PART FOUR: "Grab Your Things, I've Come To Take You To The Hotel"
(or, "The Writing Stands Out On The Flat, So Clearly On The Flat".)

Well, to recap, when we talked last in Part Three, Gabriel had just accepted his Creative Genius Prize from Robert Lepage amid enthusiastic applause from all of us in the intimate venue. To further illustrate this, here is a picture of the prize itself, which was featured outside the auditorium. (see photo)

The award.

In case you can't make it out, it has the names of the fourteen honorees engraved on it, and they're all connected by jagged lines that look somewhat like spider webs. There were T-shirts available in the lobby with this design on the front, and the back just shows the connecting lines without the names, which is still pretty great!

Anyway, gather round all, and we'll finish the story, alright? Remember where we were? It was right after the Hommage, and we had just started to leave the auditorium. We easily got hooked up again with Ian and Charlotte, and Sharkbait and Tim. We kept our eyes open in there for RP and Celine, and Claire too, wondering if they had been able to persuade someone to let them in or had successfully bought their way in, but no dice.

After standing in the lobby for a few minutes comparing reactions to the presentation, and excitedly discussing the fact, that yes indeedy! We really HAD just seen Gabriel perform. I don't think that any of us could really believe what had happened, truth be told. We were getting ready to say our goodbyes.

However, not wanting the evening to end, and being the Queen Of The Chatroom and a true, but closet, party girl at heart, I invited all of them back to our hotel for drinks (and yes, I was secretly hoping that Mr.Gabriel might show up at some point). Although Ian and Charlotte were, sadly, unable to come, Tracey and Tim eagerly agreed. Wooohooooo, alright! Another great PG adventure, here we come!

We walked out of the Liberty Grand looking for RP, Celine and Claire, and luckily found them quickly. Of course they wanted to know everything about the evening and we told as much as we could before getting a cab back to the hotel. It turns out, though, that their evening hadn't been a total loss. They had had the great pleasure of seeing Gabriel arrive at the venue in his limo and were able to take some good shots of him.

At that point before cocktails and dinner Celine had requested an autograph, and Gabriel had to politely decline, saying that he was already late (yeah, by about ten years!) and just couldn't do it then. Of course Celine was disappointed, but she had gotten to talk to him, and just several hours later, although she didn't know it then, she would get another chance at getting an autograph.

The cab ride back to the hotel was uneventful, thank God. This cabbie must have been on Valium-he didn't speed, he knew exactly where he was going, he seemed to take great interest in our PG enthusiasm which had leaked out all over his cab, and the best part was that we were never in danger of maiming or killing anyone! We all quickly staked out a claim on a good table that had a perfect view of that now infamous revolving door. Strangely though, we didn't consciously do this with the intention of waiting for PG to appear----we were just a group of friends who were delighted to be spending time with one another after a great experience, talking, and drinking good beer!

We asked a passerby to take a picture of all of us then, and this is the result (from left to right: Joe, me, Celine, RP, Claire, Tracey, and Tim).

The Magnificent Seven

We were all taking turns relating the experience at the Liberty Grand to Rene-Phillipe, Celine, and Claire, when Joe had an idea, excused himself, and disappeared upstairs for about ten minutes. I had no clue what he was going to do, and when he came back to the lobby all I could do was laugh and shake my head. In his arms he had a pile of So flats that we had brought with us to Toronto, just in case, you know.we needed something for mass autographing?! He handed each of our wonderful Gabriel friends a flat, and that was met with great appreciation from all. I guess the errant eBay purchase had proven to come in handy, even if it was only to elicit beaming smiles from our NG friends!

Several rounds of drinks were purchased (Celine, you owe me a Guiness at Womad Reading---Summer 2002!) and the lively conversation continued, each one of us clutching his Precious Picture Of Peter for dear life. At one point a group of people noticed us sitting there, all holding the So flats, and wandered over apparently to satisfy their growing curiosity. The conversation went something like this:

Interested Hotel Patrons: "Hey, isn't that that Peter Gabriel guy?"
Us: "UH HUH!"
IHPs: "Did you guys just come from a concert or something?"
Us: "We WISH!" (followed by heavy sighs all around)
IHPs: "Oh, wait, there was that hommage thing tonight, wasn't there?"
Us: "OH, YES!"
IHPs now appearing to be slightly concerned by our level of vigor (and no, I
wasn't scribbling notes with the blue Gabesabre at the time!): "Uh,
yeah..ok, well, have fun!"
Us: "We WILL! THANKS!"
One Female IHP Lagging Behind The Others (suddenly looking and sounding
pitifully wistful): "I used to have that album, So. (Sigh) That was one
great album. (Even Bigger Sigh) I'll have to dig that out tonight and take
another listen."

