One would not expect a sell-out crowd at a venue in which Celtic Woman had never before performed, much less having the venue fill another show to near-capacity in a matinee show added to accommodate the demand. But that is exactly what happened at the Eastern Kentucky (EKU) Center for the Arts in Richmond Kentucky on April 20, 2013 when both a 3:00 p.m. matinee and 8:00 p.m. evening show were performed.
These audiences were clearly no strangers to Celtic Woman, having seen them on Kentucky Educational (KET) Television in their many broadcasts of Believe during its winter and spring pledge drives. The Celtic Woman portions of the annual pledge drives are perpetually the highest fund raisers for KET. Membership Director Michelle Ripley told the audience that this year’s shows mark the seventeenth for Celtic Woman concert in the Bluegrass state. I was fortunate enough to have been present for fifteen of them. I believe this number included the 2011 KET sponsored show in Cape Girardeau, MO, but perhaps not the Paducah show in 2009 which was not KET-sponsored (but at which many forum members including myself were present).
Daniel Cobble (DCobble) and I had driven in from the Chattanooga show on Saturday morning, arriving at my home in Lexington around 1:00 p.m. After a quick lunch, we headed out to EKU. Neither of us had been to this venue on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. It was a fairly new building, but it’s location on campus was not exactly known to me. I relied on my GPS to get there, which announced I had “reached my destination” with no sign of the venue in sight. So we parked near Alumni Coliseum and thought it would be close. It wasn’t that close. Fortunately, as we were hoofing it across campus, the shuttle bus stopped and picked us up about mid-way to our arrival. Otherwise, we would have been late for the start of the matinee.
As we entered, KET’s Michelle Ripley was on the stage introducing the group. As she concluded, an usher escorted us to our seats on the front row left. We had the second and third seats from the aisle. I drape my Fiddler Crossing jacket across the back, as I’m not sure this crowd has ever seen them. I want them to know this Fiddler has an avid and travelling fan base! Dan got the second seat, so that his lap was ready in the event a Spacewoman came calling during TAR, as she had to me the night before in Chattanooga.
The lights go down and a lone lovely figure appears at the top of the steps on stage. It is, of course, Máiréad, her opening strains of Awakening as the spotlight turns on to reveal her. Applause comes from the audience as they definitely recognize her!
After the song, Chloe greets the audience with remarks about being thrilled to be at their first show in Richmond, although they are certainly no strangers to Kentucky. She said they loved the “Y’alls” they got to use while here and she certainly has it down! I suppose I should tell her that we don’t correspondingly use the contraction for third-person plural “W’all”, as that could be confusing!
Nocturne is next—the return of this one from Believe a must with Chloe’s moving rendition. Dulaman followed with the male reply sung by…(drum roll)…drummer Ray Fean! He does it perfectly, being at least as good at singing as Anthony is on the drum!
Lovely Susan McFadden provides a charming introduction to Caledonia, saying she hoped those of Scottish ancestry enjoyed it as a reminder of home. The vast majority of the audience, like myself, are of English or Scots/Irish decent, though in recent years we were more familiar with the Caledonia brand soap commercials jingles than this traditional song—that is until it was reintroduced to us in the Slane Castle setting of A New Journey, sung there by Lisa Kelly. Susan does a tremendous version of it. I have yet to hear someone say they are disappointed by her version—and how could they be?
Granuaile’s Dance! The crowd is clearly familiar with this one from TV broadcasts and is clearly anticipating seeing it performed live! Máiréad is full of energy for this matinee performance. I counted 15 or 16 high-speed spins by her! Where does she get that energy? We saw them leave Chattanooga by bus around midnight the night before after an extremely energetic performance there! The crowd is thrilled and we are joined in our standing ovations by a good portion of the crowd for that early in the show!
New arrangements of The New Ground featuring the pipes of Tommy Martin and of Orinoco Flow followed. The latter featured the solos added beginning with Songs from the Heart. The Coast of Galacia has been thankfully retained and Máiréad makes the most of it! This tour Máiréad has added a little “stomp” during the first measures—perhaps as an emphasis, but I’ve thought it might be to show to the audience that she is playing live and not a recording. How wonderful for those in the crowd seeing it for the first time!
