Marie – loved all the pictures!! You didn’t say what you said to them that knocked you all off your feet?
I showed them Linda’s funeral memorial with their picture on it. Told them that she loved them so much her family used their photo at her funeral. I thanked them for giving my best friend peace and comfort in her final hours. All three froze for a moment just staring at me. That’s when Gianluca flew at me with the giant hug. The other two also grabbed on. It’s when they let go that I flew back. I still can’t believe they were so moved. What a wonderful, sensitive trio! How could you not love them?
Marie, thank you so much for sharing your experience with the guys seeing Linda’s funeral memorial with their picture on it. If it feels acceptable, I think our Flight Crew would love to see a photo of that beautiful memorial. I feel blessed to have seen it, and I think they would to.
Perhaps it would be a fitting *tangible* conclusion to Linda’s participation in the Flight Crew. I’m sure it’s not the end, because she’s in our hearts and memories, and some of us get little winks from the other side. Still, something tangible and as beautiful as it is, that’s nice. (And you know how I’ve been so involved with family health this year, that if you already shared the memorial, my apologies for missing it, and maybe you can tell me when it was or under what name, so I can find it.)
Your spirit is alive and well on the Flight Crew, Linda! With love and gratitude, Jeanine
Nice idea, Jeanine. I will post/share it soon.
♦
Here it is… Linda and her husband ~ Linda’s graduation from Nursing School ~ The Guys she loved so much:
ACT ONE -I can not remember who e-mailed me the link in 2009 to check out some ‘young boys’. I am forever grateful to that person.
The minute I saw all three singing together I became Ignazio’s protector. I loved all. Gianluca and Piero, on sight but felt that since Ignazio was a little chubby he might get hurt by uncaring people because of his weight.
SO THE JOURNEY BEGAN.
In the first few years I was a ‘check in’ and see if everything was going OK fan because I had many family issues to keep me busy. Then a few years later I woke up one morning and I saw the “light” and became a passionate fan. Soon after I discovered “The Flight Crew” and my life changed.
So after a long wait they finally were coming to Texas and so close to me. I live 100 miles from Austin and 100 miles from Dallas. San Antonio is about 190 miles.
When the word came out about their USA Tour and everyone got excited and started the ‘Ticket fever” I got in line and the minute the tickets opened for sale my daughter clicked the computer and we got our tickets to the Majestic in Dallas. Being newcomers to a live concert we had no idea about the tickets but knew we were close to the stage.
WELL I had to march all the way down the theatre to get to the “Orchestra Pit”. There were only two rows and we were in the second row four seats from the walkway on the right.
The minute we sat down we noticed a lady and her daughter sitting next to my friend Jewell from Houston. The mom was holding a rose. We soon discovered that she was a member of the “Flight Crew”. Her name is Liz and she was from Garland, TX. She and her daughter had gone to the concert in San Antonio a few days before and sat in the first row. Guess what? Ignazio picked her to do the dance. She is a very brave lady and went to the stage in Dallas and gave Ignazio the rose.
ACT TWO – The theatre was small seating about 2200. To our estimation it was a full house. The band and the local young people’s orchestra started setting up.
SUDDENLY the lights came on and the musicians started checking their instruments. A funny feeling starting in my heart. THE MOMENT. Gianluca came out and the long awaited dream of seeing the boys live came true. For me is was surreal. Six years of watching videos and hundreds of pictures the live person stood in front of me. It was like watching a train arrive and a person you had not seen in years steps out. Like a picture postcard coming to life. I had to rearrange my mind about the images I had of the boys from the videos to the live, breathing and moving persons.
IS STARING IMPOLITE? well that is what I did the rest of the concert. I wanted to familiarize myself with their live images so that when I have to go back to watching Videos I still had the live picture.
Happy to tell you that the Dallas audience was great. They had some young fans, some Italians, some Spanish speaking, some serious music lovers and the grey haired ladies. There was ‘shouting’, clapping and many standing ovations.
