Lara In Concert Montreal April 27 & 28

[achebeautiful]

I've already got you covered Joanna! I am going to send you a cd with well over 120 photos of the concert from the front row!

[lapayin]

I will post my pictures when I figure out how to get them onto my computer. LOL Suggestions are welcome

[lapayin]

Welcome David and thank you for the great review. You say it so well.

[achebeautiful]

Paula and David could not have put the experience of seeing Lara Fabian for those two shows any better! Very nice job of it, you two!

As I have stated, this was such an experience for me that I do not know where to even begin! I have a lot to share about my "total" experience....meeting the wonderful people that are Lara Fabian fans from all over the map; visiting the great city of Montreal for the very first time; being caught up into the "third heaven" experience of seeing Lara Fabian live in concert; meeting, shaking hands with and talking to Matt Herskowitz after the second show! WOW!! It's all so much, and it has left me overwelmed to the point of weeping at the very thought of it all.

I found myself in church on Sunday with tears running down my face, in total thanks of God for allowing me the opportunity of seeing His face in each of the new friends that I made in Montreal. There are a hall of fame here of wonderful people....people that I believe are living proof that God loves the world He made, and desires the very best for us! People like Pam Francis, out of the Chicago area, with a generosity of heart and spirit....it's people like her who give to others and keep this sinking ship of a world afloat!
People like Jim from Texas, with a beautiful personality and friendliness, that makes you fall in love with him just by knowing
him! People like Paul from Atlanta, whom I roomed and made the trip with, who in knowing for only four days has given me more things than I will ever be able to repay. He's just like his brother John, who is my best friend. You cannot out-give these people! People like Josh, whom I only met for a bit, but had an attractive and very personable quality about him. People like Andreza and Tammy, from Brazil, who are as attractive and beautiful personally as they are physically. People like David and Carolyn, from Brooklyn, NY, who are among the kindest, nicest people you will EVER meet! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that David has joined us here at FullOfGrace! And there is the very lovely Donna, who came with Paula.

People like Paula.....

What can I say. She is as important a part of my trip to Montreal as seeing Lara in concert. All I can find words to say about her is that she is as beautiful a person..... as Lara's voice.

They, for me, are the Living Proof. And after a few days of being with them in Montreal, I feel as though they have been lifelong friends. I'm glad to be home, but I miss all of them terribly! They have scarred my life with love for them forever.

In saying all of that, there is still the issue of experiencing Lara live! But it's important to know that all the power that music can bring, and how effectively Lara can bring it; it is people like these who fill a person like me with wonder!

More from me in response to Paula's and David's reviews of the shows, as well as mine, to come next.....

[achebeautiful]

The Lara concerts in Montreal were amazing! To best describe my experience of these two great shows, I will respond to the reviews posted by Paula and David, and throw in my own thoughts as well.

As Paula mentioned:

“The show started with a new young singer named Marie-Pier Perreault, singing four songs. She has a wonderful voice and a great personality.”

I thought that she was great. In those four songs, she displayed a very nice stage presence. She seemed sincerely appreciative of the reception the audience gave her, and it seemed to me that she is popular among those in the crowd. I took notice that the audience gave her a nice applause at the beginning of the first chorus each night, giving me the impression that the song is popular in the area.

I was really blown away when she sang a spirited rendition of the Kris Kristofferson penned, Janis Joplin hit “Me And Bobby Magee”. Lyrics don’t get much better than:

“Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’…..”

It probably cannot be easy to open for the likes of Lara Fabian, but I think this young woman did a good job, and I think the audience appreciated her.

It was really neat to ‘feel’ the excitement of the audience build between the acts. With every minute until Lara hit the stage, the fever grew, and the crowd clapped in unison and chanted her name! Were we in the audience prompting Lara to come onstage, or was she awaiting that precise moment when the audience was fully prepared for a very special evening? Perhaps the enthusiasm of both Lara and her fans is what made for such a magical experience!

I am willing to fully agree with both Paula and David about the second show being the better of the two, for technical as well as the strength of Lara’s voice reasons. But the first show was the much more memorable one for me. First of all, it was the very first time I had seen her in concert, and it is nothing less than AWESOME! Second, on the first night I had front row seats, and I was so close to Lara I could practically touch her if I had reached out for her! I absolutely love the piano; it is one of my favorite instruments. My seat on the first night was directly before the piano, and so I could see the lovely playing of Pierre Grimard right in front of my eyes!

As an aside, let me just state here that I am very impressed with Pierre Grimard. He’s a very handsome man, with a humble, understated approach to his playing. The piano is a beautiful instrument, and Lara a beautiful woman….no over the top theatrics are needed from the piano man, and it seemed to me that Pierre was happy to be “the wind beneath Lara’s wings” throughout the show. The chemistry between Lara and Pierre is also very worthy of mention. They really have something special together onstage!

Anyway, my seats were not at all bad for the second show…actually very good in fact! But nothing replaces the thrill of those front row seats and the intimate feeling of being with Lara that they bring! So in that regard I have to say that the first show was better for me. Other than that, Paula and David are exactly right.

David writes in his review of the concerts:

“ The shows were wonderful, no doubt; but Lara clearly was overwhelmed by the audience response, and at times seemed not to know what to do about it. She would just stand there and let it wash over her. She broke into tears several times, and at other times what looked to me like fear and/or bewilderment crossed her face.”

