Post by davidhr on Mar 16, 2010 12:06:51 GMT -5
The concert tour for TLFM ended this past week after some six months, and the conclusion had some memorable, heart-warming moments.
The final three concerts of “TLFM font leur show” began in Martigues on the 10th. We are very fortunate to have video of basically the whole thing, available in 18 parts on youtube (thanks to papillonrad). Lara was in excellent form vocally (as one can hear in the videos), and the atmosphere was good in a room that was probably ¾ full. The show started about 45 minutes late due to someone’s car accident on the road that delayed the band. It was again the short program (i.e., without ‘Dessins animee’, among others). The fans prepared what have now become the expected ‘surprises’. In this case some 600 fluorescent bracelets were handed out, and were shown to Lara on “Soleil soleil’; a big banner celebrating TLFM from the fans of Martigues was unfurled during ‘Humana’; and leaflets were distributed with words for an altered version of ‘Pas sans toi’ that the audience sung (video available on youtube). Lara as usual appreciated these gestures. Some nice pictures of Lara are available on the official site (at the bottom of p.18 of this concert thread). Before the show Lara appeared on “Radio maritima”, and some pictures of Lara with their personnel exist on their site at:
www.radio-maritima.fr/lara-fabian.asp
[As an aside, an issue that has engaged fans throughout all these concerts has been how the audience should act at Lara’s concerts. Should they stand, or stand up on chairs, dance up to the stage and display energy back to Lara? Or should they sit and allow those behind them to see the concert? A divergence of opinion on this subject came to the fore once again because the guards prevented fans from going up to the stage. Much of the discussion on the official site for this thread concerned the proper fan (and guard) behavior. It also was the subject of great discussion on the thread for the Forest National concert, so much so that Nathalie closed the subject – which then gave birth to a thread saying that there was a lack of freedom of expression. I must say I come down on the side of those who show respect for the fans behind them, regardless of whether it tempers one’s appreciation of the event.]
On the 12th Lara was in Annency, again in great form vocally for an audience that was described as a little lethargic. One fan, at least, defied this characterization, a Russian woman who apparently came carrying many gifts for Lara. There were again the usual luminescent bracelets in the audience for what was once more the ‘short’ show (which continued to evoke complaints on the official site forum). Some photos of Lara are available at:
www.maschizophrenieaujourlejour.over-blog.com/
And finally it was on to Grenoble, the last of the TLFM shows. In preparation for it, and confident that Lara does not read the forum on her own site, Nathalie placed the following (translated) message:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Good day to you all,
As you know, in some days at Grenoble (Saturday, 3/13) will take place the last of the TLFM show. To mark the end of this tourney, the team of Lara wanted to make for her a surprise and they propose that you participate in this surprise. It is not in any case an obligation, but if you desire it, you can give the final note to this surprise. In order to do this, it suffices for you to procure a red rose (without thorns, preferably, it should not be wrapped, only a rose). This rose should of course be well hidden until the moment of the surprise so that Lara doesn’t suspect anything! Be therefore very discreet.
Here is how the surprise will unfold:
At the end of the concert, at the moment when Lara goes up to the center of the stage for Adagio, it will not be Adagio that will be played, but “L’hymne a l’amour”. The members of the team will then come onto the stage with a rose and will each go to give their rose to Lara. When the last person will have given his rose to Lara (probably Gerard, but that isn’t yet certain), you will then be able to release your rose and all together throw them onto the stage.
An explanatory sheet will be distributed before the concert.
All the information is given…
A very good last concert to all those who will be present. If other surprises are planned, don’t hesitate to speak here so that everything works out for the best and that nothing else is triggered at the same moment.
Nathalie
-------------------------------------------------------
The fans of course all thought that this was a great idea, and many now wished they were going to be in Grenoble for it. Subsequently Nathalie posted another message asking if anyone knew of a florist in the vicinity of the concert hall (which Christele, among others, did). The fans also suggested that it would be great to have it filmed and included as a bonus on the DVD; Nathalie in response said there were no plans at the moment, but that she too hoped it would be memorialized.
And, in addition to this, the fans had their own surprise planned (of course), with cigarette lighters handed out to be lit in conjunction with Lara’s singing of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’.
For the last concert for the show, Lara brought back the full program, including ‘Dessins animee’, and sang with extra gusto. Perhaps for the same reason, the ambiance was super-charged, approaching that of Forest National according to those reporting in. And the surprises worked perfectly – Lara was touched, emotional, extremely happy…as one would expect from someone who so easily shows her feelings. Videos of many of these moments are now on Youtube (note in particular www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQuFEQadSfk and www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ZG59Aaf2Q from “aleall79”. They are not to be missed – note in particular her reaction to Gerard’s appearance - and will go down in “Lara-lore”.
