Concert History | Céline Dion at FleetCenter — Five Hidden Lifts Made Arena Scale Look Intimate

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On August 21, 1998, Céline Dion opened the Let's Talk About Love world tour at Boston's FleetCenter. Steve Morse's next-day Boston Globe review described a high-tech, in-the-round production on a heart-shaped stage; an Associated Press caption from the night likewise identifies the FleetCenter performance as the tour's first stop and shows Dion rising through the centre of the stage. Because the tour began here, Boston was the first public performance of this touring design.

The apparent intimacy depended on hidden arena machinery. In a February 1999 production profile, designer Yves Aucoin explained that the heart platform concealed five cable-driven lifts—four for the band and one in the centre for Dion—plus a quick-change area and electronics. Nearly a dozen crew worked below the stage during the show, handling instruments, monitor sound and transitions. The platform loaded in like a large touring production while presenting the audience with an unobstructed show from every side. FleetCenter was the building's name in 1998; it is now TD Garden.

Sources: [Steve Morse's August 22, 1998 Boston Globe review, preserved in Google Groups](https://groups.google.com/g/alt.music.celine-dion/c/ogWfS-H0-ks); [Live Design's production profile of Yves Aucoin's staging](https://www.livedesignonline.com/heart-to-heart-yves-aucoin-brings-intimacy-to-arena-for-celine-dion); [Associated Press caption for the August 21 FleetCenter opener](https://www.alamy.com/singer-celine-dion-reacts-to-the-sold-out-crowd-at-bostons-fleet-center-as-she-rises-on-an-elevator-platform-through-center-stage-on-the-first-stop-of-her-world-tour-friday-aug-21-1998-ap-photoneal-hamberg-image543036283.html); [TD Garden venue history and dimensions](https://www.tdgarden.com/venue-info/about-td-garden).

Coordinate method: [Wikidata Q432105](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q432105) places the arena at 42°21′59″N, 71°03′44″W. The independently mapped [OpenStreetMap building footprint, way 25123637](https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/25123637), centres at approximately 42.3663, -71.0621. The two points agree within roughly 15 metres. This pin represents the arena building, not the undocumented position of the 1998 heart-shaped stage. Precision: ±120 metres, covering the arena footprint and attached North Station complex.

Cover image: Eric Kilby, [“NBA Finals @ TD Garden — HDR 2 of Exterior”](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NBA_Finals_@_TD_Garden_-_HDR_2_of_Exterior_(4697677236).jpg), photographed June 8, 2010; CC BY-SA 2.0. The visually inspected photograph shows the later TD Garden exterior, North Station signage and the Zakim Bridge during the 2010 NBA Finals. It does not depict Dion, FleetCenter branding or the 1998 concert.