Yanni - Mexico Tour 09

Mexico City - Day of Show October 20, 2009

2009-11-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

Another spectacular evening. I took the opportunity to sit in the left balcony to watch the show with some friends who live in Mexico City and came to see the show. Although I have seen the show dozens of times and never tire of it, I saw it through their eyes and was once again struck at how truly special this show is and how much it moves people. For two hours you are transported to a world of beautiful music and it is transformative. Your spirit is instantly lifted and you are left knowing that you have witnessed something magical.

I still managed to shoot some photos of the guest artists yesterday and today. Here are Cristian Castro, Lucero, and Jose Jose. Each took a moment to let the audience know how much it meant to them to be performing on that stage with Yanni and thanked him for the wonderful opportunity he gave them to record with him.

Cristian looking dapper in his tails sings "Ni La Fuerza Del Destino"...

Lucero and Yanni say Hello...

Lucero sings "Eterno Es Este Amor"

Jose Jose greets Yanni while the audience gives him a standing ovation...

El Principe

Performing "Volver a Creer"

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-10-31T16:17:00.001-07:00

JAS DEVAEL, Nathan pacheco and Laura Pausini JOIN roster

of ARTISTS to celebrate WITH juan gabriel

WHO: Performing artists include: David Bisbal, Franco De Vita, Jas Devael, Shaila Dúrcal, Luis Fonsi, India, Juanes, Nathan Pacheco, Laura Pausini, Playa Limbo, and La Quinta Estación. Venezuelan television show host Maite Delgado and Latin GRAMMY^® winner Enrique Iglesias will serve as the evening's hosts. Additional artists will be announced shortly.

WHAT: The 2009 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year "De Fiesta With Juan Gabriel" event will celebrate Juan Gabriel's philanthropic, cultural, and music accomplishments. He will receive the honor at a special dinner and concert. The 2009 Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year tribute dinner is one of the most prestigious events during Latin GRAMMYWeek and is attended by numerous Latin GRAMMY nominees, celebrities and entertainment industry VIPs.

WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-10-31T15:48:00.000-07:00

WATCH THIS SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY YANNI ON THE LUNAS DEL AUDITORIO AWARDS SHOW.
Originally posted by the Niki Nana Fan Club, it also has footage of the World Music Award presentation.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn0aOpcBWiA&feature=player_embedded

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-10-27T18:02:00.001-07:00

YANNI WILL BE ATTENDING AND PERFORMING AT THE "LAS LUNAS DEL AUDITORIO" AWARDS IN MEXICO CITY ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. YANNI VOICES ARE ALSO NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD IN THE WORLD MUSIC CATEGORY. THE SHOW WILL BE TELEVISED IN MEXICO, CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS.

Mexico City - Day of Show October 19, 2009

2009-10-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Auditorio Nacional - Mexico City!

Emotions are high as everyone prepares to perform for the residents of Mexico City. Soundcheck was great and everyone is in a fantastic mood.

Anna Stafford and Jim Mattos rehearsing.

Sarah O'Brian with her Cello.

Backstage with Charlie!

After Soundcheck everyone congregated at the coffee machine.

Outside the venue, dozens of vendors set up shop with their Yanni wares. Everyone came out at one point or another to check out the unique items for sale. We've never seen anything like it. It was fascinating! It was like a Yanni flea market.

Of course, we had the Niki Nana fan club there in full effect. Thank you for all of your support!

Here are our three guest artists: Cristian Castro, Lucero, and Jose Jose! They were kind enough to pose for this picture.

The audience was great and we're looking forward to the next two nights. Plus we have added an outdoor festival in Durango to the tour, which will be Saturday night the 24th.

Guadalajara to Mexico City - Travel Day October 18, 2009

2009-10-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

We say Goodbye to our beautiful hotel in Guadalajara and head to the airport. Cesar, Benedict, and Ender spend a few moments at the airport relaxing. Ender is sporting a hat given to him the night before from a fan.

MEXICO CITY!! The capital city of Mexico and one of the world's largest cities. It's rich history stands side by side with it's modernity. It is now the center of busines, culture and government for the country. It was once the center of the Aztec Empire. The Zocalo (the main plaza) is built on the same spot where Montezuma's palace (the last Aztec King before the Spanish conquest) once stood. Many of the old mansions and public buildings in the area were built hundreds of years ago using the stones from the Aztec temples that were destroyed by the Spaniards.

