It has been forever since I have visited this forum. I may as well drop my review here for if anyone would like to read it.
I was waiting for the first people to get the LK The Voice Newsletter before posting it here, so that is why I am quite late.
Nothing beats the ladies of Celtic Woman singing Christmas music to you, live [For me at least! ;-)] I have been looking forward to this concert for a long time… Since the announcement was made. When the announcement was made, I looked online and the tickets were only being sold through the Orchestra Hall site – not available to the public until August 12th. I put my Internet skills to work and I signed up to be a new member (with no benefits) to see if I could purchase a ticket before hand. It was July 14th, and I just purchased myself a FRONT row and CENTER seat for A Christmas Celebration Symphony tour show. Too excited, I could barely text Destiny to sign up and grab her ticket(s). Now… to wait little over four months… Time flies, especially when a spur of the moment decision to go to ATL for the CW Believe DVD taping…. Made waiting until December more bearable.
Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Snow covering the ground, crisp cool air that sends a shiver up your spine, and fogged up glasses when coming inside to a nice warm building or house… Not this year. This is the first BROWN Christmas that I can recall. Barely any snow had fallen the week before the concert. Greenish grass… Blue skies. Am I still in Minnesota?!
I broke my phone the past Friday before the concert, so I did not remember exactly what time Destiny was going to pick me up. All I can remember was sometime around 2:30-3:00. I failed to remember also that she was coming from a funeral. Poor girl. We headed over to Sarah B’s house. Arrived around 4PM and sat around and chatted for an hour and a half before heading out to dinner.
Destiny recently bought a GPS. I am not a fan of GPS’s…. We got lost. :-) I told her a few times to just listen to me – my college is about two blocks away from The Local Irish Pub, where we were going to meet Jennifer, Laura, and Paul for dinner. It dawned on me when we were lost that A.) It is a Friday night in Minneapolis. And, B.) It is going to be crazy busy because of clubs, bars, and rush hour. On the way to the restaurant, we were stopped due to the Holidazzle Parade in Downtown Minneapolis. I totally forgot that that was going on, on the weekends!
We ended up being 30 min late to dinner. Better late than never! This was my first time meeting Laura and Paul; they are extremely nice couple! Had our selves some “Wee Burger” appetizers – Sarah’s new favorite menu item to say. I ordered mine with bacon but got them mixed up. Oh well. Still was delish!
After dinner, we rushed over to the Orchestra Hall, which was about two blocks away. We arrived about fifteen minutes before Showtime. Had just enough time to go to the merch table and get myself a program and I did splurge a tiny bit and bought a Christmas ornament. (Not worth the money, but a great memento for this tiny tour, and Lisa Kelly’s last performance for a while). Hanging that one on my wall.
We then went into the auditorium. I grabbed a booklet that they were handing out before walking down the aisle. It shows the different performances that are going on in that month.
*Click images to see full size*
Time to head to our seats! I follow Laura and Paul to the seats and looked back behind to see that the others were still by the entrance. Nice seats. We were about four feet from the stage. I do have to say, the stage was kind of high so It kind of felt awkward to stare upwards towards the girls.
The orchestra starts to tune up a little. And the conductor comes on stage. He starts conducting, the music starts and I could not for the life of me, figure out what the score was from. Sarah nudges me and points toward the stage right doors. Who did we see? We saw Máiréad peeking out towards the audience. They looked mighty exited. I nudged Laura and she to Paul. We all giggled. Later, I realized, it was a suite from the movie, The Polar Express. I haven’t seen much of the movie, but I have heard the score before. Beautiful. The conductor exits the stage.
David Downes comes out from the shadows. I hear a squeal from Sarah. I knew he was attending when skimming through other reviews to get a gist of songs. Plus, it is a small tour after all. :-) He introduces us to himself, the conductor, the Minnesota Orchestra, Andy, and then the girls. We all cheer loudly over the rest of the audience.
Their dresses were all black and so sparkly! I have seen photos from news articles, but they look even more amazing in person. Chloë had a gorgeous Crimson or Rose red short sleeved mini coat that went partially down her waist and a sparkly Red barrette on the left side of her hair; Máiréad had a very pretty Red accent placed diagonally from the right shoulder towards her waist; Lisa Lambe had a beautiful Red ribbon around her waist; Lisa Kelly had a thicker Red ribbon type sash around her waist. Lisa gave me the hugest recognition when she got onto the stage. An “It’s you!” Open-mouthed smile! Made my night.
There were four songs that were cut from the set list our night:
“Little Drummer Boy,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Don Oiche Ud I Mbeithil (That Night In Bethlehem),” but they added
“Auld Lang Syne.” Don’t know why. Kind of made me sad and mad at the same time because I have been discussing with the twins and the only one they did not hear was
“Spanish Lady,” which we didn’t get to hear either. Another tiny disappointment to my night was that our full house audience was a dud crowd. I am sure about 80% of them were Orchestra Hall season ticket holder members who have never seen Celtic Woman before. We showed them how to have fun, react, applaud, standing O’s, and get the ladies to feed off that energy. Maybe next time they see CW they will enjoy themselves more. I did sing along to every song to make myself feel better.
Act I To start the night off, all of the girls sang/played
“Carol of the Bells.” I rather enjoyed the way it sounded with the whole Orchestra backing them up. I thought o myself, “I could get used to this fast!” Their harmonization near the end, oh so amazing! You could totally see the energy they had building inside burst out.
