Santa Barbara concert Fri May 16th...

[PhxTitan]

Went to the SB concert just the other night 5/16 and WOW!  Not a novice to their concerts, took in a Phoenix concert years ago and this one was even better, if that's believable.  Lisa and Meav were not there in SB so we saw two totally new girls there.  Both great!  One was spectacular, quite animated, full of smiles, expression, theatrical even, all great attributes on stage.  The other was great too.  Who were they?  Alex, and Lynn Hilary?  Tough matching-up online photos to what I saw on stage though.  Will they be seen again?  Sure hope so.  I thought the girls "assumed" the roles of Lisa and Meav in the songs they sung.  Is that correct?

A few years ago, Meav didn't make that concert either and was replaced by Deirdre Shannon, whom I've never seen or heard of again since that Phoenix concert.  Update?  I understand Meav has "quit" CW, or as they said a full time break from touring, and will be surely missed.

Where's Hayley???

...Parking was an absolute NIGHTMARE at the Santa Barbara Bowl, NO warning they had NO parking, and ended up parking nearly 3/4 mile away, missing the surprise appearance of the High Kings.  Armory was full.  Wasn't on our tickets they'd play.  Last minute add?  Did catch final 10 minutes of them and found them to be very worthy of Celtic Woman's producers.  Plan on going to their Phoenix concert next October.  Instantly warmed to them.  Assumed we see more of them on PBS in the future.  Supposedly they had a March '08 PBS concert?  Didn't see it.

Many thanks to the entire Celtic Woman production team and talent -- I love 'em!  Don't burn yourselves out.  ;-)

[Trouble]

Hey PhxTitan, Welcome to the CW Forum!

Yes, that was Alex Sharpe and Lynn Hilary. Alex took over for Lisa, while Lisa was on maternity leave.
Lynn took over for Meav, who went to spend more time with her famliy and her solo career.
Deirdre has been busy with her own career and you can visit her website and forum at http://www.deirdreshannon.net/ 
Hayley is working on her solo career as well.

 

[Shywolf(Craig)]

PhxTitan Thanks for your review. I was wondering if anybody from the fourm went to the Santa Barbara show.

Craig

[socalfan]

I would have to agree with PhxTitan that the best way to describe the Santa Barbara concert was WOW.   Two things that stood out for this show was the energy of everyone on stage and the energy of the audience.  It was fun to watch the energy of the two play off each other.

I'll also agree parking was a problem (for some) however that was not the fault of the Santa Barbara Bowl. The parking lot they usually use was unavailable due to a high school sporting event. However I found a spot on the street just a couple of blocks from the bowl so I got lucky.

The venue itself is a great setting. Similar to the Greek Theater in the bowl like setting and surrounded by trees and other vegetation, the biggest difference between the two is the view.  The Santa Barbara Bowl sits on the side of a hill (and you know it by the walk uphill to the seating area. Not as impressive as Red Rocks but a hike just the same) with a view of the city of Santa Barbara and the Pacific Ocean.  The performers had a wonderful view from the left side of the stage of the ocean and I wouldn't have been surprised if they just stopped the show and said "hang on, we want to enjoy the view for a minute".  The High Kings did comment on the setting by saying they were going to buy one of the houses above the bowl and move the whole operation to Santa Barbara.

The show itself was the usual quality that Celtic Woman deliver with one exception. The energy they still had amazed me.  This was the next to last show and who could have blamed them if they were looking forward to the trip home. I mean we all have the it's almost quiting time attitude sometimes and don't give it our all 10 minutes before quiting time. But from the moment Mairead began to play to the end of the concert the energy was amazing.  Everyone truly gave everything they had.

The audience was also at a high level of energy and the cast certainly noticed and responded to it.  As soon as Mairead stepped on stage to begin the show she received a round of applause and she certainly picked up on it.  By the time the show was over there were standing ovations at intermission and three at at end of the show along with numerous individuals giving standing O's at the end of certain songs.  The performers also picked up on certain sections of the audience that seemed to be more into it than others. I was lucky in that my section seemed to have lots of fans and were rewarded with Orla, Mairead and Nicky spending a lot of time on our side of the stage with each one of them interacting with us.

Perhaps the best way to describe how the evening went is this way. I went to the concert with a friend who is a big fan of Lisa's but he had never seen Celtic Woman in concert. And even though he was disappointed that Lisa wasn't there he was amazed by the performance. As we were leaving we were talking about my wife's and I trip to Ireland to see the Christmas taping last August.  He commented that he would like to do something like that. I told him the girl's would be performing in Europe in Sept/Oct. His wife commented that if they were performing in Germany she wanted to go (she wasn't a huge fan before the concert)  Last time I talked to him he told me the misses has him looking for flights to Germany.



 

[PhxTitan]

Thanks for the update! Excited to be "in the loop" now with other CW'ers.  Meav and Hayley are STILL listed as part of the girls... does that mean they are still "on the team"?  Most likely to see them again???  Deirdre Shannon is not listed.  Have there been any others that have filled in during tours, not listed in "Meet the Celtic Women"?

The producers have done an amazing job with the team and managing breaks for the girls, etc.  Job One: Keep them fresh and invigorated!