A collective nodding of heads and a "Guess Our Work Is Done Here" look passed among us, and we eagerly wished her a good evening.

After this brief but satisfying interlude, and while we were gazing lovingly at the 7 Perfect Pictures Of Our Peter arranged in a lovely circle around the cocktail table, Joe again treated us to his special brand of matter-of-factness. Once more, he uttered the words that I had heard previously that afternoon: "There he is." Well, I have to tell you that I thought I had moved quickly that afternoon, but you should have seen RP fly to that revolving door. In fact, I'd have to say that I suspect he actually sprouted wings at that moment.

The rest of us were a bit stunned at his speed, and were still actually trying to put two and two together from what Joe had said, but all at once we understood what was happening. Here is the best record of that moment that we were able to get---damn cameras! (see picture) What you see here is Gabriel entering through the revolving door, and Rene-Phillipe's back (in the blue shirt) as he approached.

I remember seeing Rene-Phillipe go up the two stairs to the lobby area without a word to the rest of us, and then I saw him talking to someone. I was wondering, "Who is he talking to, and why did he leave so quickly carrying the flat and a pen?" Uhhhh.light bulb! At that exact moment, we kicked into high gear with the realization that it was GABRIEL to whom RP was talking, that lucky bastard! Well, we'd see about that, wouldn't we?!

I remember having a really hard time right then with the cast and my gown, and having to gather it up as I hobbled up those two steps, but strangely, we all made a solemn pilgrimage over to RP and PG, very slowly and calmly, with our So flats in tow. What in the hell Gabriel must have thought seeing seven flats of himself coming at him, I'll never know! No doubt in all his years as a respected musician, singer, composer/producer, etc. he's seen this type of thing before, but just think about it for a second. A group of people comes up to you carrying large pictures of you! Wouldn't that freak you out just a bit?! And what the hell are you supposed to do with all those pictures of yourself? Well, if it bothered him at all, he certainly gave no indication. Always gracious.

Anyway, by that time, RP was already having a conversation with our hero. In fact, I remember his words to Gabriel being, "And could you personalize it to Rene-Phillipe, please?" and seeing him handing PG a felt tipped pen. PG stopped then and began to sign RP's flat. I was directly in front of Gabriel to his right hand and we all waited very patiently and silently for him to finish Rene-Phillipe's autograph. When he was done with RP's autograph, he realized, obviously, that there was a lot more autographing to do.

Although I ended up being the closest to him, (Hmmmm! How could that have happened? Oh, and Tracey, I am SO sorry 'bout knocking you flat to the ground like that..hehehe!) the others each handed their flats to him one by one, and he cheerfully acknowledged each and every one of them with a smile and a nod while signing the flats. None of the rest of us besides Rene-Phillipe had the where-with-all to request a personalization however. Where was the apparition of Jane Siberry when I needed her? DAMN!

Now, I can only imagine what everyone else was feeling at that point, but I have to say again, that we were all so quiet! We didn't intend to disrupt his evening in any way, but we all did certainly want the chance at yet another Golden Gabriel Moment for the evening, and who could blame us? You wouldn't blame us, would you? No, I thought not. :)

I had many thoughts swimming in my head at that point, and when I handed him my flat for autographing, I actually had the presence of mind to begin conversing. Whoa. However, I do have to rely somewhat on the reports of the others who were present as this was a truly big moment, and that's what friends are for, isn't it? I mean, come now! It was a Conversation With The God moment, and you can probably all identify with how you may have imagined your reaction to be if you ever would bump into Gabriel. "Babbling idiot" comes to mind, doesn't it? It wasn't that way, strangely. Truly! OK, dammit, you see right through me, don't you? Alright, I will admit this, and only this: my eyes were on his eyes, and that may have clouded recollection just a bit. But, bear with me as I know you will.

As he was autographing my flat, I realized that this, indeed, was one of those moments when I thought, "Hell, it's now or never, take the plunge!" So, calmly I started talking.

I started by addressing him as Mr. Gabriel, saying that, "I just wanted to thank you for bringing me together with so many wonderful people from around the world, initially through passion for your music." Gabriel was probably thinking, "Yes, heard this all before" but he did look up and smile encouragingly at the group of us.

