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Author Topic: Review: Manchester April 13th  (Read 2671 times)
Scott
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« on: April 14, 2017, 08:37AM »


A few years ago - on February 3, 2012, to be precise - I did something as a fan that I had never done before, and haven't done since.  I was at the opening show of the Believe Tour in Nashville, Tennessee.  This was not the only opening show I've ever done.  But it was Susan McFadden's first show with Celtic Woman.  It was the first and only time that I had attended any of the CW girls' first shows.  That night inaugurated the Susan McFadden Era, and I was lucky enough to be there to see it.  Over the following years, I witnessed her emergence as an interactive performer and genuine crowd-pleaser.

Now, in 2017, in combination with Mairead Carlin, Eabha McMahon, and newest member Tara McNeill, Susan is the veteran of this group.  The friends that I plan to see at CW shows this year - first BobH, followed by Mike, Lester, and Moscapoet, and likely others - are people I've known long before I had even heard of any of these four current ladies.  I always wondered what would happen when CW tried to continue on without any of the original members; and what transpired is the only way it could have been accomplished, with the originals dropping away one at a time, without a massive break with the past.  Had even two girls been changed out at the same time, it might have felt like too great of a change.  By switching out one, and only one, girl at a time, they have kept a continuity.  This is not just a rationalization after the fact; I have come to admire Susan, Mairead, and Eabha enough for accomplishments past that I would want to see them again, in whatever work they might do, and all the more if they happen to be together.  I said it back in 2010, and it still holds true today: everyone who has walked on the Celtic Woman stage deserves a share of credit for it’s achievement, and that is true of the successor girls as well as the originals.

At the beginning my plan for 2017 was limited to attending my relatively local show at San Antonio with Lester in May.  Before long Mike dangled the carrot of the Buffalo Shea PAC show, at what I consider America's finest theater.  I returned the favor by informing him early of Red Rocks tickets going on sale, and of course had to add that to my own itinerary.  Then, just after the tour actually started, BobH made me an offer I could not refuse to attend the show at Manchester, New Hampshire.  Finally, Moscapoet and I planned a possible walk-up show for Pueblo, Colorado, which as of this writing may still happen.  This would give me shows at my two favorite theaters (the Shea PAC and the Majestic), my favorite arena (in Manchester), and my favorite place on earth (Red Rocks).  I could not ask for more. 

So I made the plan for April.  I would be off work for eleven days.  I would fly from my home in suburban Houston to New England for the Manchester show with Bob, then spend the Easter weekend with my beloved family in New Hampshire.  Following that I would drive out to Buffalo to see Mike and Karsten at The Shea.  Then I would drive back to the east coast, and fly back to Texas for a road trip with Lester to Peachtree City for Lisa Kelly's own brand of charm, along with friends Mike, Moscapoet, Tony, and a host of others - and then drive back across the south to Texas.  This whirlwind run would involve 40 hours driving/riding, and 6 hours flying.  If I survived the travel, I would have three incredible shows haha.

Manchester would involve the easiest traveling, and, as it was my former homeland, it would be the most familiar - actually, as I'll mention at the end of the review, it was a little too familiar.
 
Every time I travel for shows, some oddball thing happens.  At around 6:30am I was in the men's room at Hobby Airport, getting ready to walk back out to the concourse, when a woman walked in.  I merely walked out like I was planning to do anyway, realized she was walking behind me, and when I got to the sign that said "Men's Room" I turned to look behind me with a grin, and she just nodded her head with a giggle and said "It's too early in the morning." LOL

I arrived without incident into Boston Logan Airport, and drove through heavy slow-moving traffic to Manchester, meeting up with Bob just in time for dinner at Murphy's Diner.  He is another of those fan friends that I just never have enough time to talk to.  We made our way over to the venue for the pre-show Meet & Greet, and were informed that any gifts to the girls would have to be surrendered at the door and could not be taken inside to the M&G.  As at my last Manchester M&G, on St.Patrick's Day 2013, if you blinked then you missed the M&G.  I did get tell Tara my name, and that's about it.

The SNHU Arena (former the Verizon Wireless Arena) is a cookie-cutter, all-purpose arena.  That said, the sound is always excellent here.  The stage is very high and the chairs in the orchestra are set back about ten feet from the stage.  It seems every year they pull the stage a little closer towards the back of the venue; this year the show was essentially a half-house.  In times past they have curtained off the area to either side of the stage; there were no curtains flanking the stage this year.  My seat was fourth row, stage left, immediately next to Bob.  And so, ten years after my first CW show at this venue, my first show of 2017 began.

I really like the "dark" introduction that leads into "Mo Ghile Mear", and I like the new arrangement for the song itself; the English lyrics replacing the Gaelic did not bother me... "My Heart Will Go On" was excellent, and to my mind it was a vast improvement from the Celine Dion version; it's wonderful to hear these mixed harmonies from these girls again... Dulaman again?... Absolutely beautiful rendition of "Isle Of Hope, Isle Of Tears" from Eabha, but I was not liking the video that played out behind her; don't get me wrong, it's a very nice video and it shows a nice counterpoint of Annie Moore as a girl and as a grown woman, but for me it was far too much of a distraction, taking too much of my attention from Eabha who for this song deserves the full spotlight... the crowd response to Anthony's intro for "Amazing Grace" was polite but nothing special; I loved the harmonies with Susan and Eabha at the beginning of the song but something sounded completely messed up when MC joined them, I'm sure it's not her singing, I think it's the arrangement; later Bob agreed with me that something didn't sound right; anyway, it only lasted a moment, then the next two stanzas of the song sounded as gorgeous as ever and I really like that the girls now end the song on stage with Anthony to take their well-deserved bows... very nice solo performance from Tara, and VERY smart of CW to not simply hand off some of the old Mairead Nesbitt solos to Tara.