(Found this pic of the Cathedral on the web, not mine)

Our hotel is in the town of Polanco, an upscale residential and commercial district known for it's great restaurants and elegant boutiques. Believe it or not, there were two Starbucks within walking distance to the hotel! Every morning you could find quite a few members from Team Yanni there.

The view from the hotel window...

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Guadalajara - Day of Show October 17, 2009

2009-10-21T16:11:00.003-07:00

More great reviews! Here are just two headlines from Guadalara:

Yanni fills the Guadalara night with magic.

Read about it on www.informador.com.mx

Yanni performs with all of his heart.

The second night in Guadalajara lost none of its momentum. This was the first time Yanni has made a stop in Guadalajara and the audience was not shy about showing their appreciation. Our Mexico fans have been some of the most passionate I've ever seen.

Hasta El Ultimo Momento

Desire

I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce to you our Ladies of Wardrobe, Gina and Kita. These ladies make sure everyone on stage (and offstage) looks great. They do an amazing job and they keep everyone smiling with their sharp wit and all around fabulousness!

Gina with Leslie Mills

Kita

One of my favorite places to be backstage...

Chloe and Leslie's rolling wardrobe boxes.

After the show was quite lively backstage. Here's Ender videotaping me taking his picture for this blog for his video diary.

And here are our promoters from Freestyle Emotional Marketing with our four vocalists. They're a great team and have been a lot of fun to tour with. Thank you for everything!!!

Tomorrow we fly to Mexico City!! Auditorio Nacional here we come!!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

2009-10-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
YANNI CONCERT DATE ADDED OCTOBER 24, 2009 IN DURANGO, MEXICO - 8:30 PM PLAZA IV CENTENARIO AS PART OF THE REVUELTAS DE DURANGO FESTIVAL. ADMISSION IS FREE!!!

Guadalajara - Day of Show October 16, 2009

2009-10-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Guadalajara! Guadalajara!

You can't be in Guadalajara and not have the song playing in your head. If you're unfamiliar with the tune check it out on iTunes. My favorite is by Desi Arnaz, The Best of Desi Arnaz - The Mambo King. Guadalara is the capital city of the Mexican state of Jalisco with a population of 1,579,174, making it the second most populated city in Mexico (Wikipedia). It was founded in 1531 by the Spanish explorer Cristobal de Onate. The city has a rich variety of architectural styles, ranging from the baroque to the modern. I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to see the beautiful historic downtown district, but I did manage to take a picture of this arch on the way to the venue.

We arrived at the Auditorio Telmex at 4:30 pm. Here are some pics of the beautiful theater.

Here's the theater empty...

And here it is filling up...

I know many of you like to see behind the scenes pictures, so I took some at soundcheck and during the show.

Charlie Adams

Victor Espinola and his fabulous Paraguayan Harps

This is the vocalist's backstage table where they can place things that they need easy access to off the stage. Each little lava lamp has their name on it. You can see everyone's bottle of water. Leslie has a cup of tea and Ender has his video camera next to his. If you haven't checked out his video tour diary on YouTube here's the link: Yanni Voices Mexico Tour Diary 2009

Nathan Pacheco reads a book on American History in his backstage dressing room between songs.

After the show many of us went to a nearby Mexican restaurant named Santo Coyote. Although most everyone was very low on sleep due to the long bus ride the night before, everyone got their second wind, largely due to the great food and the fantastic Mariachi Band. To everyone's delight Ann Marie Calhoun, Samvel Yervinyan, and Jason Carder all took turns playing along with the Mariachi Band. It truly was a blast!

Another show tomorrow and then we're off to Mexico City for three shows at the Auditorio Nacional on October 19-21, 2009.

Leon - Day of Show October 15, 2009

2009-10-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

The Poliforum Leon was packed for Yanni's first performance in Leon and the thundering applause as he took the stage made the house shake. The crowd sang along to all of the songs in Spanish and cheered enthusiastically for everyone on stage. It was truly one of the best audiences ever!

The Venue

The front of house, notice the spotlights on the top of that scaffolding...

Sasha practicing backstage...