“Silent Night” was next. Chloë stayed on stage as both Lisa’s went through the stage doors. As the orchestra star began to play, I got a sudden chill. Chloë was on fire! She never ever hit a wrong note (Does she ever?!)! I heard a few people behind me gasp a little. Made me laugh a little. Yes, people, that is Chloë, and she CAN sing!
After the song was over, Chloë asked us if we were enjoying ourselves. Some people clapped, some people whooped and hollered, and we, in the front row, roared! She laughed. She said, “Wow, that was the best response we’ve gotten so far on our tour!” Of course the crowds whoops and hollers get louder and louder. She then told us about the other places they have toured so far in this symphony tour, and she mentioned about how the gloomy grey skies and cold weather in Minnesota remind them the most of home. Yay, Minnesota! She also mentioned for us to sing along if we would like to since who wouldn’t know some lyrics to Christmas songs?! They then sang
“White Christmas” after a few laughs was shared. That is what we need here, in MN… I got so many smiles from the girls. Lisa looked a tad bit uncomfortable. Sucking in air before she sings each time, and sometimes she would slowly pull her hand down and place it on her stomach. I just wanted to hug her.
Lisa Lambe’s solo was next with
“Away in a Manger.” I love her and her voice. She fits so seamlessly into the group! Perfect! This song showcased off her voice quite well. She put so much force behind this song and emotion.
Chloë, Lisa Kelly, and Máiréad came back onto the stage, and I hear bells.
“Ding Dong Merrily On High,” eek! I love this song! I always loved singing to this song! I don’t know why, but as I was singing along, I started laughing, and looked at Sarah and then to the girls. Lisa Kelly and Chloë both gave a wink and as Máiréad had her solos, I was swaying back and forth which got them laughing a little. Lisa had paid most attention to us during this song.
It was now Máiréad’s turn to shine and get the crowd jumpin’ with
“Shenandoah”/“The Butterfly” I sang along to “Shenandoah,” thanks to Hayley’s version of the song. People start clapping, thinking it was over, (I too clapped but knew it was not fully over) and they soon fade away. I start clapping on beat and Sarah joined along. The front row slowly joined along but it did not catch too quickly throughout the house. Towards the faster tempo of the song, people started to really join in. I was hoppin’ around my seat. I was sure having a blast!
“Christmas Pipes” was up next. This one was absolutely stunning. The girls swaying back and forth singing loud and strong, the orchestra backing them up, Máiréad doing her thing, I could imagine the Aontas choir singing along. They put a few versus of
“O Holy Night” in the midst of that song. It caught me off guard a little. Not going to lie!
Everyone left the stage except for Lisa Kelly. I was quite excited. Sarah nudged me, and I nudged Laura. We were in heaven! She had told us a fun story of when she was young. She is the oldest of three in her family, and she as always the first one to go to the tree downstairs on Christmas to see if Santa had come in the night. She then added, “I’ll admit it… Even now, I have three kids of my own, I am always the first one downstairs on Christmas morning.” Ha! I love your humor, Lisa! She then commented a little about the song she was going to sing,
“The Christmas Song.” This song has been one of my favorite Christmas songs (besides
“Little Drummer Boy,” that they did not sing during this show.). One of my absolute favorite Christmas songs, Lisa Kelly singing it to me, live? It hit me. My idol was singing one of my favorite Christmas songs in a lovely venue in my home state? It felt so unreal to me! I sang along until that moment hit. Tears filled my eyes. It was so perfect. I wouldn’t have had it any other way! I am pretty sure she noticed me, holding my arm to my heart. I saw her nod and smile towards me at the very end of her song before walking away.
Lisa Lambe walked out onto the stage and said to the crowd, “In case you did not know, we Irish love to sing.” *tons of cheering from our group in the front row* “This next song is not necessarily a Christmas song, but it is one that we love to do. This is the gorgeous,
‘Danny Boy.’” While she was talking to us, some stagehands set up a few stools in the middle of the stage. They sat and started singing. Such a beautiful song sung by such beautiful women! No brainer, that song deserved a standing ovation!
Now it was the full version of “O Holy Night.” I loved it. Those girls together are so magical. They really compliment each other in their harmonization. I sung my heart out to this one, and received plenty of smiles from all of the girls.
Intermission We all get up to stretch our legs out and some hit the ladies room. I hear a voice in the distance, “I thought I recognized you guys standing up! How did you guys get front row seats?!” It was Mike, the nice gentleman that we all met at the State Theatre earlier this year. He was wearing a green striped polo that had a green Irish Rugby logo on it. He was very proud of finding that shirt. We all shared hugs and chatted a good long time. He said that he was on stage right, 7th row and saw a group of people doing standing ovations and realized it truly was us. We had an extra seat available next to Paul so Mike gladly took that seat. He was looking for us before the show, knowing that we would not miss this show for the world. He was right! Dang our lateness….
As I just skimmed through Sarah’s review, she wrote, “Destiny turned to me right before the first act started and said ‘We’re the youngest ones in the front row.’” True fans, right there! Right before the second act, I asked Laura if she had any tissues (just in case). She leans over and grabs some toilet paper she had grabbed while visiting the ladies room. We both had a laugh. It worked for me; it was something to clear the happy tears away.