Wow.

That is the only word I have to describe the past 2 weeks here in our little home.   It’s been a whirlwind; it’s been overwhelming—in a good way; it’s been a new challenge for all of us on the board, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it has been a complete  labor of love.  Love for our friends and fellow followers as well as for Il Volo.

Thank you for all of your support and kind comments on our efforts to make this a great blog.  It means the world to us, and it keeps us motivated to keep coming up with new things to make it even better.  And now that it’s time to kick off the tour, we thought this was the best time to kick off a new feature!

But first, let us take a moment to celebrate…

IT’S FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!   “We Are Love” starts tonight in Vancouver!!!

Now we know there are going to be so many stories and memories people want to share, and as Marie said, we want to know every detail!!!  With that in mind, we would like to invite you to share your experience in a more formal layout than among the comments as we usually do, so we are opening up a new section: “My Il Volo Experience.”

To do that, please go to our “About Page” (under the “Around the Blog” section on the left), and use the contact form there to submit a request.  If your story is short enough, you might be able to simply write it in the space provided.  When you’re finished, hit send, and your request will come to the board members for posting.  If your story does not fit in the space provided, simply submit a request saying that you have a post to share and wait to hear from us by email with further instructions.

We started this with concert stories in mind, but we suspect that there are many people who won’t be going to a concert this year, but have a story about what Il Volo means to them or a way that their music has touched them.  We want to hear those stories also, so they will be included in this section as well.   The only real “rules” we have is that the stories have to pertain to you, and that if you have already submitted one, please wait until at least the end of this concert season before submitting another to allow everyone an opportunity to share.

Are you excited?  I hope so!  We are hoping for some good stories out of these first couple of stops!  I, for one, know that I am beside myself with excitement, and I still have over a week to wait!  In an effort to curb my enthusiasm (since I have to make it through a work week with some semblance of sanity), I’ve been watching Il Volo videos on YouTube for the last hour, which has made me all weepy and sentimental…

Gianluca, Piero and Ignazio,

I hope that if you ever find yourselves here, perhaps lurking around these posts, peeking through comments… roaming the halls …that you can see and feel how much you are truly loved in this place.   It might not be as electrifying as the crowds of screaming young people who filled your Latin American tour, I know, but the feeling runs just as deep and true.

If there were any doubt, I would show you our “Stats” page: over 16,000 views and nearly 1,200 comments between 21 different countries.  In only 15 days!!

I would show you the results of, “What is Your Favorite Il Volo Song?”  Yes, we were able to separate a few, but I believe the overwhelming response was, “How can I choose just one?”  On one hand, I said to myself (with a good-natured grin 😉 ), “Oh, come on.  That’s a cop-out!”  But on the other, I know it is all too true.

We fell in love with you as boys, your voices amazing us even then, each song rising to meet the one before it.  We wondered how you could possibly get any better?  Now, you are young men, and we find each song, each performance, each interview more impressive, more charming than the last.

And how can we not?  When we are at our worst, you remind us to “Smile” because it’s a “Beautiful Day,” and if we still feel like we can’t take another step, “We are Love.”  We’ll get through it together, and “the world” will keep turning.

If one listens closely enough, they will learn that it’s OK to “Surrender” to love because it’s the “Little Things” that make them perfect and perfectly loveable.  And in “Questo Amor”, we see that time is fleeting; if we love someone, we should tell them.  We feel that in all things, we need to be in the moment–take it all in–so we “don’t miss a thing.”

And lastly, I would point you to the most obvious place: the 1,200 comments posted here.  For in those words, you would find laughter, tears of joy and the moments of peace you bring to our otherwise chaotic  lives.  You would find how “Painfully Beautiful” we find your music, and how much we appreciate your kind, humble and generous spirits.

Good Luck out there.  Stay safe, don’t ever change, and we are so excited to see you!

The Flight Crew