Fortunately, the stage set-up made it very accessible for close-up shots of the Voices. Here they are...

Nathan

Leslie

Ender

Chloe

Chloe bringing the house to its feet with Niki Nana...

Immediately after the show we climbed on the bus and headed to Guadalajara, approximately 150 miles away. But first, some of the vocalists and orchestra stopped to sign the Niki Nana Fan Club banner.

We have two shows in Guadalaja, Jalisco October 16 and 17, 2009 then three shows at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City October 19-21, 2009. Hope to see you there!

Monterrey to Leon - Travel Day October 14, 2009

2009-10-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

The reviews are in this morning and Yanni is a hit in Monterrey! The headlines read “A Show without Egos” (El Milenio) and “An Exciting Evening” (El Norte). Both papers gave the Yanni Voices Concert rave reviews. Although most of the orchestra and staff couldn’t speak the language, they still flocked to the airport newsstand to pick up their copies. Of course this was after they had all visited the Starbucks for their all too familiar lattes. For those of you who can read Spanish or just want to look at the pictures, here is the link to the article on the web.

http://www.milenio.com/node/302913

El Norte

El Milenio

A Familiar Sight at the Monterrey Airport

We boarded the charter plane at 2:00 pm and took off to Leon, Guanajuato. It’s great to be on a plane where you know all of the passengers. Here are some pics taken by Gary Westcott.

You can see the plane reflected in the windows...

Somewhere between Monterrey and Leon from the air.

We arrived an hour later and made it to the hotel in time to drop off our bags and a group of us left right away to the leather district. The city of Leon is located in Central Mexico and boasts the largest trading area in the world for leather and shoes. The hotel recommended a place called “Plaza de Zapatos” or “Shoe Plaza” and that’s exactly what it was, a mall of shoe stores. Boots were on most everyone’s list and that’s exactly what they bought. Apparently the “Plaza de Zapatos” was only the tip of the iceberg as far as leather shopping, but, unfortunately, our time was limited.

Boots anyone?

Most everyone made it an early night. Starting tomorrow night we have three shows in a row. One in Leon at the Poliforum Leon, then two in Guadalajara on October 16 and 17^th at the Auditorio Telmex.

Monterrey - Day of Show October 13, 2009

2009-10-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

There has been lots of activity today. Although the weather was rainy and a bit gloomy, spirits were still high from the great Puebla audience reaction. Some of us went early to do a little shopping at the mall (we can always find places to shop!) across the street from the hotel while others relaxed for the day at the hotel. We again climbed aboard the vans at 4:00 pm and headed to the venue.

We are back in Arena Monterrey located in Parque Fundidora (Foundry Park). The Park is a living example of Monterrey’s industrial history and the first to develop the concept of an urban public park in northern Mexico. The park’s 350 acres are packed full of facilities for sport, the arts, and entertainment. There is the mile-and-a-half Santa Lucia Riverwalk that winds through the whole park if you want to take a stroll or a boat ride to see all of the sights the park has to offer.

Parque Fundidora

Back to Arena Monterrey! Yanni had a special guest before the show. Her name is Andrea Montesinos, a Olympic hopeful figure skater from Monterrey. Her father produced a video of Andrea competing in her figure skating championships. She always skates to Yanni’s music in her competitions and has won 4 Gold Medals already. Here are a couple of pictures from the meeting and the link to her YouTube Video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLuu-s_0Tb4

Mucho Gusto! (Pleased to meet you!)

Andrea's State Championship Gold Medal

The arena quickly filled as soon as the doors opened at 8:00 pm. Here are two young members of the Niki Nana Fan Club in Mexico. They are big fans of Yanni and play his music everyday while they do their homework.

It is estimated that about 10,000 people attended the concert and they definitely showed their appreciation to Yanni and all of the performers on the stage. Here are a few concert shots from before and during the show from Monterrey.

The Arena before the show...

Yoel doing his thing!

The Storm!

Our next stop is Leon, Guanajuato. We’ll be playing at the Poliforum Leon on October 15, 2009.

Puebla to Monterrey - Travel Day October 12, 2009

2009-10-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

As we bid a fond farewell to Puebla we look forward to another great show in Monterrey. We traveled by plane from Puebla to Monterrey. Here are a few candid shots of the orchestra at the airport.