OH. MY. GOSH.  I have now heard "She Moved Through the Fair" many times, by many different singers, including several very memorable recordings and performances by former CW personnel, but Susan's take was to my mind the best I've ever heard; but the real spectacle was when she and on the choirmen (Carl?) dance a waltz on stage.  Among the visual aspects, this was the most elegant and charming and romantic thing that I've ever seen Celtic Woman do while on stage, and it was flat-out the most beautiful choreography I've ever seen.  The part at the end when they held out their hands to one another was the absolute icing on the cake.  Fantastic and unforgettable.

 "Danny Boy" had exquisite harmonies, but you probably already knew that... "Nil Sen La" brought back memories of tours past; not a bad way to end the first act... but... very strange to introduce the band on the last song before intermission.

Lighting was generally good, although when Mairead was introducing a song (I think it was "Danny Boy" but don't hold me to it) the spotlight was way off and MC looked out toward the spot with a cute smile and said "Hello?" then the spotlight found them.  Sound was great as usual at this venue.  The crowd had so far been fairly sedate but the night was young.

"TAR" opened the second act; nothing against this version, but I think choosing this song was a mistake because there was no way this song now could compare to what had been done before, and it reminded me that the girls of 2017 do not do the off-stage antics for this song that were a staple of the 2013 World Tour... I like the new intro for "Orinoco Flow", and again the harmonies are to die for... there are two "Ave Maria"s, and as I heard the piano intro my heart dropped; oh dear, it's THAT version; but then Mairead began singing, my ears perked up, and by the end I was cheering at the top of my lungs; a case can be made that THIS is Mairead's signature song... Ray's bodhran solo whipped the crowd into a frenzy... "THE VOICE!!!!" I'll always love Susan's version of this song, and tonight she didn't disappoint... "Westering Home" featured another video but this wasn't nearly as distracting to me since this is the video that you see on the Destiny DVD which I already had seen... standing ovation for "You Raise Me Up", one of my all-time favorites... Eabha's acapella intro to "The Parting Glass" was eerie, and reminiscent of her performance of the same song with another group in times gone by... hands down, the harmonies for "Time To Say Goodbye" were the best I've ever heard from Celtic Woman... as Anthony began his shortened version of the bagpipe finale, the crowd stayed on it's feet and started clapping!!  Now the crowd was as lively as any you'd see at a Celtic Woman show, and so it ended.

The 2017 edition is a good show, and I consider it a definite improvement over the 2016 one, with just about all of 2016's good points and only a few of it's not-so-good ones.  Bob and I talked for about a half hour at the end, discussing finer points of the show, but he had to head out for a long ride home and I needed to get moving too.  Next show for me would be at Buffalo, New York on the upcoming Tuesday, after Easter weekend.  I am excited to see that show, and now I'm absolutely stoked to see this new show when it comes to Red Rocks in June. 

---

If you came to read about the show and the fan involvement, this is the end of the review and you can leave now.  I do have one postscript, and it has nothing at all to do with the show, the audience, the venue, or even the traveling.  It's something personal.  I write it simply because I document what actually happened at the show from my perspective, and for me, this happened.

I am originally from the Manchester area.  I lived the first 42 years of my life there.  As Bob and I were heading over to our fourth row seats, I looked at the third row and saw her sitting there.  It was the first time in 25 years that I'd seen her.  When we found our exact seats, I was sitting behind the man that she was sitting with.  I remembered Humphrey Bogart's line from Casablanca: "Of all the gin-joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."  She was from a time in my life that I rue, a time of intense sadness and dissatisfaction.  In that moment, my heart was NOT home again.

I didn't let it affect my enjoyment of the show, but I started thinking about it the moment I walked away from Bob to head for my car.  I realized that it wasn't necessarily seeing her that bothered me; but she was a reminder of a past that I never wanted to have to revisit.

However, as I drove, I realized that I'm not the same person that I was when I knew her then.  I'm not.  I have the same name, I occupy the same body, but I have changed.  And, like it or not, the events of that time influenced what happened in my life in the following period, and that next era effected the next, and so on, like chapters in a book, to make me what I am today.  And that is a good thing.  Celtic Woman has led me on many journeys, and this stop on the journey was not the easiest one, but this stop has made me put into perspective not where I once was, but instead how far I have come and where I am going.  The journey is forever.


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Jim M.
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« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2017, 02:34PM »

Scott, it is always nice reading your fine reviews.  Thank you. Smiley
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bobh56
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« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2017, 08:26PM »

Scott,

Thank you for another outstanding concert review.

I must, however, mention a particularly noticeable oversight.  From our discussion after the concert, I know that you enjoyed Éabha's fantastic Sean Nós Songs as much as (if not more than) I did, but your review makes no mention of them.   Huh

See you in Buffalo and Red Rocks.

Be well,

Bob
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dbbii
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« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2017, 10:25AM »

Great review as always.

Echoing what you've said -- the show is different.  Not better, not worse, just different.  I've been to a couple of shows with people who had never seen CW, and they thought it was great.

And you are right, Red Rocks is the ultimate venue!  Got my tickets -- 3rd row.  Ouch, but it's only a small part of what it costs for the whole trip.

Don
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Hubert
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« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2017, 01:56PM »

I hope I enjoy my show in May as much as you enjoyed yours.  Thanks for another nice review.
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There is no Lambe like our Lil' Lambe.  Mairead Carlin is the real deal.
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