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« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2012, 09:10AM » |
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I noticed something there in the lobby. Very few people at the merchandise table. This was my third show of the tour, and the second time that I observed what appeared to be weak merchandise demand. I am wondering if this holds true at other shows as well. So I head on in and my seat is dead center front row. Only one seat better and that’s on my right, which was exact center. The guy sitting there was really enthusiastic all night. He waved his arms a bit like he was conducting, almost like he was trying out to be the Maestro! On Follow ON, he extended his hand up toward Susan when she extended her hand up at that certain part of the song. He also liked to sing along on certain parts, which usually annoys me. But for some reason it didn’t tonight. This guy also had a bag with gifts for the ladies. A younger lady sat to his right, then the next 4 seats had Kelly, Annie, Destiny, and Dave, on the end seat. Behind them sat MrPeabody and Rick. So a good groupie presence there. Also, Don was next to me on my left. We also had a very enthusiastic Chloe fan sitting in the second row right in back of me. At the start of the show, she was screaming VERY loud. But she seemed to tone it back a bit after the start, which may have saved my hearing, but still showed a LOT of enthusiasm and made a lot of noise. The front row was located almost right up against the stage, and the stage was a bit lower than at other venues. The ladies were also able to come right up to the edge as they performed. This meant that at times I was very close, maybe, 10 feet, from a performer. The Awakening went very well. Dulaman went great. I had a great view of Lil Lambe right up in front of me. A great image of her in that spotlight. After Susan did Follow On I thought “WOW she sounds GREAT tonight!” She also sounded great after Water is Wide, and on other songs as well. I thought it might be one of those nights when one performer, for whatever reason, just sort of steals the show, well in my opinion. Like Lil Lambe took Charlottesville. But then I thought “They ALL sound great tonight”. They all were “ON” for this show. Not that they are ever “OFF” but you know what I mean. Something about this show was just “RIGHT!” On TAR and Ray’s drum solo we only got very limited interaction on floor level. Just wasn’t enough room down there for any of that. Lil Lambe and Chloe did come down but were sort of stuck at the bottom of side steps. TAR still had all the energy, and the big spin move that seemed to go well. Anthony started Amazing Grace on the far right next to the steps, and did not do his usual long walk down an aisle., then went up the steps. Once again I loved the position of my seat, because he was very close and right in front of me at the song’s end, with the spotlight on him in the middle of the stage. That would have been such a great picture. I noticed something different and a bit interesting on Mo Ghile Mear. On the part that the drummers duet and go “da da da DA” and the lights are on them, but not on the ladies standing down at the bottom of the steps in the dark. Remember back in the past, how the vocalists would be up on the top in the center and between the drummers and be lit, and move their shoulders back and forth on the da-da-da-DA part, then quickly snap their heads and look at the drummer playing at the time? Well now Lil Lambe and Susan stand still, but in Albany I noticed Chloe wiggle her hips in time with the da-da-da-DA part, like a kind of habit she got used to back in earlier shows, but must express her moves differently now. I don’t know, I thought it was cute. Very subtle. Danny Boy, Never Walk Alone, and Sailing went very well. Chloe once again excelled on Ave Maria. Spaceman once again went well. Mairead really put her heart and soul into the first part of Mna Na Heireann. VERY inspiring! It might have been her best performance yet on that part. The whole show was off the chart in terms of quality. A couple things to note about the second half. First, it seemed the girls looked a LOT at Tommy during the medley number. I had never noticed that much interaction between them and him before. Second, on the Tribute to Broadway, I turned around just to see if people were clapping, standing, etc. I noticed someone, maybe 10 rows behind me but sitting on the aisle toward the left, using what appeared to be a bright flashlight as a means of applauding. The person would wave and twist it, making a circular kind of motion, I guess to get attention. At first I thought it was a camera flash and thought someone was going to have ushers rain down on them. But it clearly was not camera flash. Then I thought maybe it was just a “Circle of Life” kind of gimmick. But I saw it again later. I don’t like it. I didn’t like light sticks at Celtic Thunder either. That can be distracting, and I would also think not great for the performers either, seeing a bright light pointed at them. I hope that their eyes adjust quicker to extreme changes in light than mine do. But they are young so they probably do. The crowd gave a very nice standing ovation at the end. The performers were pleased with it. The crowd did well tonight. So then its off to the meet & greet. They had it in the back part of the theatre. Not an ideal way to have it, but it worked. Don said something to me like “If Chloe shows up, that one woman is going to go SCREAM!” Then what happened, in walk Chloe and Lil Lambe! But she didn’t scream, she seemed calm. I thought it might be similar to Philadelphia when Kimberly got Chloe at the meet & greet. But this woman seemed to go quick through the line and didn’t make much noise, or even talk much. Then I see the guy who I referred to as “The Maestro” earlier in this review. He gave the ladies binders with a bunch of photos of each of them. I thought “oh man, he just stole my thunder!” I have started making collages, I guess you would call them, for meet & greet autographs. Hey there are just too many cool photos out there to get everything autographed. And even if they would sit down and sign 100 photos, how would one display them? Might look kind of creepy having that many on display too! But I had good stuff (in my opinion) for Chloe to sign. I thought the collage was a cool and original idea, but I guess not. I have noticed some others have such things on Facebook now too. But I now have them for Lil Lambe and Mairead as well. Susan is a bit more difficult to do, since we don’t have years of cool internet photos to choose from. I also talked to both ladies more than I usually do. Maybe something in the air tonight. I even had more to say, but figured I better move along. On the bright side, I have good stuff to discuss with both Lil Lambe and Chloe at future m&gs. So I am guessing that I will get Mairead and Susan for my remaining 3 m&gs on this tour! hahaha Time to head for home the following day. I bumped into Rick at the bus station, but we took different buses home. They also did not make an announcement for my bus, which worries me when that happens. I was at the Knoxville bus station once when that happened and it was a good thing I paid attention to what was going on, or I would have been stuck there until the next bus! My trip home from Albany included a number of transfers and they were very tight. Only like 20 minutes for some, so I was lucky no traffic delays held the bus up. But all went well, just kind of rushed at the stations. Something interesting at the Harrisburg bus station. They had St Patricks Day decorations up on the counter and also taped to the lower section of glass that enclosed the counter. But above them, maybe 7 feet up off the floor, they had snowflakes taped to the glass that enclosed the counter. I would expect to see that around Christmas, but not in March! Also on the way from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, one guy fell asleep and snored VERY loud! He also talked in his sleep! Didn’t say anything … interesting … though. I hope I don’t snore or talk in my sleep on the bus! A final note. Don paid me for his ticket by check, and wrote “Cash” as my last name. That’s not my real last name. he did ask me a question at one point and I must have misheard him. Maybe that’s where the confusion occurred. Plus I think that I will soon have to change my “stage” name from “Cash” to “Debt” anyway! Celtic concert-going can be an addicting, expensive, budget busting habit!
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