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THE TOUR
Between 1981 and 1984, Celine Dion toured the province of Quebec, Canada to promote her albums and to help establish herself as a stage artist. However, her first real own concert tour, was organised in 1985.
...> About The Tour
The performances and concerts of that period are known under the name "Les Chemins de Ma Maison Tournée" (meaning "Les Chemins de Ma Maison Tour"), due to Celine´s album titled "Les Chemins De Ma Maison". Although the album wasn´t released until September 7, 1983 so this "tour" features the early live performances and promotional tours of Celine before the release of "Les Chemins De Ma Maison" and before the real tour, organised in 1985. Between 1981 and 1982, Celine toured Quebec´s mall and shopping centres. In 1982, she sang in front of her first large audience (about 9000 people) at the Forum de Montréal (for a charity organised by Quebecair). In 1983, Celine performed for the first time in France at the MIDEM. In May, she sang with Montréal´s symphonic orchestra for a charity event at Montreal´s Place des Arts. During the summer, she was hired to sing live during sports events (Lac Saint-Jean and 45,000 people at Lac des Dauphins). Celine also performed at various festivals. Celine reached Rimouski and Chicoutimi, among other cities in the province of Quebec, Canada. In 1984, she gave concerts at Montreal and Quebec´s Vieux Ports. On July 28-29, Celine performed at the Vieux Port of Quebec City in front of about 40,000 people. That year, she also sang at Montreal´s Stade Olympique in front of the Pope. In October, Celine did her first tour in France as opening act for French comedian and singer, Patrick Sebastien. There, she performed in Moulins, Mâcon, Annecy, Anger, Chartres and Corbeil. Later, between November 6 - December 9, 1984, Celine was also the opening act for him at the Paris Olympia in Paris, France. At that time, she earned "only" 3500 French Francs per show. In reference to some of the concerts of this period Celine has said "less than a year after appearing on Michel Jasmin´s show, I already had two albums out and was working on a third. I´d been on television about a dozen times. And I went on tour with the strangest show I´d ever been part of in all my life, almost a circus act. A bunch of artists were in the show, all a lot older than me. There was Plastic Bertrand, a semi-punk rocker who was really outrageous, a real scream, and Nanette Workman, a super rock performer. They all had a lot of stage experience and knew how to stir up the crowd. My little rosewater ballads were at the opposite end of the spectrum from what they were doing. In other words, I was kind of out of place. My two albums had been selling well, but certainly not to the audience attracted by this tour" (extract from the book "My Story, My Dream").
...> Broadcasts And Recordings
A TV special named "Les Chemins De Ma Maison" was shown in 1984 in Quebec, Canada. On this TV special, Celine is shown during a promotional tour across the province of Quebec. It included performances of the following songs: "Mon ami m´a quittée", "Toi sur ta montagne", "Vivre et donner", "D´amour ou d´amitié". There is also another TV special named "Sur Le Chemins De Ma Maison" showing performances of the following songs: "Le chemins de ma maison", "Mamy Blue", "Ne me plaignez pas", "Du soleil au cœur" and "Et puis un jour".
...> The Concerts In Paris
The door to Paris, France was wide open for Celine´s carreer in 1984, and her manager Rene Angelil, finally opted for her to appear in the first half of the show put on by the comedian and singer Patrick Sébastien at the Paris Olympia. Accompanied by her mother Thérèse Tanguay, as usual, Celine was to spent two months in France.
"They offered to present her as the main star in Paris, but we don´t want to move too fast and harm her career". Angelil explained to the journalists. "It´s important to move forward one step at a time to avoid burnout from early on. To tell you the truth, we were offered a lot of money for a solo show or with some major stars, but money isn´t all that´s important". Angelil knew very well that the fans of Johnny Halliday or julien Clerc would be impatient to see their idol, actually going so far as to demand his appearance during the warm-up part of the show, utterly disregarding the artist on stage. Rene would never have stood for such a humiliation. Patrick Sébastien wasn´t a barn-burner and wouldn´t arouse such fan frenzy. As for Celine, she acquitted herself very well throughout her Paris engagement as she patiently mastered her trade. Still, it wasn´t a decisive event. It couldn´t really be called a failure, but it didn´t make her a star in France. Yet a lot had been staked on it. Rene tried to play it down, speaking of a "necessary stage in her career", of an "introduction to the French stage", but actually it didn´t go down as well with the transatlantic cousins as had been hoped. During these concerts Celine popularized such songs as "D´amour ou d´amitié" and "Mon rêve de toujours". These concerts at the Paris Olympia were a great promotion tool after all. Every French singer dreams of performing at the Olympia. Although it was just for an oppening act, it gave Celine large exposure and Rene hoped it would be enough to say on the track of the success initiated by the "D´amour ou d´amitié" hit single the year before.
...> On Backstage
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