| Bruno Day 2 began with an apple picking activity. Yes, that's right. I went with Cynthia on her daughter's field trip. We went out to an apple orchard, loaded onto a flatbed truck and were taken to where we could pick apples to take home. So there I was, on a big yellow schoolbus, surrounded by cute little Quebecois 5-year-olds singing cute little French songs, and smiling over at Cynthia a lot. Just very happy. :) Cynthia made a yummy Italian dinner (her father's heritage) and we got ready for Show Number Two. We weren't at all distracted, of course: we first forgot the tickets, then Cynthia's flowers, then my picutre of Gringoire to have autographed. But we eventually got everything, raced to the bus stop, and even had time to catch our breath before the bus came. The bus ride was 45 minutes long, which was our first chance to really talk, just the two of us. And it was great. By this point she really was starting to feel like a sister. :) But when we got back to the hall, all our mental energy focused back on Bruno. We met up with the rest of our party, caught up on their activities of the day, and headed to our seats which were supposedly not as good as Thursday's. We all agreed, however, that they were actually better. Not as close, true, but they were in the stadium-style section so no craned necks, and slightly higher than the stage rather than slightly lower. Perfect. The second show contained a couple of surprises. The first was that somehow, miraculously, it got BETTER. There was a lot more energy in the room, which he seemed to feed from, and everything just clicked. Now. . .this is of GREAT significance, because we knew (and he confirmed) that they were recording his Laval shows for his upcoming live album. So when at the end he thanked us and said "I think we just made one great CD!", at that point I KNEW it couldn't get any better. Come January, I will have a permanent instant replay, whenever I want it, of that magical night. ME, clapping and cheering and even scatting along with Bruno Pelletier. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Such a great show. I had a wonderful time playing backup singer with Cynthia--"Loi-in, loi-in,"--admiring the see-through tunic with Diane--etc. etc. But the greatest was The Matthieu Incident. Bruno was introducing a song as one he had discovered in France, and a little boy in the front row shrieked, "Notre Dame de Paris!!" Clearly, that was what he had come to hear. That made Bruno laugh, and he moved over to chat with little Matthieu who could not have been more than 7. He talked about how his son Thierry (who we also got to meet. Cute little guy) had a hard time waiting through his concerts too, and offered to sing just a bit for him, to help him to wait for the real thing. He handed off his microphone, sat down on the steps anad launched into that stunningly beautiful chorus of Le temps des cathedrales. And I was indeed stunned. What a voice, what a man. And I have now heard Bruno, with no mike and no accompaniment--just Bruno--sing the Cathedrals. How lucky can one little girl get. Incidentally, Denise had the aisle seat that night, but Bruno didn't do his aisle run. He was completely and thorougly drained, which is perfectly understandable. Performing that show 3 nights in a row would exhaust an Olympian athlete. However, this fatigue did not bode well for the prospects of a second autograph session. We went outside to line up anyway, just in case. But we also knew that we had been utterly and completely spoiled, with NOTHING else to ask for. So when that same staff guy came out to say that Bruno was resting and would be with us as soon as he could, I felt once again the full force of this guy's generosity. After 20 minutes or so, there he was, exhaustion clearly painted on his face, but as gracious as ever. My turn was approaching fast, and of course one question was burning through my mind: DID HE READ IT?? But I had already decided I wasn't going to ask, for several reasons. Most of all, I didn't want to be pushy. I just couldn't handle it if I thought I was trying to use him as an intro to the songwriting business. Plus, these were back to back shows, both recorded for the live CD. When on earth would he have the time? Cynthia was just ahead of me, so I took pictures of her handing him her flowers and Sophie's drawing, and getting an autograph for Sophie. Then me. This time I addressed him in English--"Hello again." More pleasantries, and I stepped aside to take pictures of the others as they passed through. Lots more Bruno moments, especially for Denise. He seemed particularly enthralled by the concept of Nebraska. ;) I wound up standing behind the roped-off area for the line, just basking in it all and snapping pictures to send to my guestbook friends who have never seen him. I was kind of in my own world, though, and only half aware of what was going on around me. Which is why it was such a shock when I realized that he was asking me a question. EEEK!! Looking straight at me and calling out so I could hear him above the other voices. But without any context to go on, the question, "Who wrote the English lyrics?" didn't mean much to me. My first thought was that he had forgotten the name of Will Jennings, who did the English version of NDP. So I called back to him, "For what song?" He paused as if searching for a title and said, "Ummm...Far From My Home?" MY SONG. Time stopped. My circulatory and respiratory and skeletal muscular systems stopped. But by some miracle, I was still standing. I raised my hand--kind of a futile gesture, in retrospect--and smiled and said, "That was me." By this point, raising voices was no longer necessary, as the entire room was focused on this exchange. "I read it." Broad smile of overwhelmed gratitude. "Did you like it?" That didn't get a verbal answer, but one of his remarkably expressive Bruno looks. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, shrugging slightly as if to say, "It's not a question of me liking it. It's just a really good text." With remarkable calm, I quietly said, "I'm glad you liked it. It's very symbolic for me." Although it wasn't intentional, I think that response made him feel that I thought he was just being polite. So with a look of "No, really!", he said. . . "I will keep it, for eventual projects." By this point he had to return to the business of signing autographs, which is just as well. I turned my back and silently wept. No superlatives available, but none needed, I believe. None of us could stomach the idea of just going home, so we went out to eat. A great time, but I was still pretty dazed. If truth be told. . .I still am. :) |
