Dean Kalaidjian has seen the Cowboys Fringants 262 times in “22.5 years.” Apparently he wouldn’t miss Tuesday night’s national tribute to Karl Tremblay at the Bell Center for the world.
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Along with several members of the Québécois Fringants, a group of Cowboys Fringants enthusiasts who have followed them throughout Quebec and into Europe over the past two decades, he will have a front-row witness to what he expects to be a farewell he will be full of emotions.
“We will cry together,” Dean Kalaidjian said during an interview with Le Journal, 24 hours before the big gathering at the Bell Center.
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On Monday, he took the day off to get tickets for those who couldn’t get a seat. He didn’t know if he would be absent from work on Tuesday, but one thing is certain: he will be at the Bell Center as soon as possible “to see the family of the dashing Quebecers.”
“The sooner we can get there, the quicker we will get there. Even if we have seats available, we won’t talk during the ceremony, so we’ll do it beforehand.”
Archive photo provided by Dean Kalaidjian
The sadness shows
Karl Tremblay’s departure is a double sadness for Cowboys Fringants fans. Not only will they lose the singer of their favorite group, a person they idolized, but they will also no longer be able to party during the group’s concerts.
“We will never have the fun we had for 20 years again. We won’t have those two, three or four hours of pure show pleasure anymore,” says Dean Kalaidjian, who firmly believed that Karl Tremblay would survive his cancer.
Dean Kalaidjian had the opportunity to dance on stage with his favorites. Archive photo provided by Dean Kalaidjian
“I am still optimistic and was 99.5% sure he would recover. When Marie-Annick said the treatments were no longer working, the world lost hope, but I had confidence because they continued to put on shows.
A heart of gold
A few hours before the ceremony, Dean Kalaidjian wanted to talk about the human qualities of the man he had met several times during his years with the Cowboys Fringants.
In 2005. Archive photo provided by Dean Kalaidjian
He remembers a violent accident when he was driving with friends towards Abitibi to attend a concert by the group. In one of the first cars to stop to help was…Karl Tremblay and the Cowboys.
“He gave someone his stockings because we were wet, they wanted to see if they could help us. He was so nice and friendly. “A heart of gold,” he boasts.
“He was so approachable and available to his audience. To me he was like Jean Béliveau.”