Santa Barbara Bowl is beautifully situated in the hills there, houses just under 4,600 (it was full) ... but get there 90 minutes prior; parking is absolutely Atrocious, especially if you drive in naive.  Go the SBB website and do your parking homework!  Missed most of the High Kings, whom we were surprised to find opening.  We had no opening act notice on our tickets.  The 10 minutes we saw of them... was instant love at first site with their presence and performance. Looking forward to years of PBS shows and concerts with them.  I noticed NBC's Today Show clued in early with them.  Did they beat PBS to the punch, with PBS's own team?  Be interesting to know what percentage of CW fans saw High Kings on PBS in March.  I certainly missed it.  Most did I would guess.

[PhxTitan]

SoCalFan was writing his review when I was responding, so didn't see it before my last post.  Great review; spot on!  Eloquently so.  I didn't think they were ever going to leave the stage... =) ... giving more and more of themselves after I thought it was over.  Thought it was over a few times.  Loved their energy, especially for a tail end of a tour.  They were ALL worthy of "WOW!"  That was indeed a stellar concert they gave.  Thank you, CW!

The real estate around the SBB are all million plus dollar homes, safe to assume.  Free concerts too. ;-)  Not surprised at the NO Parking situation now a "veteran" of the SBB.  So the nearby High School had their own events filling up parking, the Armory down the road filled up... I was the unlucky one.  Lucky to catch High Kings at all. Good exercise though!  But by all means a VERY worthy trip to coincide with a CW concert.  Had a great weekend there.  Could not have been better... SB surf & sand & CW!

[Kelli]

Welcome to the CW Forum, PhxTitan!  I honestly don't know if we'll ever see Meav or Hayley again, though I think it's safe to say that it's not likely. 

You should do yourself a favor and check out Deirdre Shannon's solo work.  She has one CD out called "Deirdre Shannon" that is simply incredible.  I believe her website has clips of it. 

Lisa should be back next tour, and we're bidding adieu to Alex.  Lynn Hilary is a fantastic permanent member, though.  Ask any questions you have, this place is chock full of people who can help!

[Shywolf(Craig)]

Hi Socal nice review. I was in Ireland for the Christmas taping too. Hmm it was  July 17 & 18, 2007. Not August cause you would not have been there

[socalfan]

Yeah Shywolf your right it was July.  My bad.  Lot's gone on since then and I messed up the date. Didn't have a 2007 calender in front of me when I wrote the review. I'm the guy in the green shirt in the audience shot after Orla sings Away in a Manger.  The misses is in the red top
Attended both nights sitting on the right side of the stage the first night and second row center stage the second night.  Stayed at the Clontarf Castle. 

[Moscapoet]

Welcome both of you to the forum! Thank you so much for those great perspectives. A great view, great audience, great venue? Ahhh, that's perfect. They deserve all of that and am so glad they were able to draw energy from the crowd and especially from you! There is nothing like CW live and in person and up close. To quote a certain chef, BAM!!!!!

[bpea55]

BAM is right! Welcome PHX!
Great review...I am still amazed by these ladies and what they put into their work...NOBODY compares to them..... NOBODY!!!!!!!!!!
OK, so I'm just a little biased
BP

[Shywolf(Craig)]

Socalfan I kept my ticket from the show. The first night I was sitting on David D side near the steps an entrance where the choir and gals entered and exited. Second night sitting front row our left on the point of the stage sitting next to Paul - Kathleens' husband. I zoomed on every scene showing us in the dark to confirm me on the dvd from that night Yeppers it is the second night on the dvd I stayed at Days hotel Airport. 3 miles from the the Helix. Short stay there in Dublin 

Craig

[PhxTitan]

Thanks for welcome everybody.    Is CW just one big heart-breaker?    Meav, Hayley, and now Alex are history?  Meav and Hayley everyone knows and loves, but for those who didn't get to see Alex... well she was a treat!  She was animated, beautiful, quite the stage flirt.  Beautiful voice.     Of course similar comments could be made of all the CW, but for what it's worth, I'd love to see Alex back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It will be great to have Lisa back at it though.

I guess such is life with Celtic Woman.  Touring challenging.  Replacements needed.  They get instantly adopted as part of CW by fans who see them.  Fans fall in love.  Then the original/replacement leaves or comes back or are rotated out.  HEART-BREAKING!  But to have loved not at all would have been the greater loss. 

Glad I found a home here among CW lovers. 

[Kelli]

Right you are, Phx!  Of course, we can't forget our beloved Deirdre.  She covered for  Meav when she was on maternity leave and was with CW for I believe a year.  She has quite a growing following.

I've always said that I can easily accept in new members...it's "letting go" that's the hard part.  So I just never do!    Once a part of CW, always a part of CW in our hearts.  And this also includes choir members!

[greenfire6]

What a great and eloquently written attitude PhxTitan!

From the very beginning of my CW awakening I decided to take what I have called the long view. If we truly love these musical projects and the incredible men and women that make up the staring and supporting cast we must be the first to give them the liberty to follow their dreams and career desires. Within or without Celtic Woman we can then follow and support their careers while enjoying the excitement of getting to know new cast members. I agree with Kelli, its not easy.

But it is what we must do.

You expressed this far better than I ever could when you wrote:

But to have loved not at all would have been the greater loss.

Thank you!