Can you imagine sitting in an airport waiting for your flight and suddenly you hear Ender Thomas and Victor Espinola singing “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder? Wow!

A very excited fan at the airport asks Chloe for an autograph.

Samvel enjoying his cup of coffee.

Also, for those of you who are curious about the orchestra members touring with Yanni in Mexico, here they are:

Charlie Adams – Drums

Briana Bandy – Viola

Ann Marie Calhoun – Violin

Jason Carder – Trumpet

Yoel Del Sol – Percussion

Victor Espinola – Harp

Benedict Fischer – Violin

Ming Freeman – Keyboards

Cesar Lemos – Guitar

Jim Mattos – French Horn

Sarah O'Brien – Cello

Anna Stafford – Violin

Dana Teboe – Trombone

Gabriel Vivas – Bass

Erika Walczak – Violin

Samvel Yervinyan – Violin

Alexander Zhiroff - Cello

Puebla - Day of Show October 11, 2009

2009-10-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

It’s been an incredible day. The orchestra and staff had the rare treat of having the afternoon free before the show, so many went into town to do a little sightseeing. The weather was perfect at a temperate 75 degrees. Sarah O’Brien and Ann Marie Calhoun were spotted by a couple of fans as they ate lunch in the main plaza. The fans asked for an autograph and let them know how excited they were about attending the show later that evening.

At 4:00 pm we piled into three vans that transported us to the venue. The energy was high in anticipation of the first show. Many snuck outside the venue to take a peak at one of the many wonders of Puebla, an active volcano while others practiced in their dressing rooms. The doors opened at 7:45 pm and the Auditorio Siglo XXI quickly filled with fans who could not wait to see Yanni for his first performance in Puebla. As the orchestra members came onstage to take their places the crowd starting cheering, however, they roared when the music started and Yanni came out and started the show with Santorini. There was another deafening roar when Ender Thomas took to the stage and the familiar notes of Desire began. The audience was loving and wildly enthusiastic right to end. So much so that when the house lights came on after the encore they continued chanting Yanni! Yanni! The very humbled Yanni had no choice but to come out and do another encore. Because they had already performed every song on their set list Yanni delivered an encore of Desire to fulfill his audience’s desire for more. It was the perfect finish and a great start of his Mexican Tour. Next stop, Monterrey at the Arena Monterrey on Tuesday, October 13^th.

Puebla - Rehearsal Day October 10, 2009

2009-10-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

We’re back on the road again and thrilled to be starting our tour in the city of Puebla, Mexico at the Auditorio Siglo XXI. After a three-month hiatus it was a happy reunion, with lots of hugs and catching up and also a few new faces to meet and get to know. The first rehearsal went smoothly and finished much quicker than expected which gave us all a chance to go back to the hotel and experience some of the delicious local cuisine.

Sarah O'Brien, new face Briana Bandy, and Anna Stafford...

Gabriel Vivas, Charlie Adams, and Ming Freeman waiting for Rehearsals to begin!

Let the Rehearsals Begin!

After meeting a number of proud residents, I’ve learned a few interesting facts about Puebla; it is one of the oldest colonial cities on the continent having been established in 1531 as “La Puebla de los Angeles”, it is the birthplace of the delicious chocolate spicy sauce called “Mole” (pronounced Moleh) that I love on top of chicken enchiladas, and it was because of the defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 that we all celebrate Cinco de Mayo. The city is steeped in a rich history and culture with it’s Cathedral at the center and beautiful Spanish Colonial architecture all around. Being here makes me even more excited to visit the rest of the cities on the tour. We’ll be in Monterrey on Tuesday October 13; Leon Guanajuato on Thursday, October 15; Guadalajara on Friday and Saturday, October 16-17, and finally Mexico City for three nights at the Auditorio Nacional on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, October 19-21.

Puebla's Cathedral (really just a tiny part of it)

The Government Building.

Fountain in the middle of "El Zocalo" with the Cathedral behind it.

La Capilla del Rosario

Everyone is excited about the first show; we’re all well rested and are acclimating to the high altitude (over 7,000 feet!). It’s going to be a full house so the energy will be high and you couldn’t ask for a better way to start off a tour. Viva Mexico!