Review: Las Vegas April 29th (2 shows)

[Scott]

Part 1

No tour will ever have quite the meaning to me that this one has had.  In spite of all my previous tours, I had never had both a first and last show of a single tour before.  Just as in early February in the cold clammy rain of central Tennessee I had brought the first Believe Tour to a glorious beginning, now finally in late April in the desert of southern Nevada I would bring the Spring 2012 Tour to it's end.  But if there is one thing I've learned from Celtic Woman, it's that the show is a journey, not just a destination.  And for me this was one of the most difficult, most emotional, and most amazing in my Celtic Woman experience.

I had decided back near the beginning of the tour that I wanted to be at Las Vegas for the tour finale.  One reason was that with no announcement of a definitive Fall Tour, I realized that this could be the only Believe Tour for North America this year, and I wanted to send the girls (especially newest member Susan) off with a bang.  Another reason is that once again I wanted to be at the center of things for a big forum event, of which Vegas would include many of my greatest friends.  There was even the allure of again going to a city and state that I had never been to before.  Yet another pull for me was that this would be a doubleheader: a matinee show followed by an evening show, with a M&G to finish it... I had never done all three in one day!  I also had felt a tinge of regret that I couldn't make the entire Southwest Roadtrip, so I viewed the "half a loaf" of Vegas as being better than nothing.  In this way, all roads led me to Vegas.

With every day that passed, it seemed that something was conspiring to keep me from going on this trip -  or, depending on how you view it, something kept making it just possible for me to make this trip.  Work scheduling issues became the most important factor, and said issues even reared their ugly head when I thought they were finalized.  And there were other problems, some of which were of worse magnitude than just missing a show or two.  The stress of these problems were starting to wear on me.  But the final turning point came a few nights before my departure when I was listening to the Believe songs at home.  I hadn't really listened carefully to them, except at my preceding shows, in weeks.  As several of them played through my headphones, it finally hit me again what the single overpowering point of this tour is: BELIEVE.  I realized that lately I hadn't, and Celtic Woman had reminded me that I needed to believe that things would work out.  For me now the Vegas shows would be my chance to yell and scream my thanks the ladies of Celtic Woman yet again for helping me more than they could ever imagine.

My itinerary was that I would work a nearly full day, then ride Supershuttle to Houston's Hobby Airport for a direct flight on Southwest Air to Los Angeles.  There I would rendezvous with the Forum Roadtrip folks for the overland ride to Vegas.  Supershuttle had a complication and couldn't get a shuttle to fetch me after all; but Supershuttle, being the classy organization that they are (which is part of why I've continued to give them my business),  sent a taxi to get me to Hobby, at no extra charge (normally this taxi ride would have cost me DOUBLE what Supershuttle charges, but Supershuttle footed the bill).  I arrived at Hobby earlier than I had expected, which was good.  I hadn't flown in or out of Hobby in almost 2 years, but this airport is always a joy.  For those who don't know, Houston has 2 airports: Bush Intercontinental and Hobby.  One is a huge, sprawling mass of chaos, and the other is perfect Texas: slow Southern style.  Southwest Airlines has open seating, but even better was that this wasn't even nearly a full flight; I had both a window seat and an empty seat beside me, both of which are always preferable to me.  The flight taxied out early and was not delayed in a long wait which is so typical of the situation at Intercontinental.  This was easily the smoothest flight I've ever made alone.  I really must fly Southwest, and Hobby, again.

After dealing with heavy traffic getting out of LAX I arrived at my meeting place with Mikey, who was shuttling people home after the LA show.  I got to meet Diane (LA Girl) and became reacquainted with Glenn and Caitlin (LL7), none of whom would be coming with us to Vegas.  After dropping them off, Mikey and I finally arrived at the hotel in Ontario California at almost 3 AM local time, which was 5AM "body time" since I was still used to Central Time from Texas.  In the morning we would be joined for the ride to Vegas by Mike (Mr.Peabody).  We rode the 3+ hours watching the scenery of Eastern California, which reminded me strongly of West Texas - tumbleweed, short stubby desert scrub bushes, and flat plains broken here and there by mesas.  We picked up Moscapoet at the Vegas airport and checked Mike and Mikey into their respective hotels.  There was very little time to eat before the show, so we got by with a sandwich at a local Subway, and headed over to the venue to meet up with the others.