A small positive review with some pictures is available at:
www.ledauphine.com/lara-fabian-a-chante-toutes-ses-femmes-au-summum-@/index.jspz?article=275152&chaine=16
It is particularly appropriate that for a tour in which the game of 'surprise Lara' was developed by the fans, that it end with Lara's own team, including Gerard, joining in. Possibly the thought of doing something like that was instigated by watching the fans' actions. One has to say that the fans brought to this tour almost as much as Lara did - it became a joint, communal activity. Congratulations to all those fans who helped make these concerts memorable, regardless of what they felt about the TLFM album itself. I'm sure they got more out of the shows that way, as did Lara. They also probably helped clarify Lara's thinking of why she continues to do all this.
And of course congratulations and thanks to Lara. One common denominator in the description of every concert was that 'Lara gave it her all on stage'. Along with her continual great vocal prowess throughout these past six months, it is this attitude that breeds the affection the fans displayed.
In other news, but still in the concert vein, Nathalie put on the official site a thread asking the fans what they thought of the concert at Forest National that was filmed for the DVD. She couldn’t have been disappointed by the answers, as the fans universally gave it a big ‘thumbs up’, saying from a performance and ambiance standpoint, it was one of the best of the whole tour. Of course, it is possible that people who felt otherwise were intimidated, or did not want to disappoint Nathalie. Nevertheless, one looks forward to the DVD…
But prior to that, with respect to TLFM itself, it has jumped another 52 places, and is now in 67th place on the French charts (that’s a gain of 104 places in two weeks!). Part of the rise may be due to Universal re-issuing it at 9.99 Euros, but it is impressive none-the-less, especially with basically no promotion. As far as the scheduled release in Quebec at the end of this month, ‘yellieladagio’ noted on the official site that Lara has just been dropped from the list of Canadian artists on the ADISQ website; that may affect whatever airplay the album would have received.
Also, ‘Angeyelliel’, reporting on news from Nico, claims that TLFM1 will be released this coming June, first on Lara’s website, and then commercially. She said it will be another ‘slide-pack’, with little other than the CD itself (hence in all respects similar to the EWIM release). No word yet on any Italian version…
While the TLFM tour is over, Lara’s concert schedule is not quite finished. She is off this coming week, but then has acoustic concerts in Ludres and Yutz the week after. Perhaps we’ll be able to hear more versions of her new song ‘Mirage’.
David
The final three concerts of “TLFM font leur show” began in Martigues on the 10th. We are very fortunate to have video of basically the whole thing, available in 18 parts on youtube (thanks to papillonrad). Lara was in excellent form vocally (as one can hear in the videos), and the atmosphere was good in a room that was probably ¾ full. The show started about 45 minutes late due to someone’s car accident on the road that delayed the band. It was again the short program (i.e., without ‘Dessins animee’, among others). The fans prepared what have now become the expected ‘surprises’. In this case some 600 fluorescent bracelets were handed out, and were shown to Lara on “Soleil soleil’; a big banner celebrating TLFM from the fans of Martigues was unfurled during ‘Humana’; and leaflets were distributed with words for an altered version of ‘Pas sans toi’ that the audience sung (video available on youtube). Lara as usual appreciated these gestures. Some nice pictures of Lara are available on the official site (at the bottom of p.18 of this concert thread). Before the show Lara appeared on “Radio maritima”, and some pictures of Lara with their personnel exist on their site at:
www.radio-maritima.fr/lara-fabian.asp
[As an aside, an issue that has engaged fans throughout all these concerts has been how the audience should act at Lara’s concerts. Should they stand, or stand up on chairs, dance up to the stage and display energy back to Lara? Or should they sit and allow those behind them to see the concert? A divergence of opinion on this subject came to the fore once again because the guards prevented fans from going up to the stage. Much of the discussion on the official site for this thread concerned the proper fan (and guard) behavior. It also was the subject of great discussion on the thread for the Forest National concert, so much so that Nathalie closed the subject – which then gave birth to a thread saying that there was a lack of freedom of expression. I must say I come down on the side of those who show respect for the fans behind them, regardless of whether it tempers one’s appreciation of the event.]
