Almost 5 years after I last saw him, my mom and I had the most incredible experience at a Pasquale Esposito concert at Casa Italia's "Holy Hill" on July 9th. The venue was beautiful, Pasquale's band was fantastic, and Pasquale was magnificent both on and offstage.
After dad dropped us off in the parking lot at Casa Italia and headed off to the hotel until we let him know we were ready to leave, mom and I made our way to the area around Holy Hill before finding the ticket table, where I showed them the PDF file that I had on my phone. Even though we sat one space away from our actual seat numbers, we were seated in the 7th and final row with about 110 more people around us. While the opening act was blowing us away with his singing, I felt someone's hands on my shoulders before turning around and gasping when I saw Samira (Pasquale's wife/manager) standing behind me, and I think I squealed a little as we hugged before I showed her my collection of fan art that I brought in a frame. After telling me that Pasquale was so happy when he heard I was coming, we planned to talk more after the show before I went back to watching the opening act, but I couldn't stop giggling at the interaction I just had.
The concert was absolutely amazing, with Pasquale telling us the story of his journey to America from Italy, as well as goofing around several times. From comparing the lack of freedom with a long-corded microphone with a dog on a chain before panting like said dog to doing a one-person kickline when his band started playing "New York, New York" (causing us all to laugh when he said he should stop before destroying his "pantaloni", the Italian word for pants), Pasquale was even sillier than he was at Andiamo in 2017! Since the band was at the top platform of the hill and Pasquale sang while going up and down the stairs (in sneakers, I might add), there was a point in the show when Pasquale wondered if his band was alright before starting to make his way up the stairs, to which his pianist started playing a snippet of "March of the Gladiators" before everyone laughed.
It was really dark out by the time the concert was done, so other people in the crowd mostly had to rely on cell phone flashlights (either theirs or other people's phones) to get to the CD/DVD table or their cars, the former was being run by Samira while Pasquale greeted others. There was also an extremely bright spotlight nearby to help people see the table, where Samira showed us a cool trick for taking pictures at night: while holding someone else's phone for taking pictures of them with Pasquale, she held her own phone with the flashlight on to avoid using flash on the first phone! While buying a DVD and CD from the table, I happened to look up past Samira and spotted Pasquale talking to a few other people, and we made eye contact before I giggled as he smiled at me. He looked so happy like Samira said he would be, and I couldn't wait to show him the fan art that I had with me, especially since I had a big surprise for him.
Due to taking a lot of pictures (albeit most of them blurry because we were in the last row), my phone was running low on battery so much that I stopped using it when it was in the 30 percent area, and I even put my phone into my purse so I wouldn't use it until I was with Pasquale. Well, that moment happened not too long after I put my phone away, because Pasquale had just come back from talking with some other people when the two of us made eye contact again. I think I barely got the word "Maestro" out of my mouth before he flung out his arms and said "hug" while holding out the middle part, and we were exchanging our first hug that night when mom took a picture with her phone. While we were hugging, Pasquale surprised me by thanking me for inviting him to my graduation and apologizing for not being able to come, but I forgave him with a giggle before saying that I wanted to present something to him.
As mom got her phone's camera rolling on video mode, I presented Pasquale with two small pieces of fan art that I had made since the last time I saw him, and I held the frame close to me as I introduced my last piece: a picture of his entire family based on a photo he had posted in 2020. Everyone (other than my mom and Samira, the latter knew about the picture since I sent her a picture of the rough draft and asked her to not tell Pasquale about it) was impressed at my masterpiece before I told Pasquale he could keep all three pieces and the frame, after which he told me that he would keep the art in his recording studio. He then looked up and noticed my necklace, a chain with letter beads spelling his name with a dangling flower bead between his first and last name that I made in 2015, before he talked about how much he appreciated my nonstop support ever since I first heard of him. His words were making me blush and feel like crying a little, but what was before he – seeing how my mother was still recording – said "This is a movie that's going to be 3 or 4 hours..." before we all burst out laughing, after which I told mom to stop taping. We had a few more hugs before he and Samira wished us well, and after we got a golf cart ride to the main parking lot of Casa Italia, mom and I reunited with dad before we rode off to the hotel.
Thank you, Maestro, for another concert that is number one on my list of best concerts in my life. You were just as incredible as when I first saw you live, and your playfulness and awesomeness shone through as much as your smile. I can't wait to see you again soon, and I will still be there for you.
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Pasquale and Me
Non-FictionA WIP collection of poems, narratives, and reviews of my friendship with Italian tenor Pasquale Esposito.
