A Fabulous Weekend with CW

[Mel]

Ok, here goes, sorry about so many parts but its the only way.

Part 1

Celtic Woman: Isle of Hope Tour
Aronoff Center Cincinnati, Ohio 6/11/09
Covelli Center, Youngstown Ohio 6/12/09
The Palace Theatre, Cleveland Ohio 6/13/09

Take this as a lesson on procrastinating to pack till the last night before heading out on a trip to see another CW concert.

My plans for the Youngstown/Cleveland trip was to pack on Thurs night after work. Since I was driving, it wasn't as critcial as if it was for a flight. I had decided to rent a car, as my car is having some brake issues, and I just didn't feel comfortable driving it up to the YT/Cleve area. So course very early Thurs morning, around 3:30am, I am heading off to work, I turn on my cell phone, and I get this Voicemail notice. So I check in, and it's Christopher from the Forum. Seems he had tried calling around 10pm the night before, but I was fast asleep by then. Anyways, he had an extra ticket for tonight’s Cincinnati show, and that Tom told him to ask me.

[Mel]

see!! that all I can put in one post lol!

This is going to be long

Part 2

Chris goes on to say it's front row, and that it's paid for, that I wouldn't have to pay anything, he just didn't want it to go to waste. So course, I follow the dancing carrot on the stick. I got to work, and kept thinking I should wait till around 8am to call, but I was afraid he may try to call others, so I figured I would just call and leave a voicemail about how I would take the ticket. After all, YT/Cleve were to be my last CW shows for this tour, and since I live in Columbus, in the center of Ohio, it wouldn’t be that hard to get to. Seems Chris was awake, he had just got off work, but said he was glad I could take the ticket, and we made arrangements to meet at the venue. Now I had to give my supervisor the bad news, I was NEEDING to leave an hour earlier, so I would have time to get the rental car, go home and change, and get to Cincy before the traffic got bad.

[Mel]

Part 3

I have been to Cincy many times, and it can be a headache at rushhour. I already had Friday off, and what was even better, is at first it was going to be UNPaid Personal, but found out since I put in early enough, it was now PAID Personal time . That was another reason I took the Carrot, .I mean ticket. So at 2:30 I was gone from work, got to the airport (this is the only place to get a Dollar Rental car), so I could just park the car there, and go to rental counter. Quick and easy, though I did want the PT Cruiser, it was being serviced, so had to take the Dodge Avenger. Now off to home, feed the cat, give him his pat, get cleaned up and more appropriately dressed. I don't think the Girls would care for me to be in my grungy shorts, work shirt and boots . Then it was time to head off. It was around 4pm, and I texted Chris to let him know I was on my way, and he said he was just leaving also. He would be heading from Toledo on I-75 and I was heading down on I-71, as both meet in Cincy...how convenient!! I stopped briefly after I was on I-71 to get some McDonalds, as I hadn't had much for lunch and less for breakfast.

[Mel]

Part 4

I did run into some spotty showers on the way down, but wasn't too bad. Though Chris did call to say that some idiot had run him off the road, but that he and his car were ok, and he was back on the road again. Typically it takes almost 2 hours to get to downtown Cincy. I made great time...till I hit the outskirts of the city..then traffic was down to a crawl. But I was good, had plenty of time, the show started at 7:30, it was only 5:15. Got downtown, near the venue, which was the Proctor and Gamble Hall at the Aronoff Center, right off Fountain Square. Found a parking garage nearby. I texted Chris to say I had arrived, when he called and said he was like 90miles away. Ok..now I am starting to worry. His 90 miles is like Columbus to Cincy miles, and it's already close to 6pm. I finally walk to the venue, which I like this place, because you can go inside and use the restrooms and such. You just can't go up the stairs to the theatre area with out a ticket. So I patiently waited...and waited...and my patience was waning. I would get up...sit down. Press my face against the window hoping to see Chris.

[Mel]

Part 5

I kept looking at my cell to see the time. 7pm.....7:15...and no Chris. I start talking to myself: 'What will the Girls think of me, coming in late? I have never missed the opening song...but then course it's not like they knew I was going to be there. I hate being late for anything.'...7:20...and what made it worse?? is they had these monitors above some of the doors, and you could see the stage...and I am like..if I see it go dark...and...well...don't look Mel...7:25...Thunk..Thunk...my head hitting the window...peeks at the monitor...still lit up....7:29....7:30...peek at monitor...breathing hard...7:32....grrrrrrrr.....then I hear...'MEL!! I AM HERE!!, and I look to see where he is at. He is inside (as I had gone out to stand in the entryway). He is out of breath, and I am like....Lets goooooo...I look at the monitor..The Stage is still all lit up and no CW dancing around. Chris is fumbling for the tickets. I grab mine and shove it at the man taking them. He tells us where to go, and we rush up the steps..lots of steps...then we head to the left, and down ramps, and more ramps...finally we hit the bottom and the doors are open and the all the lights are still on!!! YESSSSS WE MADE IT!! THANK GOD FOR CW'S LATE STARTS!!!

