On December 18th 2004 I really can say I had the best gig of my life!!! I know I say that often, and it’s like the story of the wolf … HELP HELP! At some point it’s normal if you don’t believe it anymore… But believe me!!! As I once said, it’s ok to say I had the best gig of my life, because it’s true until the next one.. So in a way it makes sense. But this time, with Iturnem In A Funky X-Mas! it’s a different story! Since the beginning of my career I’ve been saying there is no better place than home for me to play. I love Montreal, I love my fans here, I love the love I get in return when I play my music, I love the vibe, the city, everything! I even love it when it’s freezing outside, about 20 degrees below zero, because this is the charm of my city in winter time. In fact, when it’s so cold out, in the middle of December, the only thing you want to do on a Saturday night is to find a nice spot where there’s a good little party going on, rocking, jamming, where it’s full of happy people and where the vibe is so warm that you forget all about the relentless coldness of our winters… Well, this place was my party last Saturday. It was special, it was different. Ok, it’s true that it was “my” party, my first one ever, organized by Iturnem, but I must say that it was really different from any other party I have ever been to or have ever played for, and I am not saying this just because it was an Iturnem party! It was warm, it was Christmas, it was packed, it was hot, it was funky, it was happy, it was magic, it was just incredible!!! I gave all I had for this night. And not only that, but it was also in order to give even more since all profits were designed to go to the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. 2003 has not only been a difficult year for me in regards to work, with all those agents and managers thieves stealing from me and screwing me big time, and on top of that with so many mean people who had nothing else to do but be mean about it and bitching all the time, as if it was my fault… but I have also had very difficult times at home, having had to deal with Breast Cancer issues in my family, and many more things… People often forget that artists and public faces in general do also have their own life. That life goes on for everyone. People often forget that if you meet an artist in the street and if he doesn’t smile at you, chances are that he or she probably just got a speeding ticket, or just got in a fight with someone or maybe just found out about something bad that happened in his family or life… anything is possible! And people often forget that, and they expect those public faces to be 100% perfect all the time, to be nice to everyone all the time, as if those public faces didn’t have their own private life… I’ve gone out of 2003 with some strength to re-arrange my entire career, and I am happy that God gave me this strength and that it all went well, but I really could not control my loved ones health, and this, for me, is a much more important cause than money, career and anything in the likes. So I decided to do this party, give everything I had, and make everyone happy, for Christmas! I played for the fun of seeing people smile, for the pride of being able to give an amount of money to a very important cause, and nothing else. I had the BEST night ever! I can see how much fun people had, and I can see how parties like these are SO rare in this city, and I agree that we need more of them! And there will be, I can promise you that right away. I want to thank all the people who were there, and all the people who are so kind to be so open minded…….. You see… as of late, my music tastes are turning much more towards smoother sounds.. I do not feel like banging it anymore, and it’s not always easy because in some places that’s all I can do, because I have no choice, people actually don’t leave me any choice. And in a way it’s understandable, because they know me for one sound and that’s what they expect. But in Montreal too, they know me for one sound, although each time I play for my lovely Montreal crowd I give them a different taste of music. Especially when I play as Misstress Barbara VS Barbara Brown. Then it is TOTALLY different! And everytime I am SO surprised how open minded they are here, and it’s the best!! In the middle of the crowd, at the party, a guy stopped me while DJ Mini was playing (super opening performance by DJ Mini by the way!! As well as amazing visuals by VJ Pillow & Mademoiselle!!! Thanks guys!), and asked me “Who’s starting? Misstress Barbara or Barbara Brown?”. I look at him, and I calmly respond “When you have blue, and yellow, and you mix both together, you get neither blue, nor yellow… you get green!”. I smiled, and I walked away…. I hope this made sense for him, and that it makes sense for you too.. When I play as both MB & BB, something completely different happens than when I play as MB alone or BB alone. And it’s magic! It’s amazing!!! And I wish I had the freedom to do this more, all over the world! I played from midnight until 3 AM. This is the closing time for bars in Montreal. I didn’t want to do my night in an after-hours, because I wanted to have older people out at my night. All those people who love the music but who won’t go out in an after-hours because it starts way too late! I wanted to give people a nice Christmas party and have them be in bed at 4 AM at the most. I ended up closing the music at 3:35, after a few encores… I had such a great time. I didn’t stop smiling the whole time, I was amazed!!! I was totally amazed!! I really have no words to describe, but really… I want to thank you all for coming, for being there, for supporting the night, the concept, and my music! Thanks for your smiles, thanks for your screams, thanks for your thumbs up, thanks for your love! I want to wish you all a very Merry X-Mas, a funky one! 😉 I also want to wish you all the best for the new year, and I want to take this opportunity to wish to the music scene some great things, because right now the whole scene is in a very bad place, and I wish for it to get better, to change towards the best and to get intelligent again, groovy as it used to be, more meaningful and… worldwide! ITURNEM FOREVER! Barbara xxxx