The Smith Center is a modernized theater.  And by modern, I mean it: the place is only months old, and Celtic Woman had never performed here before.  The motif for this theater is marble; the front lobby has a limited amount of space for mixing.  One irritant to me was that the only drinking water fountain was located on the fifth floor.  The theater itself used a very nice innovation: ramps instead of stairs for the orchestra-level rows.  The balcony consisted of four tiers, all with perhaps a half-dozen rows of seats, so the balconies didn't extend out very far at all.  The stage was rather low, perhaps three feet in height, not overly wide and perhaps average depth.  I expected sound might be better during the evening show after some likely tweaking following the matinee show.  My friends began to arrive and many hugs were exchanged: we had Mikey, Mike, Roy, Kelly, Annie, Tink, Coren, Rachel, Daniel, Moscapoet, Patricia, Mark (Sidepocket) and his wife, Steven and Kathryn, Donna, and Cindy.  I took my seat beside Moscapoet in row A (essentially third row behind two pit rows), one seat over from exact center, but I spied two empty front row seats that needed fixing for later. 

"Awakening" was again dazzling, and I discovered that the sound in this venue was extremely good... "Sailing" has become a true anthem to me, and it stirred an incredible feeling within me with this rendition... Chloe's high note for "A Woman's Heart" is becoming more amazing with each show... they threw some twists in with "TAR" for this show, nothing incredible just some more impromptu expressions from the girls that were priceless; one of the cutest was when Lisa Lambe went over to Mairead; Lisa can be soooo funny... Mairead blazed through "Granuaile's Dance" and speaking of blaze it seemed like her bow would ignite she was sawing the bow so fast.

Put simply, the crowd was pretty dead.  I spent some of intermission talking in the lobby to a young lady who was selling CDs for the venue; she probably thought I was playing up with her but I really only just wanted to talk to her since she showed an interest in who we all were.  For the next act I decided to move up to the empty spot in the front row, and twisted Mike's arm to have him join me haha.  I had hoped to have one show on this tour by his side, and this would give him one last front row seat for this tour.  One note: there had been multiple equipment issues in the first act, involving earpieces and battery packs, but the ladies had weathered these issues, including Dermot accidentally kicking one of the stage fans.

Second Act... emotions were riding high through "Amazing Grace", two of the girls were exhibiting signs that this song really touched them today... Lisa had given me my share of attention even from my third row seat, but now she seemed to lock onto me even more as she gloriously sang "Spaceman"... the audience's practices on "Green Grow the Rushes" were about as lackluster as could be, but luckily we forum people near the front rows were picking up the slack... at the end of "Ave Maria" I blew a kiss to Chloe and she returned the favor... I loved "Encore FInale" here because the sound was magnificent, and the crowd did clap along when Mairead gestured with her bow.  The matinee show came to an end, seemingly far too soon.

[Scott]

Part 2

The girls had given us a great first show, so much so that we wondered if they could top it that night, or if they even would have the energy to.  Many of us forum people headed over to the food court at the local outlet mall, which although not five minutes walk was really not more than twenty.  After a very satisfying lunch we headed back into the venue for Round Two.  I again spent a few minutes talking to CD Girl about what the fan community is like but soon I headed inside.
I would be with Roy, in Row AA, over to piano-side.  I'd have Roy on one side and Mikey with Rachel on the other, with plenty of other forum people situated to band-side.  I have learned through experience that for the doubleheaders the matinee show tends to be older and more wooden than the evening show.  We would soon find out.  I felt we had one mission, and one mission only now: to send the girls off with the warmest feelings in their hearts.  We were all at least a little tired; I hoped we were up to the task.  Again we would soon find out.

And so, for the last time, I took in the Spring 2012 Believe Tour.