[Mel]

Part 6

We quickly head to the front row. Now Chris didn't know exactly where our seats were, so I figured we would end up on either end of this short row, which looked to be about only 10 seats or so. Then we got huge grins on our faces...we had FRONT ROW CENTER!! And we were pretty close to the stage too. We just barely sat down, and with in SECONDS...the lights went out...Talk about perfect timing!! Sheesh...we both were out of breath throughout SDS. At one point we wanted to turn one of those small fans in the front of the stage on us, cause we were sweating lol.

But this was soooooo worth all of that worry. See, again, I wasn't suppose to BE at this show. Seems someone else was a bit surprised. As Lisa comes out, she looks down and has this little look of well, surprise then she breaks out in a grin. Chloe didn't seem phased, she just was all grins. I just kept thinking, ok, whoever I have in the M&G, hopefully either Lisa, Mairead or Chloe, I was going to have some explaining to do . Ok the stage at this venue is not a long one front to back, so everything was very close up, including the girls and being pretty much center, well it was very close! Usually when the seats are that close, the staging is set further back, but that wasn’t the case. So like when the Girls get close to the front of the stage, I am like WHOA...they are CLOSE!!! But I am not complaining!!

[Mel]

Part 7

I know people keep asking, how can you go see the same show over and over again. But it's not the same show every time. Something different happens, the venues are different, the interaction with the Girls and Ray and Nicky are different each time.

For this show, it was pretty much just me and Chris. So I pretty much just stayed in my seat and clapped at the end of each song. Till Mo Ghile Mear. I am sorry, but it's the end of the first half and the Girls and all of the Cast deserve a standing ovation for such a wonderful first half. So course I stand up...and I realize I am the only one standing. So I reached down and grabbed Chris's sleeve and whispered "Get up, Get up". He stands, but soon he sits down, as he is a bit shy, and normally I am too. This time I caved in, and sat back down, all the while still clapping of course, and as I look up at Lisa, she just gives me this look and a slight shrug as if to say "Well you tried" and I just kind of shrugged back like "Oh well".

The second half again, I pretty much decided to just sit and behave, since it's hard to a appreciative group with just 2 of us. I just thought about the next night in YT and it would be way different.. But I and Chris still enjoyed the show, for we were getting a lot of attention. But I did stand up again at the end of Sing Out, cause it's just not right not too lol! One funny moment was when Chloe was doing her pre-O America speech, she is mentioning something about the audience enjoying the shows or something and I just shake my head thinking "Naahh...I am not enjoying myself at all" and Lisa again, sees this and just looks at me with a twinkle and shakes her head as if agreeing with me. From O America to the end of Spanish Lady I did give the S.O's..I didn't care if I was the only one, though by this time the audience seemed to have caught on.

[Mel]

Part 8

I gave Chris a lift to where he parked, and then thanked him once again for the ticket. He was just glad someone could use it. I did have a slight issue with getting out of there though, I kept going around and around trying to find a sign to I-71. I had no problem with finding ones for I-75. Finally I turned down a street, and oh..great the buses. That’s not helping…but then I see the sign ahead…pointing to I-71. Those bus drivers have it easy this time. They are all lined up, facing the on ramp to I-71!! I hadn’t even realized the venue was that close to the on ramp. Now to make it home with out falling asleep. I did ended up stopping at a rest area, just for a quick rest once I realized I need to take a break. But I did make it home around 1:30am, and went to bed.

And I was up at 5am…great..4hrs of sleep. But I needed to get packed since I was kind of busy the night before. I had most of my things together, so all I had to do was just load them into the suit case. My big mistake was I didn’t look at my checklist. Anyways, I made sure the cat had plenty of food and water. Before anyone gets worried about my cat, I typically board him if I am gone more than 3 nights. He is happier at home than being in a cage at the vets, and I already had to deal with his disgruntle from the 8 days he was boarded a few weeks ago. I loaded up the car, and then it was time to head north. I was leaving around 6am because I wanted, again, to get out of the city and the morning rush hour. I did make a stop at Walmart to pick up some drinks to go into my little cooler. I had my two self made maps, one to get to Cleveland and one that showed the route between Cleveland and Youngstown. I was going up to Cleveland to check into the hotel that Zo had reserved for me. I didn’t really want to do it later that night at like midnight.