ACT THREE –The theatre manger was a comic talking at rapid speed. We had to wait in the theatre till everybody left and after a time some young ladies came and got us to go to the balcony open lounge area. We were seated at the back of the theatre waiting so we were summoned first and therefore did not have to wait long to go to see the boys.
Our comic manager told us that he preferred no one used their private phones for pictures and promised good photos. He took them.
The boys came out soon after and the line went fast. Since the manager was rushing everyone I told my daughter to stand between Gianluca and Piero and I went next to Ignazio and said I needed to make Marie jealous and get a picture with you. MISS Coward here just put her arms around Ignazio’s waist and blanked out. Did I smile or looked petrified? Then we took a picture with the other two friends. IT WAS OVER. On the way out I saw Barbara and went and shook her hand and asked if I could have a picture. She was very sweet. She told me that the parents preferred not to be asked for pictures. Gianluca’s mom and Piero’s dad were sitting in a corner and Ignazio’s mom stood by a pillar.
THE NON BELIEVERS – My daughter and two friends were “non believers”, Especially my friend from Houston. When we finally got into a LIFT car they all said it was a GREAT CONCERT. Later when we had breakfast on Sunday with my Dallas Daughter they talked and relived the concert. THAT was an accomplishment with these ladies. I know they would go again if the opportunity came.
PS – THERE WERE MANY MOMENTS THAT OCCURRED DURING THE CONCERT BUT IT WOULD TAKE MANY MORE CHAPTERS. I AM SURE THERE WERE OTHER “FLIGHT CREW” MEMBERS THERE AND THEY COULD SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES.
Since I am 80 this might be my one and only live concert so I will finish and go and relive the moment I MET THE BOYS.
You’ve read Myron’s professional and personal take on these events. Now here’s mine. Ok, there’s absolutely nothing professional about this review.
Click on photo’s to enlarge.
Their pictures were all over the Palms Casino.
The Fan Faire: An event many of us had been waiting for for a long time. What a pleasure to meet so many of you! Some of whom I’ve “known” for as long as 4 years. So great to finally see faces that go with the names! It was an honor for me to acknowledge Kelly’s hard work and to point out the contributions of Jane, Mary Bohling, Jana and Ann Scavo who were there.
You don’t know this, because we wanted to surprise Jeannette and Myron, but we gave them pillows and a big thank you from all of us on the Crew for their organization of the Fan Faire.
Pillow Design
As you know the Guys showed up (was that fear in their eyes?) to greet such dedicated, excited fans!
The Concert:
Our Boys are in love. In fact during the concert Gianluca asked Ignazio if he was in love. He responded with a resounding, “Yes!” Gianluca admitted the same at another performance. Piero…who knows? It looks good on them.
The Concert at the Pearl Theater was Fabulous! Wish I knew better adjectives. Either I cannot remember the brilliance of IL Volo during each performance or they truly get better, with richer, fuller more powerful voices and are more exciting every time!
First song Piero pointed at me and I pointed back. To someone other than us crazy Ilvolovers that little gesture may be unimportant, but to me that sweet moment of recognition meant a lot. That was the second time he has done that. Can’t wait to see if there’s a third!
The Meet & Greet: I had been saving a sad but sweet story to tell them when I had a chance. I finally did. They were moved, in fact Gianluca was so moved he practically jumped on me with a bear hug. No sweeter person exists than that young man. When he finally let go I stepped back right into the wooden backdrop almost knocking it over. Fortunately Piero was on my left and Gianluca on my right. Both grabbed an arm and saved me and the set. One of them said, “Uh-oh”. So then what do you suppose they did? Why of course, they broke out in song. I Don’t remember what song, but someone told me it was an Italian “Uh-oh” song.
Piero asked Gianluca, “Do you know who she is?” Gianluca said, “yes.” (I think he was only being nice). Then Piero said show him your tattoo”. So I did. I have no idea what Gianluca said after that (come on brain!) I would have bet anything that the picture the photographer took had Piero on my left and Gianluca on my right. That’s what I remember, but in the picture I’m between Ignazio and Piero. I have no idea how that happened. I must have blanked out.