On the 12th Lara was in Annency, again in great form vocally for an audience that was described as a little lethargic. One fan, at least, defied this characterization, a Russian woman who apparently came carrying many gifts for Lara. There were again the usual luminescent bracelets in the audience for what was once more the ‘short’ show (which continued to evoke complaints on the official site forum). Some photos of Lara are available at:
www.maschizophrenieaujourlejour.over-blog.com/
And finally it was on to Grenoble, the last of the TLFM shows. In preparation for it, and confident that Lara does not read the forum on her own site, Nathalie placed the following (translated) message:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Good day to you all,
As you know, in some days at Grenoble (Saturday, 3/13) will take place the last of the TLFM show. To mark the end of this tourney, the team of Lara wanted to make for her a surprise and they propose that you participate in this surprise. It is not in any case an obligation, but if you desire it, you can give the final note to this surprise. In order to do this, it suffices for you to procure a red rose (without thorns, preferably, it should not be wrapped, only a rose). This rose should of course be well hidden until the moment of the surprise so that Lara doesn’t suspect anything! Be therefore very discreet.
Here is how the surprise will unfold:
At the end of the concert, at the moment when Lara goes up to the center of the stage for Adagio, it will not be Adagio that will be played, but “L’hymne a l’amour”. The members of the team will then come onto the stage with a rose and will each go to give their rose to Lara. When the last person will have given his rose to Lara (probably Gerard, but that isn’t yet certain), you will then be able to release your rose and all together throw them onto the stage.
An explanatory sheet will be distributed before the concert.
All the information is given…
A very good last concert to all those who will be present. If other surprises are planned, don’t hesitate to speak here so that everything works out for the best and that nothing else is triggered at the same moment.
Nathalie
-------------------------------------------------------
The fans of course all thought that this was a great idea, and many now wished they were going to be in Grenoble for it. Subsequently Nathalie posted another message asking if anyone knew of a florist in the vicinity of the concert hall (which Christele, among others, did). The fans also suggested that it would be great to have it filmed and included as a bonus on the DVD; Nathalie in response said there were no plans at the moment, but that she too hoped it would be memorialized.
And, in addition to this, the fans had their own surprise planned (of course), with cigarette lighters handed out to be lit in conjunction with Lara’s singing of ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’.
For the last concert for the show, Lara brought back the full program, including ‘Dessins animee’, and sang with extra gusto. Perhaps for the same reason, the ambiance was super-charged, approaching that of Forest National according to those reporting in. And the surprises worked perfectly – Lara was touched, emotional, extremely happy…as one would expect from someone who so easily shows her feelings. Videos of many of these moments are now on Youtube (note in particular www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQuFEQadSfk and www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ZG59Aaf2Q from “aleall79”. They are not to be missed – note in particular her reaction to Gerard’s appearance - and will go down in “Lara-lore”.
A small positive review with some pictures is available at:
www.ledauphine.com/lara-fabian-a-chante-toutes-ses-femmes-au-summum-@/index.jspz?article=275152&chaine=16
It is particularly appropriate that for a tour in which the game of 'surprise Lara' was developed by the fans, that it end with Lara's own team, including Gerard, joining in. Possibly the thought of doing something like that was instigated by watching the fans' actions. One has to say that the fans brought to this tour almost as much as Lara did - it became a joint, communal activity. Congratulations to all those fans who helped make these concerts memorable, regardless of what they felt about the TLFM album itself. I'm sure they got more out of the shows that way, as did Lara. They also probably helped clarify Lara's thinking of why she continues to do all this.
And of course congratulations and thanks to Lara. One common denominator in the description of every concert was that 'Lara gave it her all on stage'. Along with her continual great vocal prowess throughout these past six months, it is this attitude that breeds the affection the fans displayed.
In other news, but still in the concert vein, Nathalie put on the official site a thread asking the fans what they thought of the concert at Forest National that was filmed for the DVD. She couldn’t have been disappointed by the answers, as the fans universally gave it a big ‘thumbs up’, saying from a performance and ambiance standpoint, it was one of the best of the whole tour. Of course, it is possible that people who felt otherwise were intimidated, or did not want to disappoint Nathalie. Nevertheless, one looks forward to the DVD…
But prior to that, with respect to TLFM itself, it has jumped another 52 places, and is now in 67th place on the French charts (that’s a gain of 104 places in two weeks!). Part of the rise may be due to Universal re-issuing it at 9.99 Euros, but it is impressive none-the-less, especially with basically no promotion. As far as the scheduled release in Quebec at the end of this month, ‘yellieladagio’ noted on the official site that Lara has just been dropped from the list of Canadian artists on the ADISQ website; that may affect whatever airplay the album would have received.
Also, ‘Angeyelliel’, reporting on news from Nico, claims that TLFM1 will be released this coming June, first on Lara’s website, and then commercially. She said it will be another ‘slide-pack’, with little other than the CD itself (hence in all respects similar to the EWIM release). No word yet on any Italian version…
While the TLFM tour is over, Lara’s concert schedule is not quite finished. She is off this coming week, but then has acoustic concerts in Ludres and Yutz the week after. Perhaps we’ll be able to hear more versions of her new song ‘Mirage’.
David