I saw Voices of Angels on April 4th in Kitchener!
Before the Show:Some free forum buttons were handed out out 50 or so lucky people at the box office. I'd say most people were surprised and thankful (some uninterested). Considering my poor skills as a salesman, I'm glad they were free. I wasn't sure if the venue would appreciate free stuff being handed out when there was merchandise at a price inside the gate, but I managed to hand them out until all my guests arrived (a few minutes before the show) without getting confronted by security, so that was fortunate.
The Venue and Seats:The venue was nice, though not particularly spectacular.
The first 4 rows or so were reserved for people that bought subscription tickets to a series of 4 or 5 different shows at the venue. Given I had people with uncertain schedules coming from out of town to see it and they weren't interested in the other shows, I waited until single-show tickets were available to the general public about a month after the subscriptions were. I logged on the minute tickets were available to the general public and got seats in the 5th row to left of the stage from the girls' vantage point. The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of room in front and behind the seats for people to walk.
The Crowd:I'd say the auditorium was about half full (about the same as the Destiny show in Detroit, but definitely not as full as the Home for Christmas show in Saginaw, MI). I knew going in it was going to be half full because I checked the ticket vendor's site the day of the show. What was really disappointing (and I'll go so far as to say offensive to both me and the girls) was the first 4 rows of people were about 75% empty. Sure, some people just couldn't make it, but the percentage unfilled seats up front was so high...a lot of them probably bought subscription tickets to other shows they were interested in seeing (ie. Annie or Elf, perhaps) and had no particular interest in the Celtic Woman show.
I was glad I was close enough to the stage so the girls could see me and there was nobody blocking my view, but I felt so bad for the girls. They deserve so much better. I doubt the tour will be back here given the poor turnout.
Before Isle of Hope, Eabha said a few words about how many people immigrated from Ireland to "right here, in the United States..." I guess people giggled or gasped under their breaths if at all, because the audience (in Canada) seemed very respectful of the slip of tongue. Eabha may have realized it right after she said it and but if she did, she just covered it well and moved on.
There was apparently some confusion about whether or not people could take pictures. I specifically asked two ushers before the show if we could: we could take pictures, but no flash and no recording. A person next to me didn't ask beforehand and assumed pictures were not permitted. That individual was also vocal during the show about her displeasure at me taking pictures and how it was disruptive to the rest of the audience. If you've seen my pictures on Facebook, you'll note there were a bunch of songs I just didn't get any photos for near the end of the first act. That's why. The individual also told the usher during intermission about it and I guess found out at that point that pictures were allowed. The person sitting next to the person chewing me out of taking pics apologized on that person's behalf before the 2nd act and I apologized if the camera was disruptive. Anyways, for the second half, I switched seats with someone further down the row because I just wanted to distance myself from that mess.
The crowd was appreciative if not exceptionally enthusiastic. There were only standing O's for the last 2 songs, but none of the others, but the applause at the end of the show was pretty exuberant. The percussion number and
The Kesh Inn really got the crowd into it. There were a few people clapping along during Across the World, but definitely not the whole audience. Maybe they were just enjoying her playing too much and wanted to hear her instead of clapping ( or maybe they couldn't keep up with her
). I'd say the crowd was more into it than the HfC in Saginaw or Destiny in Detroit. It wasn't bad.
The girls were really appreciative of the crowd. They seemed genuinely touched at the end of the show.
The Show:I thought the set list had a lot of variety and energy. It got off to an epic start, with my favourite Voices of Angels track,
Mo Ghile Mear!
There was some recorded orchestration to help fill out the songs, but it was less overpowering than it was at times during the album. I thought the combination and balance of live instrument backing and orchestra recordings was fairly good. I didn't really notice it, so it blended in well and didn't distract from the girls.
The stage design I thought wasn't anything spectacular, but I did like the little platforms that extended from the center of each level of the stage. Those served as points of visual interest at appropriate points in the show.
I barely noticed the images on the video screen at the back of the stage, honestly. I was fixated on the girls and their unparalleled talent. If they do another "name that song" contest on Facebook that involves identifying a song based on what was showing behind it on the screen, I'm not going to have much of a chance.
Goodness, those dresses were spectacular!
My Heart Will Go On I found even more enjoyable live than I did on the album. They developed the harmony a bit more in the first three quarters of the song and at the end.
