Jan 28 When a catastrophe turns into a miracle…

It started out as a catastrophe. A real one. Around 2pm, as we were driving to Quebec City from Drummondville, we learned that there was no electricity at Théâtre Petit Champlain, where we were scheduled to play since the end of August, show for which people came from all over the world; Canada, USA, France, Germany, Japan and Australia. Trains, never-ending train rides, long flights, hotel rooms, and an excitement that couldn’t be compared. And we needed to tell them that the concert couldn’t happen? This was an idea we couldn’t agree with. We stopped at a Tim Hortons in a rest area. Whatever place you stop at to try and deal such a situation is meant to keep stigmas and forever hold a bad place in your heart. We ordered coffees, more for the form than the desire to drink one, sat down at a table, and analyzed the possibilities we had. Possibilities were not numerous. We wanted to rent another venue, but that was impossible, there was a clause saying we couldn’t play in case the concert had to be cancelled. We thought of renting a room where we could hang out all together, but everything in the Old Quebec is small and unable to welcome the 300 people scheduled to come tonight. Then Alex came up with an idea that made no sense at all. We could do the concert in the church. But we don’t have speakers powerful enough for that. We will rent some. People have no cars to drive all the way there. We will rent a bus that will bring them from Quebec City to Drummondville and back. But that makes no sense! Would we really be able to get everything ready in time? Where would we pick people up? How would we convey the info to everyone if we need to keep secret the fact that we are playing a show? I didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to think. I mean, welcoming everyone in the church for a concert was something we had always wanted to do, it is a vision we have had since we bought the church a little over 5 years ago. Marjo started calling bus companies “for a bus, with a driver, for tonight”. Ben started calling music shops “for speakers, for tonight, delivered home because we can’t make it anywhere before closing time”. It did not make any sense. And even a few days after the event, it still doesn’t make any sense. We called people home, told them to get everything ready: drinks for everyone, a coat check for everyone, a place where people could take off their boots. While most of the people were going home, Jeff, Miss Isabel, Marjo and myself were to go to Quebec City, to the meeting point we had for dinner before the show to announce the bad news to everyone. But deep down inside, we were happy we could also surprise the people in such a way. We barely said hello to everyone and Jeff announced it. The news dropped for many people, as many, coming from overseas and being away for home, didn’t have access to their emails. People didn’t believe it. They didn’t want to believe it. They thought there was a hidden camera somewhere, that we were joking only. But seeing how serious Jeff remained, they knew it was real. And then we dropped the bomb. “BUT… We have rented a coach bus that will bring you to Drummondville, in our HQ, where we will do a concert anyway”. In the wave of applause and whistles, I thought people would cry. That set the tone to the rest of the night. We had no idea just how magical it would be yet! We left, got on the bus, and drove to Drummondville.

As we were driving, I was receiving lots and lots of text messages, from the guys back home who were asking me how people were reacting, what they were talking about, if everything was going well… And then, I received THE text message. “What we are about to do is suicidal”. And then it made me doubt again. Are we really going to be able to do exactly what we want tonight, there’s so much against us. I mean, in the last few weeks, Sef broke his finger catching a foot ball, which almost forced us to cancel the show, and then there’s an explosion underground that cuts power to the venue? That venue hasn’t even canceled a show in 50 years! 50 YEARS! Why does it have to be our show? Are we really meant to do it? Maybe what we should do is just spend time with the people, quietly, and enjoy ourselves. But then we’ve rented all the equipment, and the bus, all for that? I could see Jeff already being mad at the idea of the show being cancelled. “People came for the music, for this communion that cannot be obtained anywhere else, so we’re going to give them music, and nothing else. Nothing else. Am I very clear”? His words resonated through my mind as I doubted more and more. But then I raised my eyes from my phone and looked at everybody in the bus. All this excitement, all these people that didn’t know each other just a few minutes before and who were now talking all together as if they had been friends forever. This is not done by the music itself, but the music still serves as a bridge between each and everyone of us… And I didn’t doubt anymore. Today, some more miracles would occur through the music that would be played at the HQ!

Arrived home, I rushed inside as I still had with me some very important stuff for the show – the set lists 😉 Went downstairs, took off my boots, and rushed back to the Upper Room, the big room of the church, where the show would take place. And what I saw there left me speechless, bringing tears to my eyes. Yes, I was more than 100% sure, tonight would see its fair share of miracles!

At 11pm, I was behind a microphone, introducing the band, telling everyone this still had to be kept secret, and asking them to leave their cameras and phones aside. Tonight, it was a moment for them. We wanted them to live the music, but not through their cameras. We wanted them to feel it for what it would really be, without any filter, to feel the let go that the moment would bring, and to allow themselves to live the music in a way they often don’t at a gig.

And what a concert. We weren’t at the church anymore, we were in a world of its own. We weren’t individuals watching a concert, we were united as one. It’s like time had stopped, only to catch up on us a little later. But in that very moment, nothing else that this very special communion existed. As if absolutely nothing else mattered. For me, outside of the crowd, taking pictures, it was like watching a movie. There was no way this could be real. No way this could really be happening. And during the song “From The City To The Ocean”, as I lowered down my camera to watch what was happening with my eyes and not through my camera viewfinder, I couldn’t help but think “this atmosphere, this vibe, what is going on here… this is the very reason why I am still here today, why I am the person I am today. What is happening right now is the very reason why I am still alive, why I know what it means to truly be alive. And it is the reason why I have starting walking from the city to the ocean, to travel between illness and migration. And as tears were slowly filling up my eyes with the gratefulness of being able to be there in that very specific moment, I thought of you all. Of how insane of a story ours is. How the odds never wanted for us all to meet together, to know each other, to be able to call one another family, brothers and sisters. It is not music that has united us all together. It is not a coincidence. It is something that is far greater than that. Something that we may never be able to fully understand, but that doesn’t need to be understood either. And I think this is the most beautiful gift we can have always received. There are things that do not require that we understand them. We simply need to live them. And sometimes, living them to the fullest is doing the exact opposite of what our heads are thinking. If it was only for me and my impressions, I would have never been here, would have never met anyone. And it made me realize how the miracle that night was not to have managed to have brought everyone for a concert at the HQ. The true miracle was us being together. It was the band still being a band. It was us at the YFE HQ living together. It was you being there with us all. That night, the real miracle that occurred was US. And I think that we all could feel, that night, that whatever happened, whatever we felt, whatever we lived, it was only the beginning of something new…

After a way too short night, a moment we can’t really call “a full night of sleep”, we headed back to Quebec City for a brunch with everyone who could make it. All of us were tired, or overtired should I say. Nonetheless, not even once could you feel that tiredness. On the contrary, all we could see were smiles, all we could hear was laughter. As per usual, the food was only secondary to what we were living. It was all about being together… taking pictures, signing albums and books, discussing the gig of the night before, of what was coming next for us all, of our passions, of our fears… We were being true and real to one another, without any filters. That brunch that was supposed to last only 2 hours lasted the double, and I am sure that if it wasn’t for our desire to explore the Old Quebec City, and that the sun was about to set, we would have stayed much, much longer! After all, it was all only starting for us…

And in the end, after such a fabulous and dreamlike weekend, I think it’s only fair to say that reality, when lived to the fullest, is better than any dream we may have, and that every catastrophe we face in our lives can turn out the best that ever happened to us…

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