Written on March 26th:
Last night was my night at the Notte Magica Concert at the Monte Carlo, Park Theater in Las Vegas Nevada…
There are no better singers/entertainers in this world than OUR IL VOLO!!!
I would like to share my experience of Il Volo’s last concert at Fantasy Springs, Indio Ca. Finding the videos of that last concert inspired me to share my experience with my Il Volo Family.
As always Il Volo saved their best performance for last… They were charming as always but they were ELECTRIFIED…. They audience loved them… Joanie Greenspan and I were in the second row, and we could see Il Volo’s enjoyment of the crowds response to each of their songs by the excitement plainly on their faces.
Sitting next to me was a couple who had never been to an Il Volo Concert… They had seen the PBS Pompeii Special and thought, why not see them in person… This couple had no idea what they were in store for… They screamed, they yelled, the whoop, hollered… We had gathered in a group… Joanie, Kristine Kelly, Karen Raupp, Carol Coates, and our new friends… Together we took a group picture with Il Volo… Il Volo was happy to see us, they knew us from previous meet and greets… I only did five concerts and meet and greets this year… I think Joanie has done about ten, not to mention the ones in Italy… They are beginning to know their groupies… They greeted the new couple with the same charm and grace as they did us… Afterward, this beautiful couple said they were celebrating their 47th Anniversary and asked us to have a drink with them… We carried our evening to the wee hours of the morning.. .Laughing, sharing Il Volo stories of our past concerts and our Fan Convention in Las Vegas… By the end of the night we were life long friends… Two more Il Volo lovers in our Il Volo family… It was the last concert of the Il Volo USA Tour, and the greatest way for us to end our love for Il Volo by adding two more Il Volo fans to our wonderful Il Volo family…
One last quick note, we met up with the band members as we were leaving the meet and greet and they were as charming as Il Volo… Happy to chat with us and laugh with us.. What a fine team of nice men that support Il Volo…
Videos of the Fantasy Springs Concert April 2, 2016
From Myron Heaton for March 25 – 27, 2016
I am writing this in three parts with a short personal comment at the end.
Part I – Las Vegas Il Volo Fan Faire convention and Banquet
Part II – Il Volo Concert at the Pearl Theatre – Palms Hotel March 25 – Las Vegas
Part II – Contrasting two back-to-back concerts using Los Angeles March 26
Part I – IL VOLO FAN FAIRE – 2016
I want to thank all of our volunteer staff for their work on the Fan Faire. There were quite a few and I do not have all the names as of this morning so I will only spotlight three. Some of you started with us this last year but some others have been tagging along with me since 2012 (through thick and thin) Huge thank you goes to Jeannette for being a great working partner. All the many, many things that she did behind the scenes to get so many details organized and ready for this event.
Jeannette and I could not have the Vegas work without Marie and Kelly at Flight Crew and their staff members helping to get the word out and really being a tremendous support. Marie is one of those hanging in there since 2012.
Let’s face it, There has never been an event like this for Il Volo. I asked Barbara Vitali (Manager) while they were here and aside from small private “get-togethers” that some people have had with 6 or 8 or so people – informal type of gathering – This is the first organized and official (from Il Volo) large Il Volo fan gathering anyplace – and including the apprearance of the the boys in person at our event. WOW !
If it sounds like I am kind of high, I AM !! On a personal basis this was always a gamble because they were only doing this as a favor. We did not contract them for money. They came because I asked and because they wanted to come. The old fashioned term was: “gentlemen’s agreement” but now it should be “gentleperson’s agreement” because the Barbara, Gianluca, Piero, and Ignazio were the other “gentleperson and that was the central key. I must tell a little secret. Even the day of our event there was a time problem around noon and for a while I did not know if they were going to make it let alone when. But then I saw Gianluca at lunch and we chatted a little while and that was the confirmation I needed. He said: “ we will be a little late but we will be there” (almost words from God at that moment).
End result: the most important thing to me was that later that night Barbara and the boys said they were very happy with and actually surprised at how big the event was. They loved it. Barbara and later Piero told us that next time (get that phrase: “ next time” again words as if from God) they will help us put it together and then find a way to guarantee they will schedule at least a full hour with us and do more activities. Now from my self-centered attitude, I loved that reaction and the news with it.
From our group stand point we have already had many emails and tweets indicating that, even though there were some issues to be fixed and some other minor problems to deal with, the general report we are getting is a very positive response. One item that needs to be changed for the next time is that the dinner places must be assigned in advance with name cards and there cannot be last minute changes like we put up with Friday.
The reports I have gotten were that the room was a nice room (great view – duh!) and the food was very good. We found the staff to be very nice and very helpful. I was not sure if we were going to need security but I went ahead with it and, boy! , am I glad we did! When the Il Volo boys came to us I thought there was a high-pitched earthquake happening. I thought only teenage girls acted that way (I say that with tongue in cheek). I was surprised that the boys got out of there with their clothes still on !!!!!
But that is a sign to me that we had an event that achieved the excitement we wanted. Can you imagine an hour instead of 30 minutes (those poor boys – ahem ! Cough !)
There will be one more comment after all three of these parts are done.