That’s me, the one in the middle with the stupid look on her face. My dentist is the only one who will love the picture! We were still laughing at their singing when the photographer took this one.
I normally stay away from Ignazio, in case you haven’t noticed. In the gym last year I took his photo while standing on the other side of the gym. In Miami a few weeks ago, at the Meet & Greet, I quickly shook his hand and moved away. In Ft Myers, at the hotel when Leelee and Ineke spoke to him, I was the one taking photos from across the room. I am, in fact, a coward. I greet Gianluca sanely and Piero as a friend but when it comes to Ignazio I stand way back. I would have a conversation with him, but it would sound something like, “blub libba and I gleen you. You are flanang all niebber” (if someone recognizes that as a real language let me know). So now you all know that I am actually a 16-year-old star-struck, blubbering idiot.
Knowing this would be my last chance for what may be a long time, if I couldn’t buy a vowel at least this time I was determined to kiss a dimple off his face.I did. So if you notice one missing it’s all my fault. I have it…it’s mine.
What a month! Flew Ohio to Florida, flew Florida to Ohio, drove Ohio to New York, drove New York to Ohio, Rode a 2 day train to Las Vegas, flew Las Vegas to Ohio.
It’s a little behind, but Danielle has written about her sweetest experience in Detroit. Enjoy!
~ kya
Il Volo fan and college student.
So Saturday started off as a very busy day. I had a class that morning so couldn’t come home until after that. Which meant my mom had to drive out to school to pick me up, and we didn’t get home until around 4. My sister was already feeding the animals at this point so I ran to the barn to help her so we would finish faster. By the time we were done it was past 4:30, and we had less than an hour to get ready. She jumped in the shower and I rushed to get dressed and do my hair and makeup and then help my sister get dressed and do her hair. We quickly gathered up what we needed and were off for the FOX by 5:45. Thankfully our dad was driving us which made it somewhat less stressful.
Detroit was sooooo crowded that night, it was crazy! My dad was able to pull up to the curb a couple blocks from the theatre, and we hopped out and walked over. There was already so many people there! We headed over to Will Call to pick up our tickets and then made our way inside to find the VIP check in table. Right after picking up our badges we bumped into Emilia and her mom and we all went to find our seats.
Now, since I’d been so busy at school I hadn’t really had time to freak out about the concert or think about how close I was actually going to be. Yes, I knew we had front row seats, but I hadn’t really stopped to think about what that actually meant. We could stand there and touch the stage and our seats at the same time!!!! It was less than 5ft away!!! At this point me, Maria and Emilia (who was in the second row right behind us) really started to freak out! We spent some time talking to everyone else and saying hi to all the other fans. We basically couldn’t sit still we were so excited. About 25min to concert time we finally sat down, and then we noticed Ignazio was in the right wing looking at the sound board!!! We started waving at him, and he smiled waved back and blew us a kiss!!!!!! At this point I just KNEW it was going to be an amazing concert and I was definitely right.
When the orchestra finally came out, we really started freaking ou,t and when the guys came out singing Volare, I was smiling so big I thought my face would break!! They were RIGHT THERE!!!! I could have reached out and touched them if I had wanted to! All three of them smiled at us when they walked by our side of the stage, I think they found our adoring faces staring up at them cute. During one of the first few songs I was making a heart with my hands and Piero smiled and made a heart back at us!!! Gian was having fun winking at me, Maria, and the two girls (my age) next to us. He was so funny and adorable!!