Teir Abhaile Riu (TAR in our short-hand designation) was a highlight as usual! The crowd was delighted with the opening antics of Lisa and Chloe as they came up the side aisles. Today, Chloe came up the left side and Lisa was on the right side. So for the first time this tour, I got to see Chloe up close in this spirited performance. They are quite hilariously convincing: Chloe in her opposition to Lisa’s going to Galway and Lisa in her determination to go. I’m somewhat thankful for the distance between them, as it looked like it could devolve into a WWF free-for-all but for the separation. As they take to the stage and Susan intervenes, the crowd applauds. I get a salute from Lisa on stage: to one in her “Sailors” club—we luck devils to have hosted her as she takes an audience lap in the opening moments of the number. For me, the last lap landing had been the previous night in Chattanooga.
The performance on stage was highly energetic and amusing by all involved. Craig Ashurst and Dermot Kiernan were perfect as they danced across the stage, serving as both the handsome men of home and the sailors Lisa hoped to see in Galway. The song quite rightly drew a standing ovation.
The first act ended with a rousing performance of Mo Ghile Mear.
The choir’s presence is really "front and center" with this number. We get a good look/hear of new female members Sarah Gannon and Edel Murphy really showing what they can do, joining veterans Dermot Kiernan Kiernan and Craig Ashurst (whose dancing abilities are as yet unleashed to some un-expecting audience members). Amazing that such full sound could emanate from such as small choir. The crowd is roused by this upbeat ending. We are joined in our ovation by a large part of the audience who by now all exhibit that they are glad they have come.
During the intermission there is plenty of room to move around in the space between the stage and the front row. I see and speak to Michelle Ripley of KET who said Chloe had given her a big hug before the start of the show, which she appreciated.
Amazing Grace provides a rousing start to the second half of the show. There is some disorientation in the audience as to where the bagpipe music is coming from. Daniel and I turn and look at Anthony Byrne entering from the back of the theatre and thus let the others know where he is. There are no stairs at the front of the stage for bagpiper Anthony to ascend and so he must go around to the side entrance, which he quickly does to arrive on stage. The crowd enjoys his passing in their midst. Loud applause, but the lights go down quickly and come back up to show the vocalists in place for a very moving performance of this universally-known hymn. The combination of bagpipes by both Anthony and Tommy Martin provide a very full sound.
Daniel is particularly moved by She Moved Through the Fair followed in a thoughtful new arrangement emphasizing pipes. The choir is very prominently involved in this arrangement, entering from stage right. It is very well received, whether or not the audience recalls it from the original Helix Centre performance by Meav.
Susan next provides a delightful introduction to the Broadway Tribute, singing I Dreamed a Dream, with which the crowd was very enthusiastic, perhaps concurring with their recently having seen the movie version of Les Miserables. The Circle of Life was wonderfully done, sung by Lisa and joined by Anthony Byrne, who shows his versatility on the drum as well as the bagpipes. Following shortly thereafter with Bridge Over Troubled Waters is the very lovely and talented Lisa Lambe. Her introduction to the latter is very moving and thoughtful. I hope she has personally not experienced many of such troubled times, nor ever will. She is rather, their antidote.
Nil S’en La follows! A newly-arranged version in which the musicians start the song and the choir comes down the aisles before the soloists come out and chidingly escort them back to the stage before going into the more familiar rendition from Songs from the Heart. This is probably an entertaining way to enable the soloists to make a costume change, as they emerge in their Nil S’en La dresses. Such energy is displayed by all that the crowd is really livened by this number!
The crowd is really taken with several particularly energetic performances by Máiréad and Craig Ashurst in their “duel”. If they note that he is not the dancer on the DVD, they certainly can see that he is no less talented in its performance. The versatility of the cast and musicians are really highlighted by this new show. Ray Fean really gets the audience involved with his very impressive and amusing Bodrhain solo. I don’t know if it’s the acoustics, but it always sounds to me that the folks in the balcony win the contest for the loudest response.
