Close your eyes and let the music set you free.
The summer of 1991, a whole bunch of us from University were working in Old Orleans in Covent Garden, working to pay off our student debt… it was very Vanderpump…we literally made up the entire staff.
I wasn’t coordinated enough to carry all those plates up my arm… but put a smile on my face, stand at the door, sound charming and show people to their tables... a hostess I could do.
Our schedules were completely upside down... we worked until midnight, partied on tips till 4am, woke up around 2pm and came back to work around 4pm for a staff meal… to do it all over again.
The summer of Long Island Ice Tea.
We’d heard that Pavarotti was playing for free in Hyde Park.... thankfully it was a Tuesday afternoon so we could get our shifts covered and head over.
As usual the weather is never predictable, so we grabbed huge bin bags just in case and bottles of booze and headed over to join the throng.
When the music started, people put down their umbrellas so everyone could see... like typical polite Brits, everyone obliged without a fuss.
Pav was no bigger than my thumb from where we were standing, but it was incredible... when the drums crescendoed in Torna a Surriento, the rain came tumbling down… and the tears rolled down my face... I don't think I've ever been so moved by music, even to this day.
Of course when he sang, Nessun Dorma, the crowd magically erupted... not surprisingly years later it became the anthem for the World Cup.
The next day, the papers were full of pictures of Princess Diana’s wet hair... but I will always remember the beautiful moment when Pavarotti opened the heavens and made it rain.
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