Montreal — November 15th, 2025.Following his recent performance at the Ocean Theater in New York, Gianni Bodo’s return to Montreal felt like a sort of homecoming — and opening for Nek at the Rialto Theatre proved to be far more than just another show.

There was electricity in the air long before the music started: the backstage rush, the last-minute adjustments, the excited faces filling the historic venue, and that quiet suspense that gathers in the wings moments before stepping out.

When Bodo and his band finally hit the stage, something shifted. The crowd leaned in — they didn’t have to, but they did — and with every note the room seemed to open wider. By the time the final chord faded and the applause swept through the theatre, Bodo had been transformed… and maybe the audience had been too.

And then came Nek

From the very first song, the atmosphere changed again — charged, immediate, almost physical. It felt as if the entire room fell back into its youth: pulsing with every rhythm, singing back every chorus, clinging to every line as though the words were tied to chapters of their own lives. The whole theatre seemed to breathe as one. People weren’t just listening; they were living — or reliving — something intangible.  

 Standing there, watching Nek command the stage with a rare blend of mastery and humility, Bodo understood why certain artists leave a mark that lasts decades. Nek’s connection to the audience was electric — intimate and explosive at the same time.

To be part of that night, to open the door before a show of that magnitude, felt almost like a fairytale — the kind of moment an artist hopes to experience more than once in a lifetime.