…And on with the show!

Piero did his requisite “go stand on a chair in the audience routine” for O Sole Mio, so missed part of that. Lol! But somehow he got back to the stage, which I missed and brought the little girl up?

During “Piove” they brought a “little” girl up on stage, but she was not so little! Lol! She was taller than Gianluca and almost as tall as Piero. Her name? Maria! Gian starts singing “I just met a girl named Maria….” Piero asked her how old she was and she said 14. Piero says, “I am 22 and you are 14 and you are almost as tall as I am!” Then they look at her feet to see if she had on heels or something and I think she was in her socks or booties of some kind, so no heels there! Lol!

During one of the earlier songs, I’m sorry, can’t remember which one, Ignazio comes over to the Maestro and they chit chat for a few seconds. Then I kind of hear “are you ready?” Next thing I know, Ignazio is facing the crowd, Maestro is conducting, and suddenly Ignazio gives Maestro a little “hip bump!” Then, in perfect unison, they are moving back and forth hip to hip to the beat of the music! Literally perfectly orchestrated! 🙂 Yeah, wish I would have gotten that one! Several missed photo ops, unfortunately!

I think it was right before Beautiful That Way, when they all sit on the stage, poor Gianluca is trying to gracefully get down to sit on the stage. He tries one way, then another, and finally says “sorry, my pants are too tight!” They really didn’t look tight though – he was wearing jeans, but they must have been a bit stiff? He eventually plops down on the stage. Then during another song, he managed to get down from the stage, but then could not get up again. They did not put any steps up to the stage and it was pretty high. So the security guard had to get a chair for him to stand on, so he could get back up there! The perils of being short!? 

The Godfather routine…even though some say it was a bit drawn out, I have to say it was cute and I liked it. Again, I think Igna had too much bread in his mouth and you could see he kept swallowing and he was coughing here and there. He did though, get Gianluca to kiss his ring! Sorry, Nashville, happened in Detroit first! Was funny, Gianluca asked the audience if he should kiss the “Godfather’s” ring and we all said yes. Apparently, someone said no and Igna says “why you say no?” Igna was saying because now he is 21, he should kiss his ring…

After they were done singing Eternally, Piero and Gian were introducing Ignazio to sing his next solo and Piero was saying how when they were on tour with Barbra, Ignazio fell in love with her, then he tried to correct himself saying Igna fell in love with the song. He relates this to Igna and says “what’s the difference?” Igna said something I did not catch and then says he didn’t have enough money for the lawyers! Lol! Of course, they joke around and Igna does not want him to tell the audience the name of the song, but of course, as Piero is leaving to go up the steps, he shouts out “Memory!”

Igna was also certainly due for a haircut, as he kept doing the hand/hair slide throughout the whole concert. Looks like he got it cut for Nashville? Hmmm… he should be just about due for one in Vegas? Won’t we be lucky? 🙂

But, I am sorry to say, and as fantastic as they were, I still felt a bit disappointed, because they did not sing a few of the songs we really wanted to hear. For those that said they will be happy with whatever they sing – well, I’m sorry, I cannot totally agree. You still hoped that they might just make one little change to the song list, but no, they did not.

(I just want to add a little disclaimer…Please don’t beat me up here for what you are about to read.  But this is how I truly felt at the time, and I wanted to be honest.  I was also speaking to a few other Detroit gals, and they felt the same way – but I will keep their names secret to protect the guilty… I have the utmost love and respect for these guys and would defend them to the end, as if they were my own!)

It’s like this…. 

Think back to a time, whether it be a birthday, Christmas, or other occasion, when you got LOTS of presents, more than you could have ever imagined! You laughed and smiled and said many thank yous. But with each present you opened, you kept expecting it to be that one, special gift, you just had your heart set on. You had cake and ice cream and your favorite dinner and friends and family all around. It was the best birthday/Christmas ever! (or was it?) You made everyone think you were happy, and why shouldn’t you be? Here is why… there was this one gift that you wanted, ever so badly. It didn’t even cost very much, at least in your eyes, and there was one person you really thought was going to get it for you. But, it didn’t happen… and, unfortunately, as you lay down to sleep that night, thinking of all the wonderful gifts, food, family, and friends; you still felt a little cheated and disappointed, because you didn’t get that one little gift. It was really all that you wanted and you thought you gave everyone really big hints on what it was, even told someone directly! You’d take everything back, if you could get that one little gift. Before you go to sleep, you thank God for a wonderful day and feel very blessed to have your friends and family around you. You remind yourself, that others aren’t that lucky. They don’t get the presents we do, or maybe no celebration at all? So, you will go to sleep, convincing yourself that you are happy and thankful. The feeling of disappointment will fade – eventually; and your life will go on. 