Chloe is still unparalled in her performance of the lovely Ave Marie, which draws a standing ovation and must. This number in particular always brings many to tears, as it does my cohort Daniel who always raves about her performance of this song. As in every city they appear, she owns the hearts of the audience.
Susan does a great job with “The Voice”, a daunting task after the success of Lisa Kelly with the song. It is doubtful that most in the audience had ever seen Lisa perform it live, though may recall it from the broadcast of A New Journey from Slane Castle. The interaction between Susan and Máiréad, with first-class talent and beauty, is very alluring. No doubt more than a few wives look over to judge their husband’s reaction.
The Parting Glass from Believe signals the end of the show is near. The arrangement with the vocal harmonies and the rousing bagpipe ending far surpass its performance at any real gathering I have ever seen or, I judge, I ever will see. Maintenance crews will be glad to know the confetti cannons are not in operation.
Máiréad tells us that a favorite from the beginning of Celtic Woman is still in the show: You Raise Me Up and is charmed at her introduction of it. We will not leave without an encore and so The Mo Ghile Mear Reprise is as rousing an encore as anyone could ask for—this year with the insertion of the dancing solo from Craig who adds a new and much entertaining dimension to it. Not only will they leave singing, but wishing at least, that they could do such dancing!
8:00 p.m. Show
Daniel and I had hoped to return to my house to change and get a bite to eat between the matinee and evening performance. Alas, it was not to be! We quickly determined that due to the exiting traffic, it was not possible. I had really wanted to change from my Believe filming T-shirt to a more formal shirt and tie, as I knew most of the audience would wear at night. We had to be content with some drive-thru fast food and returned to the venue parking where we ate. Assembly for the Meet & Greet was at 7:00 p.m. and we would not risk missing that.
As we lined up for the M&G, aside from uneasiness about the operational status of my camera, I had gift bags for the soloists. I had given Máiréad her birthday gift the previous night in Chattanooga and advised the others I would have something for them all tonight. I did. I had a gift of a bottle of vocal spray for each of the vocalists. A gift of rosin in a Tinker Bell gift bag for Máiréad. After getting hugs and greeting from each of them I distributed the gift bags. Chloe was thrilled, saying they had just used the last of their vocal spray prior to this performance and were out with half the tour to go! Máiréad thanked me for her birthday gift of the best rosin I could find and said it was very good stuff. Being no rosin expert, I was relieved and gratified. I apologized for wearing by Believe filming T-shirt to the evening performance. Susan had seen me wear it before and asked about its availability. I advised it was not available outside the concessions during the filming (absent someone putting it on E-Bay). Lisa tried to make me feel better, saying I looked like Elvis in it! I resisted the urge to say “Thank you very much”, but I thought it!
They are such delights to be around! Daniel and I talk about how much we like the new M&G procedures this year.
Our seats for the evening performance were on the opposite side of the front row, in front of the musicians. It is the side where Chloe mostly performs. I will not rehash the performance of each number, other than to say it was even more energetically performed by the cast, which I did not think was possible.
One amusing occurrence was that Susan accidently stepped on Tommy’s pipe as she was seated on the steps next to him. She winced, but Tommy quickly indicated it was OK. During TAR we were on Lisa’s side of the theatre, the second and third seat over. She sat in the lap of a fan from Memphis who had also driven from Richmond from Chattanooga that morning. He later said that made his long trip worthwhile. She looked to Daniel and I for commiseration from the grief Chloe was giving her. She gave me a salute, which I returned, before she took the stage. Snap to by one of her Galway Sailors!
The evening crowd seemed more into the show and I suspect there were more veteran fans present. We were joined more in standing ovations. They seemed more appreciative of Craig’s dancing, expressed especially during the encore. I have never seem more energetic efforts from cast & crew!
These shows were the first at the EKU Centre for the Arts and they could not have been more successful in terms of attendance, nor receptive audiences. As always, I want the audiences to see the presence of a travelling retinue of button be-decked fans and wonder if they should join us! Many say they would and some actually do it! No group is more worthy of fan adoration than Celtic Woman and we want to do our part.
