My Martinafest Resume

Here a resume of Martinafest 2006.

Wednesday we met at the Dreamcatcher loudge for a few(?) beers . It was great to meet some old friends and a few new ones. If i make a list here, i ll probably forget someone(so i apologize in advance for it). Nonie,Sue, Jerry(Sue s husband), Keith, Chris, Robin(Chris s husband), Grant, Paul, Tracey , Nonie s mom and her friend(i think...).

But Thursday day was a total blast.

We all attended Martina s soundcheck. A few other fans joined the group like Dave, Debbie, Jerry(from VA), Kim, Tina, Lisa and a few others i dont know the names. At first Martina wasnt there, only her musicians. They played 2 country songs(didn t know the 1st one, but the second one was Satin Sheets). Jennifer Wrinkle sang on both of them, she has a pretty good voice!

Delaney and Emma were playing. Nonie asked Delaney if she could ride with her on her scooter. Delaney said "no", which i thought was very wise from her(lol!!!!). Last i want to do in a thing like that, is bothering Martina s kids....

Fans took a lot of group pictures during that time also.

Then Martina arrived. She was wearing a black Beatles t shirt and jeans. She sang part of 2 songs. Somehow i cant remember the 1st one. She then asked John if needed anything else, and John replied to do the beginning of "When God fearin-women get the blues" so she did sing it. At the end of it, Emma said to Martina "Mom, i did the lights, did you like it?" to which Martina replied by giving 2 thumbs up and having a big smile of her face. Martina then said to the guy who usually do the lights to watch out for Emma was after his job. That was so cute!!!

Martina then stepped up from stage and arranged with John a sort of group discussion in which Martina and John would be in front, so they could: give our gifts to Martina, ask her questions or comments, or-and John-Martina could give updates on stuff,etc....

John said not to gamble at the casino, cause he got killed out there. I replied: "Yea, it s rigged".


First, Chris gave our gifts to Martina. I remember Martina saying that whoever choose the gifts did a good of it. A lot of fans asked Martina to stand in front of the bowl so they could take pics of it. Chris mentionned to Martina that the lady who shipped the package requested a picture like that. Martina like the box of cholocate from 1966 and showed it to John. Before giving her his gift(a box of Mints "against aging over 40"----a gag gift), Keith said "If you like it, it s from me. If you dont, i had nothing to do with it".

Chris then gave our birthday card to Martina. She asked Martina if a certain picture was from General Hospital and if she was ever on General Hospital. Martina said "Yes' and i told Chris yes too, adding that she should ask me that, i would know something like that. I also added that Martina sang a song on GH but being nervous and i had a memory blank(My memory is back now: Martina sang "Going to work" on GH, it happened around 1996, she was wearing a red coat and was pregnant with Delaney at the time........-Claude-the Martina expert....)

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John mentionned something about a possible canadian tour next year. Some cities he mentionned were Saskatoon, MONTREAL(yeaaaa!!!!!!!!!) and Halifax. He mentionned a few others i think, but not Toronto. I then said "Montreal????". And he said yes. Then Tina asked Martina to come to Buffalo. And i said that i was still waiting for Montreal(lol!).

John said "Is Quebec still part of Canada". Which i replied with a sounding yes. John replied something separation. And i said that i didn t think it would ever happen cause everytime there s a vote for it, it s 50-50. Martina turned to me and said "Really?" and i said "Well, last time it was 49 % for yes 51% for No.(Special comment here*******I really couldn t beleive that i was actually having a discussion about Quebec independance with John and Martina McBride********totally unreal*****)

After that, Martina had to step away for about a minute(to take care of Ava i think). So John talked to us.

He mentionned that Martina would sing the national anthem at the first NFL next season, on THURSDAY NIGHT SEPTEMBER 7.OPENING NIGHT, THE GAME BETWEEN THE DOLPHINS AND THE STEELERS. And that it would be TELEVISED!!!!!!!!!!!!

John also said that Martina did a duet with Dean Martin(the late Dean Martin, same technology as the Natalie-Nat king cole duet) and it would be released on some Dean Martin compilation later in the year. He said that Martina completly blew away everybody with her performance on it.

Martina came back. Ava was with her. They gave a little bit of cake to her, cause she cried for more.(Ava that is, not Martina.....)

Someone mentionned how young Martina looks. John replied: "I m the one getting old, she is sucking up all the life out of me" he said jokingly of course. Someone said something like "really?", and he added that the kids had something to do it with his grey hair,lol!!!

Someone asked if they are planning on another baby and John replied No. He then said that sometimes late at night Martina wants another one, but No. I then said "John, you have 3 and it s your lucky number". John said "That s true! but we get another one it would be 6 for the whole family, and lucky number too!(meaning that number 3 or any number that divides by 3 ...is lucky for John-note from Claude-the Martina expert,lol.....)


