What a great night! The show was superb and as others have put it, Celine was on fire!
Tonight's show was my second Celine concert. My first Celine concert was last Friday in Miami. Even though both shows were great, I had a completely different experience. Last week in Miami I was seated in Section 111, Row 32 and was just taking everything in along with seeing Celine live for the first time. Tonight I was seated in Section 6, Row E, so I had floor seats. Sometimes I did have to look up to see certain areas of the stage, but it was wonderful to see the show from a different view! I definitely had the chance to see Celine up close and there were times that she probably was not more than 30-40 feet away from me.
Before the show, I had the pleasure of meeting a few of the forum's members. I met Tony and the German girls, Kristin and Sabrina. And I also met Liz (I am probably misspelling your name! I am sorry) from Montreal. It was great meeting you guys!
Also before the show, I also had the chance to meet Ramona and her manager/bodyguard/photographer! I am sorry but I do not remember her name! I also had my picture taken with Ramona, but with her camera, LOL. It was very nice meeting you guys! Ramona, I can tell you are a great lady!
Right as we were talking to Ramona, Barnev was walking around the arena and we said hi to him.
I decided to go to my seat at about 7:20 pm or so. Then, I looked up toward one of the sections in the catwalk nearest to me and Maman Dion was already seated! Maman Dion was with a couple, a man and a woman who are probably in their fifties. Is that one of Celine's sisters?
Before the show started, I saw a few people go up to Maman Dion and say hi and even had her give her autograph. I so felt compelled to go up and introduce myself but I did not work up the nerve. A few minutes later, I saw Michel go up and talk to Maman Dion for awhile. After Gordie's act and right before Celine took the stage, I saw Rene and Patrick walk by my section. If I may say, Rene definitely looks much thinner in person. For some reason, he looks overweight in pictures, but in person he looks thinner.
The entire show was wonderful. In tonight's show I managed to capture all the moments I had forgotten about in Miami, LOL. Perhaps given that I sat in a fifth row from the stage and had the chance to see Celine much closer I must say that I enjoyed the show more and was able to capture more moments of the show. Even tonight's crowd was good, the crowd could have been better! Our floor section did stand the whole time between LCMM and the end of MHWGO. We even stood clapping and cheering in between songs when Celine was changing.
After the show ended, Tony, the German girls, and I decided to go to the opposite side of the arena and stand behind the fenced area where the Truck 'N Roll trucks and the tour buses were. We had hoped to see Celine leave, but we had no such luck! When Tony and I arrived to the fenced area, we saw a helicopter land on a closed off area right across the street from where we were. We do not know if Celine left by helicopter or not though. Kristin says she saw Celine get in a car and leave. We could only hear the helicopter but we could not see anything. About 20 minutes after it landed, the helicopter left. We did see a large black car (almost looked like a limo but only boxier in shape) that stood by for about 15 minutes and then left but we do not know who was in it. We waved to the car and I saw a man wave back to us and a woman with long hair who tried to lower the window but did not. Who knows if that was Celine or not.
After a few minutes, Michel came outside and we said hello to him. He was talking to the security guards probably coordinating the exit details. From a distance we also saw Elise, Mego, Jean-Sebastien, and some of the other dancers. Just about all of them got into the tour buses that were waiting outside. However, three dances, two guys and a girl, were carrying their luggage, came from outside the fenced area, and went their own separate ways.
As many cars were leaving the venue from the opposite direction, some guys drove up, lowered his window, waved and said, "Great show! Thanks!" Since we were standing by the fenced area where all the buses area he probably thought we were part of a crew or something, LOL.
In the distance, we saw an old lady with white hair and we thought it was Maman Dion. The lady got into a Honda SUV and the car came our away. We started waving and clapping thinking it was her, when the old lady lowers the window and says, "Are you guys waiting for Celine?" LOL! We then knew it definitely was not Therese!
However, we did end up seeing Maman Dion leave. She was sitting in the backseat of plain, regular Honda with Quebec license plates! The couple who sat with her in the concert were in the front seat and they all waved to us! That goes to show how humble Celine's family is. We would have thought that Maman Dion would leave the venue in a limo, luxury car, or a large car with tinted windows, but she did not. That car clearly belongs to one of Celine's family members. And there she was, Maman Dion, the mother of extremely wealthy Celine, leaving in a plain Honda with clear windows where she could easily be seen!
Then, moments later, Aaron ran toward us to greet us all. It was very nice meeting Aaron! He seems like such a nice, genuine, and likeable guy! He talked to us for a few minutes and then he went back to the bus. According to what he said, the crew was driving to Miami as they are all taking a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico first thing in the morning. Celine will arrive in Puerto Rico tomorrow later on in the afternoon though.
Wow, guys! That pretty much sums up my entire evening! I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my Celine experience! The show was excellent, she was on fire, and I got to meet some pretty neat people! I got to see Maman Dion, Rene, and others really close. And I also met Ramona and Aaron, which was completely unexpected.
Who knows when I will have the chance to see Celine live again. But I am sure I will somewhere along the way!
Good night all!