From the beginning of "Awakening" it was clear this was a good crowd... "Dulaman" brought something I never thought I'd see: Lisa Lambe not completely ready for her vocal; it was almost certainly a case of something involuntary such as a hiccup at the wrong moment; in any case after she caught her breath the song was great... "NOCTURNE!!!!!!" Oh gosh with this one performance Chloe torpedoed every solo she had ever sang totally out of the water; kudos for doing what I would have considered impossible... "Foxhunter" began oddly, as the crowd further back insisted on clapping along near the BEGINNING of the song; nothing wrong with that but it was odd... I shall miss you, "Sailing," until next time; in the mean time thank you for winding your way into my heart... "TAR" was great as always but this one performance will always have "Rachel Kipper" written all over it, considering what happened to her in her aisle seat; there was also some of the unexpected fun thrown in with funny gestures and such.

This crowd was more animated than the early crowd had been.  They didn't give standing O's much but they certainly were demonstrative in other ways.  The other people in front row were just as excited as we were which made our job easier.  The girls were giving absolutely inspired performance and it was clear they were pulling out all the stops for us tonight.

Second Act... Anthony received applause from the audience even before he had come halfway down the aisle to the front for "Amazing Grace"... For "Spaceman" Lisa Lambe gave loads of attention to forum fans, extending her arms out to us with a welcoming Lisa smile... as "The Water Is Wide" played out again I marvelled at how Mairead can place so much feeling into a song with just her violin; and thanks again to Susan for making this song so perfect for me... "Ave Maria" was every bit as beautiful as Nocturne had been, which was hard to do... we all raised our "parting cups" as the girls delivered "The Parting Glass"... the whole place clapped along to "Encore Finale" and I had one more dalliance with my favorite live song; at the end, the sweeping cheers brought a tremble to Chloe's voice as she thanked us, which also led to her thanking everyone connected to making these shows happen, harkening back to the finale at Red Rocks in 2010; and as the girls left the stage after the "Ceili Reprise" the Spring 2012 Tour was finished.

All of us said in essence that this was a great tour finale, and I won't argue.  This was my fourth Tour finale, and each one is special in it's own way.  But my part wasn't finished yet; there was still the M&G, which James led us to on the fifth floor... but not before we had a chance to meet David Downes in the hallway!  Anyway, it wasn't long before Mairead Nesbitt and Lisa Lambe came out to be with us.  I assisted with videoing Patricia's meeting with the girls, which came out beautiful!  I knew a couple of forum members had really wanted Lisa to be here for this meet and I was incredibly glad their wish came true.

I was the last forum fan to meet the girls for this tour.  Mairead gave me a big hug and we talked for probably five minutes.  Then it was the turn of Lisa, who always treats me as a long-lost friend and gave me her share of Lambe Sweetness, including before- and after-hugs.  I got a picture with each girl, out from behind the table; the pic with Lisa was taken by like six cameras, and with the flashbulbs it almost resembled a photo shoot.  I got parting hugs from both wonderful ladies.  I again thanked James for his great work on this tour.  A few minutes after the girls had walked out, we asked James to take a picture of the whole group of us.  We made our way down to the lobby; I was the last forum fan to leave the building.

Most of us headed over to TGI Fridays at the Orleans Casino, which attached hotel was the lodging for most of our group.  Much of our talk involved not talk of the future but talk of what had happened that day.  When the time to leave came, many of us embraced and bid our farewells.  Mikey brought Moscapoet and I to the airport where we spent much time writing reviews and talking.  We talked on until the airport began to fill at 5 AM and he made his way to his gate.  Later in the morning I also encountered Mike and Roy separately for their own flights.  My own flight would come in time to take me away from Las Vegas but a part of this place will be carried within me forever.  And a part of Celtic Woman will be carried within me forever as well.


SPRING 2012 BELIEVE TOUR RETROSPECTIVE

I had eight shows for this tour, including the two opening nights in Nashville, two unforgettable shows in my old stomping grounds at Manchester and Wallingford, the two incredible Texas shows at Dallas and Houston, and the double feature at Vegas.  To me this tour was a massive success.  I got to see the evolution of the Believe product, from beginning, to middle, and end.  The tour matured as it went along and became smoother with each passing show.  I am honored to have been there to see it.