After that, i think we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Martina. At the end, i said to Martina(in reference to our bad singing....), that the reason she is singing up there and we don t. Sue then said "Claude, singing her happy birthday in french". I said that we dont sing Happy birthday anymore in Quebec but something else, that it used be happy birthday----bonne fete---but it was a different song. John and Martina asked me to sing it....once again i had a short memory blank...then i started to sing: "Ma chere Martina c est a ton tour de te laisser parler d amour", then i stopped there, and said "that i felt silly singing to Martina McBride"(cause i m not a good singer ,especially for that type of those things.) John asked me what it meant in english and i never really reply to that.

So here s the complete explanation of it. A popular icon Quebec singer named Gilles Vigneault once wrote a song called "C est a ton tour". At some of Quebec history, around the referendum years(after 1976 i would say), that song became the Quebec anthem during Quebec birthday----aka la Saint Jean on July 24 every year. A few years after, people starting using it in birhdays.

Here s a delay response to John McBride: John, it means:
"My dear Martina it is your turn to let you tell us our love" or somethng like that, it does loose something in the translation.

Debbie asked Martina, how her kids felt about having a mother which is a celebrity. Martina replied that for her kids she is just "Mom". That she has to tell to stop doing things sometimes just like any mom. "That to stop NOW" she said.

Someone asked Martina if she was going to be on Canadian Idol. She said YES. The person asked her when. Martina said that it would be filmed on August 22nd. She wasn t 100%sure when it would air on tv, but she said it usually the week after!!!!

I think it s about that time that i decided my own gift to Martina. I said "Martina, i have a gift for you, i hope you don t really have it, if you do, it s the thought that counts...". And I then gave her a live Loretta Lynn DVD from a concert from Edmonton that i purchased in a Montreal store. She didn t have it and you could tell that she really love it!!!! I said "This is the best, isn t it?". Martina didn t reply, she just kept smiling and i said "I m jokiing...". A few fans told me after the get-together that you could see in Martina eyes that she really like my gift. John came back and Martina showed it to him. I then said "It even includes Crazy".

I then said to Martina that i had an idea for a future tour. I told her, that she should do a Medley of 4 old songs in show. Songs like "Phones are ringing" for example. Chris said "Cheap Whiskey" at that point. I then explain why: "That way, the old fans, like us, would enjoy some old Martina classics, while the new fans would not get too bored by it. Both John and Martina thought it was a good idea!

Grant then brought his own idea about playing in different venues than Casino Rama while in the Toronto area. He said something in the same lines as what he said on the BB, something like this:

-"Two shows at Casino Rama, should easily translate into at least a couple of shows at either Massey Hall or The Hummingbird Centre in downtown Toronto. These would be the shows the fans would really love to see!! I saw the show in Buffalo and that was to a half full building. A few weeks later I saw Queen and Paul Rodgers at the HSBC arena and they sold about 4,000 tickets, the night before, they sold out the ACC arena in Toronto"

I then said that Massey Hall is a great venue. that i attended a Kenny Rogers show a few years back. Martina replied that she did play Massey Hall once. And i said "Oh yes, that s true in 1996, i saw the pic (with her signature) on the walll when i was there". I felt foolish a bit, not remembering that.

Chrissy mentionned the fact that they awarded Martina with a Platinium CD for Timeless in Canada. She was wondering how many sales in took. Grant and I explained that it takes less sales than in the USA. "It s a ratio" i said. Martina turned to me to explain what i meant. "A ratio. In the USA. you are 300 millions, in Canada, it takes only 1/10 of it to get it." i replied

John said that they were supposed to film yesterday concert but they changed their mind, and will do at a later date in a different venue. To which everybody agreed it was a good decision(because of the fact, that the Casino Rama crowd isn t exactly the most excited crowd, like i explained myself in previous reviews-a few years back. The reason being too many tickets are given to highrollers instead of regular fans).

Martina said that every audience is different. That in Rama, they listen more. She mentionned that a lot of tickets are given to highrollers instead of fans. I said that they are a tough crowd(i said twice i think). John mentionned that they play to some wild crowds in recent weeks, so it is a nice change of pace of sort. John said it was good decision(aka though crowd) not to film yesterday show in Rama.

Martina said they were not able to do the Timeless show as planned, cause casinos(and i know that to be very true for Casino Rama) have a time limit for shows. Martina also said she couldn t change costumes in the middle of the show, like for the Timeless show, cause customers at Casino Rama have the nagging habit of leaving if there s an intermission. "They simply leave, they(Casino people) told us" said Martina.

Martina said: "Do you have any requests for tonite s show". Dave replied: "Where would you be?". Someone said it too, i think it was Sue. Martina said: "You don t want me to that one, do you?". Fans said YES. So Martina said that she would do it

(Special note: Martina end up, not singing it after all, my logic on this is that Martina wasn t 100% in top form this week, i bet she still has a cold and it s hard for her to sing her most challenging songs, but she is also someone who has a hard time saying no. But she did songs like "How far", "Help make through it the night" and "Over the rainbow" during the show).

