Oh. My. God. Holy mother of all Celticness. Ok, I usually try to write succinct reviews, but my mind is still exploding over the epic win that tonight was. So, bear with me for a sec.
I arrived at the Sony Centre at 7pm and already there was a huge crowd outside, the doors opened at around 7:10, but the doors for the theater opened after 7:30. I was one of the first ones in, and the ushers took me to my seat. For tonight, my seat is on the aisle of the front row of the piano side. To give an idea, here's a picture of the seats.
http://torontobuildings.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/img_5773.jpgSee those stairs on the left side? See that seat on the aisle, right in front of those stairs? Yeah, that's where I was seated. My first thought as I sat down: 'There are stairs in front of me, and enough clearance for people to walk by. Hmmm…' Then, the usher told me "You'll get some people walking by you during the show." Can you say score? I was kind of expecting that Ray, Anthony and maybe Lisa would pass by. Boy had I under-estimated the "people walking by". By the end of the night I was convinced that, as far as this venue went, I had THE best seat in the house.
Anyhow, the show started with Mairead at the top of the stairs playing the first strings of Awakening. Then Susan, Chloe, and Lisa join in. Because I was pretty much alone in my row by the piano, Lisa, Chloe and Mairead recognized me right away. I got a lot of attention from them during the whole show, it was really, really great. As far as Awakening goes, they've added new dance moves to it.
Next up, Lisa starts singing in Gaelic. It takes me a while to realize that her singing is a preamble to Dulaman. Ray shows up with the Bodhram, and Dulaman starts properly. The spoons are still part of the act, and Ray is the one singing the male part this time.
Chloe walks on stage and talks to the audience, saying how this tour has some of their favorites from all the other tours, and introduces Nocturnal as one of her new favorites. She's joined by Mairead.
Mairead remains on stage for The Coast of Galicia. She ROCKED it! At one point she crossed from one side of the stage to the other, while spinning. She traversed the stage in 3 full spins. She also did her usual spinning around bit. I counted 9, but I could be wrong.
Next up, Tommy plays "The New Ground" and that introduces "Orinoco Flow". Everyone, prepare to squeal when you see this. Lisa, Chloe and Susan all have flowy veil/capes attached to their dresses and they're not afraid to use them. There's lots of arm choreography in this song, and with the veils it makes beautiful figures. The song starts with them at the top of the stairs and as they come down, the choir guys pick them up and place them in position. The way they pick up Susan is fabulous. She stretches out her arms to the side, and they hoist her up all the way to the front of the stage. I have to say, they did an amazing job with this song. My mind was blowing and at one point I was wildly gesturing at Lisa, something to the sort of "What is this madness?" and she found it very amusing. It's so, so good.
Susan detaches the veil from her dress and introduces the next song, Caledonia. I think she did a fine job with it, and I'm glad to see it back. At one point, she traverses the stage while dancing with the choir members.
The stage goes dark, and from the left of the auditorium Lisa shows up, lalala-ing her way trough the front row. However, for some reason instead of staying to the left side of the stage, she crosses the entire front row and stops in the middle. Then Chloe shows up, from the left side as well, and they start "arguing". Lisa crosses the rest of the front row and goes to the right side. Chloe sits down on the lap of the guy at the end of my row and Lisa sits down on the lap of someone on the right. Then Chloe stops in front of me, frantically gesturing while looking at me, and I do my own frantic gesturing to the amusement of the people around. They go up the stairs, Susan shows up, they lalala some more, and TAR starts. Now, I don't know if this is how they'll do for all other shows, with both Lisa and Chloe entering through the left, or if they were just taking advantage of the walking space by the front row in this auditorium. They did not do the group spinning thing this time. Instead, they each took one of the male choir guys (plus Anthony, since there's only Dermot and Craig in the choir now) and spun around. Anthony looked a bit afraid of doing it, but did a good job.
After that, it was Mairead with Granuaile's Dance, which is always a crowd favorite.
The girls come back on stage and Lisa introduces Danny Boy. It was interesting to notice from m side of the audience that Mairead was trying to catch her breath as Lisa talked, but by the time she had to play, she looked totally composed.
After that, it was Mo Guile Mear. One thing I noticed that's different in this song is that, while during last year they were at the bottom of the stairs with their back to the audience while Ray and Andy do their thing with the spotlights, now they're at the top of the stairs, facing the audience. Lisa was turning her head back and forth as the drums and spotlights part started.
The first act ends with no standing O from the audience, although there was enthusiastic applause. Intermission was uneventful, other than my phone blowing up after I tweeted the setlist. :-)
The second act started with Anthony playing the bagpipes from the back of the audience and walking to the stage. Then they sand Amazing Grace.
After that, an old favorite makes a return: She Moved Through the Fair. It starts with the choir singing, then Chloe walks in and then later she's joined by Lisa. It's BEAUTIFUL! Instantly one of my faves.
Susan makes the intro to Broadway, and that remains largely unchanged.
After that, Lisa stays to sing Bridge Over Troubled Water. That's right, Bridge Over Troubled Water is now a Lisa solo. And man, does she own it. This version is more subdued, more intimate if you will, than the DVD version, but there's beauty in it.
After that it's Walking the Night/Give Me Your Hand, which is also largely unchanged.
Ray comes out with his bodhram, playing and leading the audience to clap along. And then… then things take a turn for the epic. Once Ray is finished, Mairead shows up and they start playing together, and at first I didn't recognize that it was the beginning of Nil S'en La. In the aisle a few rows behind me, Craig starts dancing. The rest of the choir is also there, doing some dancing of their own as well. Andy shows up on the left side of the front row, playing the bodhram right in front of me. Then Craig starts dancing, jumping and kicking his way down the aisle and towards the stairs. There's WAY too much going on around me. At one point I thought I might get kicked in the face (lol!). Then the girls show up on stage, looking at all the shenanigans going on and looking none too impressed. I turn to Lisa and whisper "Help me!". The girls walk down the stairs, singing the beginning of Nil Sen La at the choir people, as if scolding them, and drag them back to the stage. It was absolutely hilarious. Nil Sen La itself is fun, there's lots of dancing, and I definitely need seconds and thirds to take in all that's going on during that song. It is breathtaking.
Mairead stays to play Shenandoah and she and Craig have their duel. She was absolutely ecstatic after that one, jumping up and down as they're about to take a bow.
Things mellow down and Chloe sings Ave Maria. Again, no standing O.
Susan and Mairead sing The Voice. Susan does an incredible job with it, and I have to say I'm enjoying her solos on this tour more than the ones last year.
Chloe and Lisa show up, Lisa bids everyone goodnight and they sing The Parting Glass. The audience finally gives a standing ovation, and it's a very appreciative and enthusiastic one. I think Mairead tried to speak a few times, but was drowned out by the noise the crowd was making. When we settle down, she introduces You Raise Me Up. The whole choir and band take part on this one. Lisa is the one to say "Thank you so much you've been a wonderful audience" towards the end.
They get another standing O at the end, take a bow and leave the stage. The applause doesn't stop until Mairead comes out for the encore. The encore is largely unchanged. However, something that made my night, once they finished, Lisa walked to the edge of the stage, leaned over and took my hand! I've said it before but it bears repeating, she knows how to make one feel special.
And thus ended my first Believe 2013 show. Gone from the setlist are "Green Grow the Rushes", "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Follow On", "Sailing", "The Water is Wide" and "A Spaceman Came Travelling". While I'll miss those songs, especially "You'll Never Walk Alone", I love how they brought old songs back and gave them a completely new, exciting make-over. Can't wait for the next show tomorrow!