The Flight

My mother-in-law has become a groupie at age 76. She is in love with the Italian "boy band" Il Volo (il volo means "the flight" in Italian). She's such a fan that she was one of the first in line to buy their new Christmas CD, Buon Natale, and a wristband for a performance and signing when they make a stop in our town. That day was today. She cajoled me into going to the Mall of America on Black Friday to stand in line and get up close and personal with the boys. The performance was set to start at 2pm so we arrived an hour before not know what to expect. There were a few people already in queue but not too many so we had a good vantage point. I got us coffee to help the time pass and took photos of the growing crowd while MIL struck up conversations with everyone around us (her trademark). A lady immediately behind us knew a little too much about the boys for my taste (can you say stalker?!) and made mention more than once about how worried she was about their experiencing fame at such a young age. I guess these days you need to worry that even pop opera stars could go the way of Lindsay Lohan. We even had a little drama when a) police surveyed everyone to ensure they had wristbands due to "a little mix up" and 2) a young woman in front of us fainted (she recovered in time for the show).

There was a variety of ages from about 6 years old to 86 with nary a male in sight. I knew it was finally 2 when I heard all the screams and "oh my god"s. That must have been what it was like when The Beatles came to town. The boys sang three Christmas songs and their signature "'O Sole Mio" - they can definitely sing and I'm not going to lie, the tribute to Napoli was incredible.

After the performance we stood for another hour to have CDs signed. MIL was practically floating she was so excited. She started talking about looking up all the dates/cities for their upcoming American tour until I told her it sounded like she was going the way of our stalker friend. I suggested she ask if they had any nice single grandfathers.

It was definitely an experience ... I've never waited on line for a CD signing so I can check that off the bucket list.

To see for yourself what all the fuss is about go here for their 2011 performance on American Idol (before Ignazio lost the weight according to stalker lady) and here for a recent compilation of their Christmas concert on PBS.