During Piove is when I told Maria to hold up her sign asking Gian to sing to her and he motioned for her to come over! So she went to stand by him and he hugged her and sang to her and I was just taking pictures thinking that was all he would do since there were no stairs up to the stage. But then had her jump up to sit on stage with him!! At this point I started videoing because who knew what would happen now! He then motioned for Piero to come over and the two of them pulled her up on stage with them!!! She was soooooo happy!! The tickets were her 14th birthday present from me and I don’t think she’s ever enjoyed a present more. They sang to her, hugged her, and kissed her and had her kiss them, it was sooooo adorable! They were all so sweet to her, but especially Gian. He is her favorite and I don’t think she’ll ever forget him pulling her to his side and kissing her and just being an all-around sweetheart. I’ve never seen her smile so big! After the song they asked her name and when she said Maria, Ignazio started singing Maria to her. Then they were laughing about how she was taller than them (she’s actually an inch shorter than Piero, for now lol) and Piero pointed out she didn’t even have heels on. Then everyone noticed she was missing a shoe! Gian actually picked up her foot to show everyone and was then joking that she was taller than him with no shoes! It had fallen off when she jumped up on stage and fell down under the orchestra pit! We had to have security go get it after the concert.
DanielleDetroit3 North American Live Tour 2/27/16 Concert
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DanielleDetroit5 North American Live Tour 2/26/16 Concert
The next several songs are all kind of a blur, they were just so wonderful and funny!!! I was in tears from laughing so hard at Ignazio’s antics! And they continued to smile, wink, and make faces at us which made it all the more fun.
And then came O’ Sole Mio. A bit into the song I decided to go for it and hold up my sign asking Ignazio to sing. I held it just under my chin and pouted so sadly when he looked at me. He smiled and motioned like “why not?” and walked over as he was getting ready to sing his main part. I pretty much threw my phone at my sister and went up to the stage. He kneeled down and put his hand out for me to hold while smiling like the angle he is. It was the longest twenty seconds of my life! I started into his eyes the whole time!! When he sang “Come hold me tight, kiss me my darling” he gave me the sweetest hug ever and squeezed my neck and rubbed my shoulder as he let go. Then he pointed to his cheek and I kissed him!! And I accidentally left lipstick on his cheek that was there the rest of the concert! Then he spun me around and gave an adorable little bow before letting go of my hand and walking back to the main stage. It was so magical and wonderful, he made my night!!
DanielleDetroit7 North American Live Tour 2/26/16 Concert
DanielleDetroit North American Live Tour 2/26/16 Concert
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The only other thing that really happened was during one of the encore songs (can’t remember which) when Ignazio sat down on the first step up on the stage and started eating a piece of bread! Gianluca came over and scolded him lol. It was right in front of us so all of us in the front couple rows were laughing, especially when Gian pretended to offer us some! Then he ate some and put his finger to his lips to tell us not to tell lol.
After the concert we had to wait almost an hour for the meet and greet, and it was super rushed again but at least the security was nicer and more polite than last time. When it was mine and Maria’s turn, Gian and Piero yelled “Maria!!! Bambina!” and both tackled her with a hug lol. And Ignazio got a super happy look on his face and yelled “Bella!!!” and opened his arms wide and gave me a HUGE hug!!! I thanked him for singing to me and he said it was his pleasure, he was glad to see us enjoying the whole concert. Then I gave them the regional flags with their names I had drawn for the contest last year and they loved them. And Maria gave them little mini rosaries she had made.
After it was our turn went out into the lobby where we got to say hi to Mr. Barone, Mrs. Ginoble, Barbara, and Mrs. Boschetto. We also talked to Mrs. Boschetto for a moment with the help of Barbara and then took a picture with her. I told her that her son was amazing and thanked her for raising him right. She was so nice!! We waited around a little after to see if we’d be able to say hi to them again when they were leaving, but they left out the back. Then our dad met us outside the FOX and picked us up. I don’t think we stopped talking the entire way home! And it was hours before we could actually fall asleep. It was the most magical night of our lives! I never even dreamed that we’d get to interact with them as much as we did!! They were so sweet and kind and such gentlemen! And how kind they were to my little sister just made me like them even more, they treated her like a little princess. We can’t wait to see them again next time they come!!
Marie – loved all the pictures!! You didn’t say what you said to them that knocked you all off your feet?