I shall call out a couple of songs for special recognition.  The first of course is "TAR".  With this one song, Celtic Woman has reinvented itself again.  How many performing acts send their soloists out into the crowd to entertain, perchance to tantalize, even perchance to sit on the patron's laps (and I will NEVER forget that for as long as I live, thank you Lisa!), even perchance to sing right to someone?  I think John said it all at Wallingford when he whispered to me after the song: "Funnest song EVER!!"  They have now set a standard for themselves that will be incredibly hard for them to better in the future.  The audience satisfaction with this one song cannot be underestimated.

Speaking of the audience... how about "Green Grow the Rushes"??  The audience involvement in this song makes every show feel like the Atlanta taping all over again; Celtic Woman not only has created magic but has found a way to bottle magic and spring it forth at every Believe show by bringing the audience in.  Fantastic.

And another great part of the Believe show is the involvement of the other cast members.  The new solo performance on the bodhran by Ray is excellent, as is the intro solo by Tommy on "Sailing."   The addition of the male dancing by Craig was a superb idea.  There have been fans who have lamented these reforms, saying that "it dilutes the shows" by having so many other castmembers getting the limelight, but to me it makes the show even more special; anyone who has met these castmembers knows that they are very talented individuals in their own right even if they are not the "featured soloists".  Every person who has appeared on their stage has a share of the success of Celtic Woman; the pity is that it wasn't until more recent years that this recognition came.

Still, I need to give special recognition to those people who have made all of this possible.  Thank you to the entire Celtic Woman organization for listening when the fans spoke.  Thank you to all the "guys" - especially Anthony, Andy, and Ray - for taking the time to talk to me and others with me at different times during this tour.  Big thanks to Bubba and James, as far as I'm concerned you guys are the best in the business!!  
Also... Thank you to Susan McFadden for coming into our lives, I adore your version of "The Water Is Wide" and I will miss you.  Thank you to Mairead Nesbitt for being the absolute best fiddle player to ever grace a stage, for bringing "Granuaile's Dance" back to us, and for being so caring of your fans.  Thank you to Lisa Lambe for... oh gosh for hugs and smiles and kind words and for "Circle of Life"; you have brought me so much happiness.

And thank you, Chloe Agnew.  You have been, you are, and you always will be an inspiration.  When you sing, you bring the spirit of music to me.  I shudder to think of what my life would be like had I never heard your voice.  I have had the privilege of seeing you grow as a singer and a woman; over the years you pointed the way for my new journey, you showed me an isle of hope, you gave me songs from the heart, and you have helped me to believe.  God bless and keep you, til I see you again.


FAN COMMUNITY RETROSPECTIVE

Celtic Woman is much more than the people on the stage.  The fans have done their fair share of building Celtic Woman into one of the most vital forces in music.  By having been a fan for six years now I have found a perspective when it comes to the fandom.  I think for most of us in the fan forum community, Celtic Woman not only changed our lives but also came into our lives, and brought other forum fans into our lives, at the exact time when we needed them most.  It is a common thread in many of the stories I have heard from others.  It has been very much that way with myself.  

Not only have I been to shows this year, but I've also been to FOUR fan get-togethers of five or more people, where there was no Celtic Woman concert going on that day.  Last year also I had several such days.  I know I'm not the only one; others have told me this too.  This speaks of how the phenomenon of Celtic Woman has created a community where people care about eachother, and where we always look forward to being together again.  We rejoice in eachothers accomplishments, and feel saddened with eachothers setbacks.  We mourn with eachothers loss of loved ones, and we keep eachother in our prayers.  Maybe best of all, we open our hearts to the smile of new fan friends when they arrive in our midst for the first time.  