I went on explaining to him that the group of us standing in front of him had met through contact on the internet and a Gabriel newsgroup. Well, that caused a definitive reaction: he looked up from the flat, (yes, there was eye contact there!) and said, "Oh.really? Where are you from?" EEEEEEEE! :)

Each member of the group followed that cue and raised his or her hand only at the elbow, not all the way vertically, gasping "Oooh! Oooh! Call on me!" as that would have been very pitiful, supplying the desired information: "Montreal!" (Rene-Phillipe), "Toronto!" (Tracey and Tim), "France!" (Celine and Claire), "the U.S.!" (Joe and me). Not to read too much into his facial expression, but he seemed to be fairly impressed with how spread out we were. I explained that we meet weekly for a chat and have regular chatters from many locations worldwide: the UK, all areas of the United States, Italy, France, Holland, and who knows where else! I told him that we were planning several more in person "get-togethers" with other members of the group, and we had all become like a family.

Now, I have to say that at this point a very devilish thought entered my mind, because who did I happen to notice standing and waiting politely about six feet behind Gabriel, and appearing to listen very intently to this conversation, but our good friend Robert Lepage? Hehehe!

A little background information on this subject may be helpful. In doing a news search for The Hill some months ago, I had come across several articles that gave information on "Zulu Time" which was a recent theatrical production between Mr. Lepage and Mr. Gabriel. It centered on all aspects of relationships and the difficulties that can arise in those relationships. Unfortunately, it was also set in an airport, and from what I've read there were some offhand references to terrorism.The entire production was then scrapped right before it was set to open, and rightly so, given the events of September 11, 2001 in the USA.

However, Lepage had also spouted his opinion in this article about the effects of the internet on personal relationships, saying, that the internet has created a unique type of distant relationship among people. Well, I'll certainly give him that---it is unique, and it can be distant.

His conclusion was that people were being drawn further and further apart by the internet in terms of intimacy and that one could form relationships with others via the internet but that they would not be truly intimate, as the writer is removed in some manner from his or her typewritten words.

All of that was essentially hogwash in my opinion given my personal experiences, but unfortunately he also went a bit further in this article saying that we have become a "society of wankers" who actually prefer cyberspace intimacy over physical contact to be satisfied, if you know what I mean --not being familiar with the term "wanker", I just had to get the gist of this, as at the time I had no clue what a wanker was (but now I do:) (1)

So, knowing all this, and remember we have just talked to Gabriel about the internet bringing us all closer together, and I am well aware that Mr. "Everyone's A Wanker" Lepage is standing patiently behind PG by about six feet and appears to be listening earnestly I was faced with a dilemma. Should I turn to Lepage, stick out my tongue and say, "See? It can be really cool! Gabriel obviously thinks so! And absolutely no wanking involved! Na na na-na-na!" or should I just let it go and realize that our collective NG and chat experience has been so incredibly different from Lepage's theory, and so truly satisfying for us all? Well, friends, you'll be proud of me. I didn't say a single word to him, but I do know that he appeared to hear every word that was said during that interaction with PG, and perhaps that may be enough to change his opinion? Maybe someday I'll have a "My Work Is Done Here" look on my face? Hope so.

A fuzzy photo of Gabriel hugging Lepage

Anyway, all the autographs were completed, we bid Mr. G. a good evening and we all very respectfully turned and quietly went down the two stairs back to the cocktail table. None of us were breathing at that point, or saying anything at all, just sort of staring at one another wild-eyed. Then something really exciting happened. Instead of going to the elevator and heading upstairs with Lepage, Gabriel walked down the stairs past our group to talk to some of his people who were at the bar.

I was the only one who had her back turned to him, and I watched the eyes of all the others, moving in unison, keeping track of PG's every movement. It was a little freaky, actually. Every few seconds I would whisper, "What's he doing now?" and start to try to look, and they would all hiss, "Don't look!" Then we all started talking about how great it would be if he were to just plop right down in one of those chairs behind me. We quietly entertained the thought that if that were to happen, we would send him a drink from the "Internet Friends" and when he turned and smiled to thank us, we would casually smile back and wave lovingly.

