Review: Buffalo April 18th

I had been waiting almost eight years for this. It had been that long since my previous show at the Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York. I fell in love with the magnificent theater and had always wanted to come back. Now, for Celtic Woman's 2017 Voices of Angels Tour, I would.

After the Manchester show, I spent the following three days of Easter weekend in New Hampshire at my sister's house having a wonderful visit with family. On Monday the 17th I began my drive to Buffalo. For the trip out I intended to drive and stay overnight about halfway, in Utica, New York, and then drive the remaining four hours the next morning. The first day went without incident; I took the scenic route which involved seeing many small towns, farms, valleys, and a couple picturesque scenic overlooks in the mountains of Vermont. I had an ulterior motive for driving only partway on the first day; I would be driving the entire way back (about eight hours) and that would be a dress rehearsal for the massive road trip that I'd be taking later in the week to see Lisa Kelly in Peachtree City. In this way I would be gearing up from short to progressively longer driving over the course of the week.

In any case, on Tuesday morning I headed out from Utica to Buffalo, with delays caused by construction traffic. Arriving before 2pm, I met Mike at the Holiday Inn Express in dowtown Buffalo. We went to the waterfront to tour the Naval Museum there, which included the destroyer USS The Sullivans and the cruiser USS Little Rock. I learned just how cramped life aboard ship can be. Later we headed over to the Buffalo Chop House for a steak dinner with Karsten and with Tony from Ontario, whom I hadn't met before. We then walked over to the venue.

To this day, I still rank the Shea PAC as the most beautiful theater in America. An unassuming exterior disguised as an office building belies an absolutely magnificent lobby. The color scheme is red and gold; red for the gorgeous drapes and curtains, and gold for the trimmings around the doorways. Chandeliers, paintings, and plush carpeting also mark the lobby. The look of the place is reminiscent of the grand parlors on nineteenth century luxury steamships. Even the bathrooms have benches and fireplaces to give the impression of opulence. The auditorium itself has opera boxes and a balcony with about a dozen rows of seats. The orchestra pit has several rows of chairs with about four feet spacing to a stage of about average height, width, and depth. The "stop line" for the girls on the stage is set slightly further back than I remembered it, but so be it. Small house speakers are set across the length of the stage. I had front row pit, one seat over from center, Mike on one side and Karsten on the other, BobH and his niece a couple rows behind us. And so we settled in.

I guess that the beginning of the concert should be considered as a separate intro and not precisely part of "Mo Ghile Mear"; either way, I really like the dramatic, almost foreboding intro and I still find the song itself to be appealing... Before "My Heart Will Go On" Susan said how thrilled they were to be in Buffalo; she said it as "Boofallo" which was incredibly cute and reminded me distinctly of Chloe's pronunciation of "Paducah"... For "Isle Of Hope" I deliberately avoided watching the video on the big screen, which helped me to focus attention on Eabha; after hearing quite a few different versions of this song over the last eight years, I must say that I find Eabha's to be my favorite... the beginning of "Amazing Grace" had a problem with the front speakers not working; after about a dozen words they kicked in, which was incredibly jarring and nearly made me jump; very likely, the worst sound problem I've ever encountered at a CW show; and unfortunately the same issue with Mairead's joining the song happened again which I am certain is not her singing but the arrangement... another beautiful rendition of "She Moved Through the Fair" with the lovely dancing; one of my regrets from this tour is not having had the chance to tell Susan in person how much I loved their choreography... I didn't give "The Kesh Inn" it's proper due in my Manchester review; Tara does an excellent job with it, and the background screen used slides for this instead of live-action video which was not nearly as distracting... "Nil Sen La" was lively and the crowd was quick to participate.

Lighting was excellent, without the spotlight problems at Manchester. The sound was nothing short of poor with very annoying distortion; in fairness, the sound was considerably cleaned up in the second half. The crowd had been fairly good so far.

Second Act... I did not notice this at Manchester: in "Orinoco Flow" where it used to be that the soloists would each get one little solo segment, now Mairead holds a steady note; I LOVE those three parts where Mairead does that (which, if you know the original song, was a trademark of Enya)... speaking of Mairead, this was my second time listening to her "Ave Maria" and I think this might just be her signature song... "Westering Home"; ehhhh... Ray's solo leading into the percussion jam was fantastic, as always... I was remiss at forgetting to tell of "Sean Nos Song" in my Manchester review; Eabha's incredible alto reaches into you in a way that cannot be described; I cannot wait to hear this song at Red Rocks... I gave a standing ovation for Susan's "The Voice"; truly, finally, 'nuff said... I'll get back to "Walk Beside Me" at the very end... I stand by what I said in my previous review about "Time To Say Goodbye": finest harmonies that I've ever heard on any song ever, and THAT is saying something... I just noticed tonight that they don't thank the audience at the usual part of "You Raise Me Up"; no matter, it was a great rendition and most of the house gave a standing ovation... very good performance of "The Parting Glass" and I really do like that acapella portion near the end... the crowd didn't stay clapping for Anthony's finale but we in the front did, giving everyone their due as I nearly screamed myself hoarse.

After a brief run-in with venue security over an unnecessary misunderstanding (really the second such, if you include the handling of the M&G gifts at Manchester), we made our way out into the night, as Bob and his niece, Tony, and Karsten all parted company. Mike and I went to TGIFridays and talked long into the night, closing the place up. One of the most precious things that I'll take away with me from this Buffalo trip is the time I had with Mike. I adore the great big fan get-togethers, but I also love the times which I can spend one-on-one with the friends who have come to mean so much to me over the years. Perhaps it was fitting that we did this on Mairead Nesbitt's birthday, as she has meant so much to both of us. This time our farewells were only temporary, as he and I will join up again, with Karsten and many others, for Lisa and Chloe in Peachtree.

The other precious thing that I'll take with me from Buffalo happened during "Walk Beside Me". I have heard the recording of the song many, many times, of course, as well as seeing it preformed live both of these past two years, so this song and its lyrics are not new to me. But tonight, as Eabha sang "...and though these wings are not ready yet/I will try to fly", I remembered my last conversation with April, an intensely nervous driver ed student of mine from fifteen-plus years ago, a student that I had spent a great deal of time working with. After her last driving lesson I told her that it was time for me to let her go, that "I have to let you fly for yourself" to which April replied "But I'm not ready to leave the nest!" As Eabha sang her lines I welled up with tears at the memory; it had been quite a while since I had teared up during a Celtic Woman concert. Strange, that I should remember it then and there, after hearing the song perhaps a hundred times previously... but something similar had happened to me once with Alex Sharpe singing "True Colors". I attribute it to the talent and spirit of these ladies, who, perhaps without even intending to, somehow become vessels through which magic is made.