it all was beginning to feel surreal. But there was still one very important event before the concert itself: meeting Cynthia!! It was so nice to finally give her a hug. We also met up with Denise and Sandy, the only two I had met before, on my way to Virginia. We went inside and found our seats, with Cynthia next to me on the AISLE and Diane on her other side. Ten very long minutes past 8:00, there he was. Him. Fortunately he starts the show off with a bongo drum sequence, so I didn't have to process him singing and him just being at the same time. Then the music to Reste et restera began, and my living breathing drumming Bruno doll opened his mouth and became BRUNO...well, I think that's what you call the definitive Bruno moment. :) The show itself was amazing. New arrangements of some old classics, jazz and classical and rock and even a lounge lizard spoof. ;) I was all over the map, emotionally, but didn't actually cry until his medley of songs from past musicals, set to a string quartet. Overload of the best kind. Then the stained glass rosette descended from the ceiling and he began. . .LE TEMPS DES CATHEDRALES. No comment. :) Before I knew it, we were down to the last song and he headed down the opposite aisle. My aisle moment had come. I knew I could be in trouble, though, because just in front of me on the other side of the aisle were two little girls. He's a sucker for kids. Sure enough, he stopped by them, but as he started moving again, he turned just in time to see my hand outstretched. And he clasped it in a high five. Of course, this was all lightning quick, but for one millisecond we were squeezing each other's hands, him just as hard as me. And I was fully convinced that nothing could ever top the feeling. I turned to Cynthia and hugged her and cried. After the second encore--Miserere :)--we went out to the lobby in hopes of autographs. AFter about 10 minutes, one of his staff came out and announced that there would be no autograph session tonight. My heart was still in the process of sinking when he said he was kidding, that Bruno would be out in a few minutes. Whew. Then suddenly he walked out that door. Wearing "the jacket" from Les Ailes de la mode! Hah! "Il parait que c'est khaki. . ." Most of the girls ahead of me were too timid to talk to him--surprise surprise-- but just pushed their pictures or CD inserts across to him, and after signing he graciously handed them back, making eye contact and saying "merci." This guy is such a gem with his fans. Then it was my turn. A gracious "Bonjour" an dhe bent over my D'autres rives insert. But then I bent down and said "Je suis 'l'americaine' du guest." There are actually 3 american regulars, but I'm the only one who writes in French, hence the nickname. Anyway, that got his attention. He looked up, set the pen down and extended his hand. Still small talk, obviously, in fact I don't even really remember what was said. Kind of a Bruno fog. But I did give him my song, and I told him what it was. I got a glimpse of that fleeing reaction--"great. another song. Just what I always wanted." But of course he was as warm and gracious as if it truly were a pleasant surprise. Then I moved along to allow others their turn, but still with my eyes glued to him. And I saw another very expressive look pass over his face. "Wait a minute. This is MY show, and if I want to hold up the line to ask a question, I darn well have the right!" So the pen went down again, he turned to face me and said in his darling accent, "How did you find me?" So I gave him the ten second version of being in Paris last year. That led to a general discussion, which included several members of his entourage, of his handful of American fans and how that came about. (THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN LINDSAY!!) Bruno said (in French), "It always takes me by surprise when I read these guestbook messages from the USA. Nebraska? New York?" I made sure he knew that we were all trying our best to spread the good word! ;) I also had a good chat with his manager, Paul Levesque. He knew who I was too. By this time the rest of the gang had been through the line, with Bruno moments of their own. We stood there together, in blissful awe, and watched them take their leave as we said "See you tomorrow!" Now I was even MORE sure I had reached the summit of Bruno Nirvana. On the way out we saw his car in the parking lot and snapped some pictures of ourselves next to it, like the adolescents we felt we were. ;) And the greatest part of the feeling was knowing that it wasn't over!!! Thus ends DAY 1. |