That is truly a beautiful thing to behold. Nobody words it better than David, and his review articulates it perfectly.

But I would like to compliment his observations about this very subject by telling you a little of my own with regards to the audience being overwhelmed by Lara! Please do not expect me to write this as well as David; I’ll just stumble through my thoughts and hopefully get my point across! LOL

Everything David writes about Lara’s sentiment toward the audience is right on the money. But the audience had many moments of their own of being overwhelmed by Lara! I will share with you three such examples.

On the first night, from the front row, a woman seated next to my friend John completely broke down into weeping during “J’y Crois Encore” and for about the next two songs after (perhaps even the whole concert for all I know!) She sat on the floor in front of her boyfriend or husband as he held his arms around her. It was so beautiful! You could tell that Lara’s music deeply moves her.

On the second night, from a different seat, a young girl no more than probably fifteen or sixteen years old just could not contain her emotions! She would cry out as loud as her lungs would allow, “Je T’aime, Lara!” and sing as loud as her heart could muster for songs such as “Humana”. My friend John was a few rows behind me this night, and disagrees with me about this young woman’s behavior. He feels that she was out of line and frustrating to others in the audience. I think she was beautiful in her exuberance, and a real testament to the power of music in a person’s life. Call it “Beatlemania” of sorts, but it just goes to show you how deeply fans relate to Lara’s music.

Of my own experience with this, it happened during the second song of the first show (J’y Crois Encore). It is one of my favorites of Lara’s. When the song ended, I just sat there motionless. No cheering, no standing, no clapping. My friend John asked me if I was okay. I was more than okay. I was stunned! I was completely absorbed in the beauty of it all! I have seen a lot of concerts in my day. I’ve cheered and clapped wildly for exceptional performances. But this was an even higher level of experience with concert greatness for me, and somehow standing, clapping and cheering wasn’t expressive enough for how I felt. There had to be some other thing to do….some other way of showing my appreciation. But since there was none, I did nothing. Nothing at all. That is my experience of being totally overwhelmed by Lara.

Paula and David covered the concerts much better than I can, so I won’t even attempt or try. But if I could just share with you one other observation about the shows that was very special to me, it is this:

Lara concluded both concerts by singing Sarah McLachlin’s “Angel.” What a beautiful song! What I really love most about the way Lara sings it is the respect that she gives to Sarah McLachlin. What I mean is that Lara feels no need to add or subtract anything at all to Sarah’s version of the song. She obviously loves the song herself, and stays as true to Sarah’s spirit of it as she possibly can. I think that says a lot about Lara. Very classy in my opinion….from one great singer/songwriter to another!

The lyrics are too important to pass by without recognition, and so I post them here:

“ANGEL”

Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always one reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of an angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort there

So tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lie
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

In the arms of an angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort there
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort here


For those who do not know, the song was written by Sarah McLachlin about a friend who was addicted to drugs. The “Angel” in the song is the drugs. You can take it from there.

Lara’s choice of this song is very important to me, because in the midst of such beauty at the whole concert experience, the reality is that there are many all around who are suffering under the weight of the world. It is very sad. Many of those people will resort to some kind of way, any kind of way, to ease the pain. Some of their remedies will actually bring them down even further.

Thanks to Lara for showing us Beauty Defined…..and for keeping it all in perspective. For keeping it real.

I hope this gives you a glimpse of my experience of seeing Lara Fabian Live!

[lapayin]

Here are a couple of my pictures from the Friday night concert:

[achebeautiful]

Lara Live In Montreal!

[lapayin]

One note about Marie-Pier Perreault who opened the concert for Lara.

Mark said:

"I took notice that the audience gave her a nice applause at the beginning of the first chorus each night, giving me the impression that the song is popular in the area."

The first song Marie-Pier sang was "Il Y A Trop De Gens Qui T'aiment". A beautiful song that was sung by Helene Segara on her album Au Nom D'une Femme. I love the song and I have to say Marie-Pier did an outstanding job with it especially the second night. She, as Lara, seemed stronger and more passionate on Saturday night.

I believe the second song she sang was "Si Maman Si" (not 100% sure) - a song written by Michel Berger. Can anyone help me out with that one?

“Me And Bobby Magee” was very good too, a nice rendition. Not sure what the fourth song was. She is definately a singer to watch.

For those interested here is a link to her website.

www.mariepierperreault.com/index.php?p=2&PHPSESSID=0b7f23d7d75e6775d8e80c0e80983a8a

Here is a link to Marc-Andre Fortin's site

www.marcandrefortin.mu/

You can listen to a few seconds of their songs on their site. I love Marc-Andre's song "Bien Entendu". And his song "Je Demande A La Vie" was co written by Rick Allison. Small world.

[achebeautiful]

Very interesting post, Paula. Were it not for this information, I would know little to nothing about the songs she sang because I didn't understand anything she was saying! LOL

Thanks for sharing it with us.

I really liked her a lot too. She seemed to put her all into the songs and had a very good stage presence. Talented and attractive, and very passionate!

I also liked what seemed to me a sincere appreciation for the audience applause that she received. It was well deserved for sure, but she seemed not to take that for granted.

I hope she has much success!