With each song they sang, it meant our gifts were quickly disappearing one by one, until the final, big gift we were all waiting for – Grande Amore! It was certainly grand and was incredible to actually see and hear them sing it live! Then, all too soon, it was over. I didn’t think I was going to be bold enough to stick my hand out there at the end, but it’s the one little perk of being in the front row! Sure enough, here they came, giving all the front-rowers a “low” five… here comes Gian – smack! Here comes Piero – smack! Here comes Ignazio – smack! Oh, yes, that was pretty fun. Oddly, both Gian’s and Piero’s hands were cold, however, Ignazio’s was very warm! And then, it was really over! 

I will tell you about my meet/greet experience – it was quick! When we signed in to the VIP table, the OMGVIP guy was actually very nice and I asked him about taking pictures, etc. He said they discouraged selfies with the guys, but we could take pictures if we wanted to give someone else our cameras, etc. He also said to wait and someone would come and get us. Well, the Fox and OMG must not have been communicating very well, because when the concert was over, security made us move to the back and other side of the theatre and we just followed the crowd. They told us later they needed to clear the stage and our seats, blah, blah. So we moved and sat down again. After about 10 minutes or so, they told us to move again, so we did. Then the security guy at the end of our row says “ok, you 2 rows need to move into the aisle now and get in line.” We were a bit confused, because just before that the OMG person said we would be taken in groups of 15-20 and could get extra pictures if we wanted? Not the case – so we got in line, not knowing where we were going yet, except we were heading toward the exit doors. As we moved up in the line, we started seeing flashing, so we figured it was up ahead. Where they had the meet/greet was really bad. It was a small area off the main lobby, with very low lighting – just a few ornamental chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and maybe a few sconces on the walls. Barbara passed us twice as we were waiting in line. She is really quite pretty! Yes, we were herded along like the proverbial cattle. They kept pushing you ahead even before the person ahead of you was done! Right before it was my turn, they kept trying to push us up there and Piero is like “wait, wait, I need a moment…” He then went over to his dad to say something, then he went back in his “place.” When it came to my time with the guys, anything I had planned to say or do, went totally out of my mind. I felt very rushed.   All I could manage to sputter out was “you were wonderful tonight!” to each one of them, speaking in this kind of dazed monotone voice, while I shook their hands. Yes, I said “shook” their hands! No hugs. My shyness, once again, taking over. I guess I was still pretty overwhelmed by the concert and still in the hypnotic state as soon as I saw them. My dad was with me and I remember going to Gian first, as he was on the left, Piero, in the middle and Ignazio on the right. I said hello to Piero next and said “this is my dad.” Piero did something I thought was so sweet, he says, “hi, dad!” to my dad, and then my dad shakes his hand and gives him a hug! I’m standing there thinking, gee, missed Piero again, but my Dad gives him a hug! (I talked to my dad later, and even he said it was all a blur to him also!) Lol! I then walked over to Ignazio and shook his hand as well. Ok, no hugs, but there is something special about skin to skin contact! Next thing I knew they were tapping you on the shoulder to turn around and smile! Next! As I turned around to leave, I looked at Ignazio. He had his phone in his hand, but was staring into my eyes, like he was trying to recognize me maybe, from PBS? It was only the 2^nd time I’d seen him, although he saw me in the front row for an hour!? He just stared, but didn’t say anything. It seemed an eternity, but I’m sure it was only for a few seconds. As I looked back into those piercing, brown eyes, I said, “see you in Vegas!” He just looked at me and had this funny look on his face?” and kind of grunted – didn’t really say anything. And that was it…but my last memory will be those beautiful, brown eyes, shining at me through the darkness… 

I did see Caterina, and Giampiero and the guitar guy, but did not talk to any of them. Piero’s father was off to our left in the small area we were in, keeping a close eye on everyone.  Also, the Maestro must have been pretty impressed with the Fox Theatre, as I caught him snapping pictures all over the place!!

This was, after all, just a dress rehearsal? I will be ready in Vegas to tell them what I want to tell them, shy or not, because it might be the last time – we never know…so again, my heart is full, but I still have some room left for Vegas! But seriously, I have to ask Ignazio what he said to me in Italian! I may never get another chance! See you all soon!