For all these reasons I must thank those who have crossed my path on this tour: Roy, Mike, Tony, Moscapoet, Neil, Thomas, Jim Allen, Dwight, Donna, Ron, Lu, John Starman, both Bobs, Kelly, BigDave, Peter, Kristen, Mary, John (Meavman), Dash, Laura, Jeremy, Tink, Coren, Lester, Selina, Edd Nesbitt, Rachel, Cindy, Susan,  Gillian, Kaitlyn, Mark, and his wife, Steven and Kathryn, Annie, Daniel, Caitlin (LL7), Diane (LA Girl), Glenn, Patricia, and the CD Girl at Vegas.  I also want to thank Jim Allen for hosting us for Nashville, Rachel and Tink for the Southwest Tour, Mike for making my New England shows possible, Roy for making my Texas shows possible, and Mikey for making my Vegas shows possible.  You mean the world to me and I love you all!!!!

And thank you for reading my reviews of this spring.  There were some events of this tour that words just can't describe, despite my best attempts to articulate them.  I hope I've provided a sense of how much these shows mean to me and what at least one die-hard Celtic Woman fan is really like.


CONCLUSION

We cannot look forward with certainty as to what will happen next for Celtic Woman in North America.  But there is one thing we can do: we can believe.  Until the time comes to gather again, may your star be bright, may Celtic Woman's music give you blessings, and may you always believe.  "We are sailing, stormy waters, to be with you, to be free!"

Celtic Woman Forever!

[The Impatient New Yorker]

once again I felt as if I were watching the show again with you, I'll mis reading the reviews. Until next yeear

[Jack]

Thank you for another great review, Scott.  Including the taping in Atlanta and the Symphony Tour, it has been a magnificent year, hasn't it?  When you think things couldn't get any better, they always do.  We only managed three tour shows this time around, but will try harder next tour.  Looking back over the spring in my mind, we saw the continuing greatness of Mairead and Chloe, a coming-out party for Lisa, and in the person of Susan McFadden, the introduction of another great talent to the Celtic Woman family.  As the season progressed they added, deleted, and tweaked the show to a point that it was much better than the DVD show.  The future looks bright and I eagerly await the next round.

Again, great review!

[barb kantartzis]

what a great and sad review! I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last we hear of the girls in the states (we will find out after june!!) or at least till next February for Believe and maybe a small Symphony tour ( I don't plan on them coming to Cleveland on that one!) But sounds like a great/emotional time had by all! An d just makes me more excited to go to Vegas in June!!!

[Wind]

Scott, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you, and thank you SO much for recording the video of my M&G. I can't stop watching it!
I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully in December.

Patricia

[Scott]

Scott, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you, and thank you SO much for recording the video of my M&G. I can't stop watching it!
I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully in December.

Patricia

Patricia!!!  You are very welcome, I'm glad I had the chance to meet you.  And I'm glad the video came out so good.

[bobh56]

Scott:

Thanks for another outstanding review.  As I've said a number of times in the past, your reviews so closely mirror my thoughts and views that they could have been authored by me.  Moreover, I love that your reviews (this one in particular) describe to a tee the essence of Celtic Woman, the draw they have on their fans, and what it means to be a Celtic Woman fan.  So, thank you for that as well.  Lastly, I'd like to thank you for the fantastic times we shared throughout the Believe Tour - starting with the DVD recording sessions last September, in Atlanta, and running through the St. Patrick's Day (Sorry, Celtic Woman Day) Show in Wallingford, CT. 

I'm very much looking forward to getting together with you to continue our mutual enjoyment of the Celtic Woman phenomenon.  Until then, be well, my Friend.

Bob

[mattycakes]

CONCLUSION

We cannot look forward with certainty as to what will happen next for Celtic Woman in North America.  But there is one thing we can do: we can believe.  Until the time comes to gather again, may your star be bright, may Celtic Woman's music give you blessings, and may you always believe.  "We are sailing, stormy waters, to be with you, to be free!"

Celtic Woman Forever!

That is quite possibly some of the best words to conclude that I have ever heard! Very nicely done! Excellent writing! And I loved that you put in that line from Sailing. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite on the cd. But I LOVE the tour version!

[tchristina23]

Thanks Scott for a wonderful review... made me cry, but it was a good cry...you hit it all right on the head.

[Hubert]

I enjoyed your review immensely.  Your thoughts and feelings at many points echoed my own.  In the future I hope to meet fellow forum members like yourself and others that attended the shows with you.