I said that i would like to hear "Til i can make it on my own". Chris seemed to understand which song i meant, so i said the Tammy Wynette song. On the subject, i told Martina that her rendition of "Stand by your man" the previous day, was great, that i really love that note she belt it out at the end. Everyone cheered with agreement on my comment there.

Martina thanked everyone for coming. Kim, the girl in wheelchair, asked Martina for an autograph and a picture. Then a few others(including myself of course) asked for the same thing. Debbie, a friend of Dave, had told me before the getogether, that she really wanted a pic with Martina. So at that point, i noticed that she just stood there, like starstruck or something, so i said to Martina:"Martina, this girl really wants a pic with you, but she is too shy to ask for herself", so Martina had a picture with her. After the together, Debbie was so grateful, that she bought me a beer and must told me something like 10 times "Thank you so much".


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Do i really need to add how incredible the whole experience was? I m really pitching myself to make sure i wasn t dreaming all this!!!!!!!!!! I was talking to Martina and John McBride, and they were talking back, and reacting to comments, or asking questions.......,just like,like regular people, yea, that s it!

I know it s been said many times, but let me it say again. John and Martina are the nicest normal people you can meet!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH JOHN AND MARTINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everybody who was there, truly had a great time(I know, cause i spoke to several of them since).

Thanks to Keith and Chrissy too for organising the whole thing.


-Claude

thanks Claude makes you feel like you were there

Great review Claude! I think you covered everything that happened. I still think they should have gave Ava the cake box. LOL!!!

You did forget one thing........She sang Whatever You Say and I suggested that one! :-)

It was a FUN time!!!! Martina and John are the best!!!

Great Review Claude!

I'm one of those that's been around a LONG time, so I'm sorry I missed this get together. I'm Really glad Martina and Marty had a great Birthday week.

You are right.....John and Martina are the most down to earth "celebrities" (I hate that word) you will ever meet. They "get" the difference they make in the industry and realize how they got where they are today. Both of them just wanna say "thanks" as humbly as possible.

I will always love the McBride's. My Thanks and gratitude for all they've done over the years will never deminish.

Sorry I missed hanging out with the Martinaville Gang! Hope somebody drank a Long Island for me!!!! :-)

Let's get to the really important thing here:

Which Beatles shirt was it??

Thanks so much for the wonderfully detailed review Claude! (It was the next best thing to being there! LOL! ) Glad everyone had such a great time... hope to see you all soon!! Tracey

GJWIGJWIGOJJJJJJWRJJJJJJKLBvl m. BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD IN... A WHILE. I love Dean Martin to death.

And thanks for the review, Claude! It was a great read!

Thanks, Claude. I'm glad you had fun.

Great review! I will do my best to make the next one.

Great review! It sounded like you guys had a great time! Your review was so much fun to read!!

Thanks guys!!!!


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Jessica,
Hi there, How are you? Someone did ask about you, someone asked Jerry, how come he didn't give a lift or something.


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Nonie,
Hey party girl!! For the life of me, i couldn't remember the 1st song, thanks for filing out the blank.

I did forget one thing: Chrissy asked Martina about Blue M&Ms. Martina replied that it is true that she doesn't like M&Ms. She said M&Ms should be made only in standard colors. "blue M&Ms is wrong" she said or something like that. Note tp self:Don't give any blue M&Ms to Martina McBride..... John said something about the fact M&Ms stands for Martina McBride,but i can t remember what he said at first. I said that any meal in blue, is bad news, even blue cheese.


-Claude

I think Claude did pretty good at describing everything that went on before the show. I plead guilty to trying to get them to play non casino types of shows.

My chance to meet Martina and have my picture taken with her also turned out to be a bit of gag with myself and a Nashville photographer Frank Melfi. Frank and I have been friends for almost 15 years. Frank is not really known as a country music photographer and he's better known for his work with Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin for the past 30 years. Like myself, his music tastes can be all over the place.

On my drive up I call him and I asked him if he had shot Martina before. He said no, so I teased him that I hope to be one up him by the end of the day. Of course he laughed with himself living in Nashville. When Martina was posing pictures, I asked for a picture and I told her that I was wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt designed by a photographer in Nashville.

After I get back, I sent Frank an email with the picture of Martina and myself. He said to me over the phone "That was a nice shirt you were wearing in the picture". After I told him about the shows and how nice everyone was, I think he'll pay attention to when Martina and the band are in the area.

That sounds like you had a blast! GREAT review! I enjoyed reading it a lot. Thanks for sharing!

He's missing out if he doesn't


Can we see the pic too?

Great review claude. I'm glad you guys had a wonderful time.