Unfortunately, dreaming about that "sending PG a drink" part of the evening was fruitless, as after several minutes of talking to the people at the table, he turned and went, presumably, up to his room. Well, you can't win 'em all, can you? :) I think at that moment, however, we were all a bit overcome by this entire experience, and being the type of person who thrives on symbolism, I asked each of them to hold hands with the person next to them. They quickly and gladly obliged me, and as we sat in the circle with clasped hands, Lovely SIGNED Peter Pictures next to each one of us, (see photo of the flat I had autographed: this is going to Polecat (Tony) and Linz, our dear friends from the chat and the NG, as an acknowledgement of their absence at the event) and I asked them to close their eyes with me, and take a very deep, and very long breath. AHHHHHHHHH! When we all opened our eyes, we raised our clasped hands in the air and smiled at one another. A Gabriel Bonding Moment! Wow, great feeling, that was!

Attention Forgerers!: Gabriel's signature

Realizing that Mr. Gabriel was indeed, gone, we started excitedly discussing what has just occurred, and how phenomenal that all was. Rene-Phillipe was teased mercilessly about being the first one up there, and the thing that sticks in my head about that is that RP kept looking lovingly at his Personalized PG Autograph, mumbling over and over, "And he even spelled it right..wow. He even spelled it right, I didn't tell him how to spell it..and wow--look! He even spelled it right. Wow." :) RP also then related that when he had gotten back to the cocktail table (again before the rest of us-----see? WINGS!) he had actually tried to sit down and had instead somehow dropped to his knees on the floor in his ecstasy.

Several of the Internet Group of Friends commented that it was very special that I had conversed with Gabriel the way I did, and complimented me enthusiastically on how composed I was during that interaction! They also made a point of saying that what I had said about the internet had really "stopped Gabriel in his tracks" and he appeared to take a genuine interest. It really was real, wasn't it? Yep! And I have witnesses!

Then Claire had an epiphany. All at once she got a frightening glazed-over look on her face and asked, "Uh, was that Robert Lepage standing behind him?" to which we all replied, "yes" and I thought she was going to faint dead away. All she could do then was mumble repeatedly, "I'm his biggest fan and all I could do was say, 'France!'" She accompanied this admission with a demonstration of her hand raised at the elbow, and kept saying, "All I could say was 'France!'" and raising the hand up and down. Over and over and over and over. She did this many times until we patted her hand and told her just to stop it. Pretty sad, actually. :)

After consoling Claire the very best way we could (we bought her another drink), we thought that we should somehow get documentation of the fact that we all had gotten signed So flats. Well, that was quite an experience. For some reason (can't remember why?) Tracey and Tim took this picture so they're not in it, but as you can see, in our collective enthusiasm, we picked up a couple more (albeit odd) members for the group. None of us had any idea who they were, but hell, if they're going to help us celebrate our Collective Golden Gabriel Moment, then more power to them. See photo, left to right, back row: Joe, me, Celine, Claire, Rene-Phillipe, some smiley lady, a smiley man, another smiley man. Front Row: two really drunk odd guys, also smiling, and giving that really cool 'thumbs up' sign. Uh yeah.

The gang, plus a bunch of weird dudes.

Anyway! After the picture taking concluded, we all sat down again at the cocktail table to have one more "Golden Gabriel Beverage" together, and prepared to say goodnight to one another for the evening. Just then, a very, very scary thing happened. In his enthusiasm, RP accidently set his glass of vodka ON TOP OF------YES, RIGHT ON TOP OF------his Personalized PG Autograph written in felt tipped marker. When we all realized what had happened, we indulged in a Collective Group GASP! Holy shit, you have never seen seven people panic simultaneously and in as frenzied a manner as we all did! Immediately RP got conflicting advice: "Just leave it alone, it won't smear!" "No, dab at it a bit with your napkin!" "Just set it down and let it dry, it will be fine!" "Blow on it!" "Pray a holy hell of a lot!" "Drop to your knees again!" I know that you will all relate completely to the uncontrolled frenzy of concern for RP and his Personalized PG Autograph! :)

In the end, it was all OK. If I remember right he just left it alone and it eventually dried without running or streaking in any way, which pleased us all greatly. Lucky Bastard of The Night, that RP was!

As with all good things, this night eventually had to end, didn't it? Tim had the valet parking guy pull his car up, and being very proud of his kick-ass stereo system, he treated us all to a phenomenally loud and bass-concentrated 'Digging In The Dirt' while we all listened outside the revolving door. Very cool. It was really loud: wonder if PG could hear it from the top of the tower or not? Geez, first people coming at him with pictures of himself, and next thing you know he's serenaded by one of his songs from the parking garage! What next?