The Kesh Inn was a really fun song featuring the band and Tara.
She Moved Through the Fair was a bit different than I was expecting. The parts on the album where Susan did that soothing, goddess-like humming was replaced with an instrumental segment of the same tune, which Susan danced too. It did seem a bit out of place for both the song and the rest of the show, but I didn't mind since it helped Susan show off another one of her talents.
I loved that Tara got to play both the violin and the harp. She didn't get to sing, but maybe some day. She grinned at me a few times, which penetrated right through my brutal cold and warmed my heart.
Ave Maria was among the highlights. I love that Mairead Carlin got to let her voice soar in this show. It was one of the best renditions I've heard. Watching her perform it live was even more impressive! She has ridiculous range and power! Time to Say Goodbye breathtaking as well.
I loved Eabha's Sean-Nos song! It was different and the second half of it was really fun and catchy.
Tara was such a joy to watch again! She's incredibly talented. She moved around the stage pretty well too and the super-adorable little expressions she made with her face made her performances even more enjoyable.
The Parting Glass Given the Believe/Emerald arrangement of this song is my favourite song and given my unexpected initial reaction to Amazing Grace and You Raise Me Up on the album, I was a bit worried about this one. Fortunately, my fears were totally misplaced. This was a pretty different arrangement, more along the lines of the traditional arrangement than the Classic Celtic Woman arrangement. But it still accomplished its goals perfectly for me. It was a bittersweet rendition, filled with wonderful harmony, overwhelming sadness (because of the show's swiftly approaching conclusion), yet a powerful sense of satisfaction.
After the ShowWait, there's more???
I haven't been to this venue before (I didn't get out to a lot of shows of any kind before Destiny). I had walked around the venue before the show, so I knew where a marked stage door was and where the tour buses were. One of my guests had been to this venue a few times and directed me to the place where the band and crew exited the stage (inside the venue). We saw Ray come out and I got to say hi and take a photo! We waited for a bit, but nobody else I recognized came out. Just crew hauling off pieces of the stage. After 10-15 minutes or so, security came over and told us to get away. So I waited at the stage door for a while, but nobody came out of there. I suspect it was the wrong stage door (there was more than one theater and several ways out of each in that building).
It was windy but pleasant earlier in the day. Not so after the show. The rain held off, but it was well below freezing with the windchill and I wasn't dressed for extended punishment by the elements. I went to the tour buses, but security was hanging out there and started looking antsy if I got close. So I stood way back of the tour buses in a spot where I hoped I could see two of the potential stage doors (the marked one and another one closer to the buses). I was hoping I would recognize the girls coming out or they would recognize me and that would kind of signal to security to not intervene. There weren't a lot of people coming out of either door. It seemed the people getting on the buses were coming from widely different angles, but mostly from between two buildings. I tried changing vantage points a few times, but the buses were really close to the buildings and it was hard to see people before they got onto the bus. Even once I got within like 15-20 feet or so, I still couldn't see well enough. I think I saw (more like heard) Eabha as she sang her way on to the bus, but it happened too fast to even wave at her. By the time security wandered off I was really cold and I was also getting really uncomfortable hanging awkwardly out that close to the tour buses. My eyesight at distance isn't that great to begin with, especially at night, so at one point someone was walking towards me with hair that looked like Susan's so I got excited and waved. Turns out she wasn't Susan and was just going to her car. Yeah... that signaled the end of that, as I packed it in after about an hour of waiting (including probably 45 minutes in the cold).
So I was definitely standing in the wrong place and also too far back (for my eyesight, anyways). But considering I was already anxious about doing it and had already been told off by security once, I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude to try to get right behind the buses and look for the points of exit between the buildings. It didn't help I was the only person waiting, either. So I'll likely not be trying that again. Not
many exit-to-bus orientations would have been as challenging this one but the level of anxiety it took was just not acceptable.
Overall ExperienceI really enjoyed Voices of Angels. The girls were practically flawless (as usual). They each sounded great and sounded great together. My guests enjoyed it too! Most of them were seeing Celtic Woman live for the first time and some weren't even fans before the show. Now they can tell their family and friends and Celtic Woman's sphere of love will grow!
Thank you to everyone involved in the show. The leading ladies get and deserve a lot of the credit, but the band, choir, and everyone behind the scenes that makes this show special deserve a round of applause for the wonderful work they do.