Anyway, everyone eventually went back to his collective domicile, but RP and Celine and Joe and I had made plans to meet for lunch the next day, which was a wonderful time. We went to a French restaurant that Celine had picked out of the phone book (see picture of the outside of the restaurant) and it was absolutely glorious, yes it was! The best part was, of course, the conversation among four die-hard PG fans, the wonderful food, (including a fantastic chocolate pate that Celine and I had! YUM!) and the making of future plans to connect with one another.

Celine, RP, and the Place they et at.

BTW, we're all planning to go together to Womad Reading, Summer 2002. (Celine, don't forget, you owe me that Guinness!) :) All of you reading this are certainly welcome to join us.Polecat and Linz have kindly agreed to be our hosts! :)

This Fourth Part that you're reading indeed ends the continuing saga of my experiences at the Peter Gabriel Hommage in Toronto in October. If you'll indulge me, I'd like to close this piece by making several points which I consider to be important. Hope you find them to be so as well:

1. I hope that you've all enjoyed the recount of this experience as I lived through it. It was one of the best couple of days of my life, meeting new friends in person for the first time, and actually seeing PG perform as well as having several instances of direct contact with him. Can't beat that with a stick, can you? :)

2. I want to tell all of you that I meant every single word I said to Gabriel as we were talking regarding how important all of the members of this group have become to me. Anyone who has stuck around really late on the Sunday night chats probably has come up against my "I'll lavish each and every one of you with adoring praise in observation of your unique talents and characteristics" ceremony, but I want to take some time to publicly acknowledge all those people I was silently representing when I spoke to Gabriel: Mac Cat, Polecat, Linz, Polo, Miss North, Intruder, Marcella and Baby Gabriel, Stickgirl, Slubberdegullion, Sledgehammer (Phil), Raheeb, Arthur, Elendil, Sharkbait, Tim, Ian, Charlotte, Tom, Broad Band, Blur, Laurie, Sciz, Celine and Rene-Phillipe, and Andrea W, and all the people who have decided to cross over from either the "old room" or AMG--and if I have forgotten anyone, I am truly sorry, but you are all there in my heart each and every week, and I know you know it.

We held our first organized PG chat on May 6, 2001, and I have to say that you all have become like a family to me in that short amount of time. We started out by being drawn together by Peter Gabriel's music, certainly, but since then, we've become a support system of sorts. Some of us have been ill, some have had money troubles, or business troubles, or school troubles, or personal issues with children or marriages, or whatever. We have an incredibly diverse group here: the youngest is 17, I believe (Tom, with Miss North and Sciz following close behind) and I believe the oldest to be in his late 30s (Intruder? Broad Band?) or perhaps her early 40s, (Linz) right? You know who you are) :) We are at very different points in our lives educationally, socially, occupationally, financially, and experientially, and yet we love to converse with one another, and learn from each other. Oh my, do we learn from each other!

Just as an aside: yesterday was Thanksgiving in the U.S. and I want you all to know that I said a prayer of thankfulness for each and every one of you. To God, and To Peter. Hmmm. Maybe that's the same thing, really? :)

3. Last, but by far, not least, I want to thank our esteemed hostess, Ms. Mac Cat. Mac, you don't know what it has meant to me for you to post what I've written on your incredible site. Many a night has gone by that I have wondered if I really could write something worthy at all of posting on The Hill. I have such a deep and abiding respect for you, your dedication, your humor, your writing style, and all your hard work, being the webmistress of truly the only current and actively updating Gabriel fan site that there is in existence. You, my dear, are absolutely awesome. No doubt. Happy now? Just stop hitting me with that damn whip! :) Love you, Mac.

4. OK, I know I said last before, but this time I really mean it. Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the object of our collective affection, Mr. Gabriel. Maybe you're reading this (recent evidence indicates that perhaps you are, or you may just be getting reports from BIG people, no matter really) I am not sure that you could possibly fully realize the impact that you have on your listeners. There isn't a word that you've written in all your years as a musician and composer that hasn't deeply touched one of us at some point in our lives. We have such great respect and admiration for you, and I'd like to speak for all of us (Group, you'll let me do that, right? Hope so..) when I say that we are yearning for UP (in fact, we're all planning to take the day off work when it is released just to listen over and over and over, you know.wow..a collective slow-down of the world economy!) and will appreciate it greatly when it is in our hot little hands, finally. You are amazing, and we love you. We sincerely appreciate your efforts. (Please, release UP, please?) I sincerely thank you for all you have brought to my life. It has meant the world to me.

Respectfully submitted,
Kari Pacer

(1) Editor's note: Lepage also said that technology has created a "necrophilac culture" which, as an insult to technophiles that we find particularly harsh and digusting. (back)