[Mel]

Part 9

But I made better time than I thought, so I decided to head to Youngstown first, to do a trial run of my YT/Cleve route. I don’t like driving at night if I don’t have to, especially on unknown roads. I am glad I did, because there was some construction on parts of it, and there were some tight places and lane switches. At one point I missed an exit where I-77 goes left and I-480 went right, so I had to turn around and get back on I-77. No problem. Once on I-77, realized it ends right where I needed to go. I just got in the middle lane which took me to 9th St. Then then on Euclid and there was the Holiday Inn Express. Squished in between the National City Bank. How convenient again…my bank. Least I can find an ATM fast . Walked into the lobby, but ok, it looks like a BANK lobby. Not much of a hang out in the lobby, lobby lol. No cushy couches. Checked in with no problems, was on the 12th floor. Have to use the key card to even get the elevator to move. Now that is secure! This hotel is very neat, feels like it’s from like the forty’s. The floor I was on, the hallways was all tile, not carpeted. Now Zo mentioned a Jacuzzi, but I was thinking like in the spa or something, no, it was in the room!! Holy Moly! Never had a room with a Jacuzzi before. Unfortunately, I never got to use it!! I tried at one point to fill it, but it’s so huge, after 20mins, it still wasn’t up to the jets.

[Mel]

Part 10 (told ya it's long)

Zo did finally call and say they were just now on I-76 toward Youngstown. I wasn’t going to the dinner with all the others, as I don’t like having dinner at 5pm when Tom is involved! LOL!, sorry Tom but I like getting to the venue with some breathing room, and after the night before, I really didn’t want to be late. So I walked up to find some food and seen that The Palace was not that far, maybe 4 blocks. I decided I kind of like Cleveland, least this part. Never had been here, but this particular area seem to kept clean, and seems Euclid was one of the main streets to find all the restaurants, theatres, hotels, and such. Picked up a Subway sandwich and headed back to the hotel. I got ready, and this is when the Procrastinating hit me. I had my good pants, shirt, and even socks, but I forgot my GOOD shoes!! AWWW geeeess.... so I apologize to others for looking nice, till you seen my sandals lol, but it's better than going bare foot I guess . I then headed out around 4pm, so as to have plenty of time in case of traffic. Well it started out pretty slow, but then it cleared. But for some reason, the road didn’t look familiar, and then I realized, I still hadn’t got to I-80, and the toll road part. Next thing I see I am in Akron…how did I do that I don’t know, but I missed a exit or turn for Youngstown and ended up in Akron. But again, no problems, just got on I-76 and headed to YT.

[Mel]

Part 11

It was easy to get to the exit I needed and then to the venue. Now on this trip, I was trying to keep to a tight budget, and then I see that the Corvelli Center (was the Chevrolet Center till a few months ago I guess), was going to charge $10 to park. I just thought that was a bit extreme. So I drove around a bit, and there was another lot, with no sign, and so I parked there. Then around 6:30, someone came an put a sign up…Yep..$10..dang it!! I didn’t have bills on me, so I had to go find an ATM, and well, downtown Youngstown, isn’t quite so young. To me, it looked lifeless. I am use to seeing people bustling about on the streets and at that time, people leaving work and heading home. It was very odd. Then I couldn’t find a regular bank to with a drive thru ATM, cause I really didn’t want to walk up to one, that’s how bad it was, but finally I had to pull into a parking spot, which was free at least, and go up to an ATM. Now back to the lot and paying the dang $10 to park. Around 7pm I headed over to the venue, to stand outside, since Zo had my ticket. Ok..here we go again lol. Wait…wait…wait. Least this time I brought a crossword book to keep me occupied. Soon Zo finds me and Ashley and I are introduced. We go inside, and eventually more people show up. Tom, Ryan, Andi, Anne, and we go find out seats. The Corvelli is another Arena, so course the seating is like 10ft away from the stage. Most of us have the front row, center section, just not all together. Tom had the Aisle seat on the right, then Ryan, Me and then Zo

[Mel]

Part 12

We would be on the Lisa/Chloe side . Andi and Anne were farther down on the left. I believe Ashley and Tara (Leighlam) were in like 3rd row, but in the left side section, and Daryl was like row R behind us. Also joining us was Tom’s Mother, and Aunt. They were sitting in the row right behind us, as they also had M&G. Least tonight, we would be giving the CW the attention they deserve. It is way more better at a show with friends.

Then the show starts, and here comes that thrill again, and each girl comes into view, and yep, it doesn’t take long for us to be spotted. Seems Mairead liked to stop in front of Tom and Ryan, first during a little bit of SDS, but when she came out for Coast of Galicia, which has become my favorite of Mairead’s solo pieces, she just kept stopping and giving both them the famous Mairead’s wide eyed looks. After awhile Zo says “how many was that” and I said I had stopped counting after like 5. I think we have a new pair of Troublemakers on our hands, because both Ryan and Tom would just keep laughing and I think maybe a few elbows in there, though Ryan was blaming Tom. Hmmm..sounds familiar . Then course when Mairead gets to the part where she just spins…and spins…and spins, again Zo asks, how many times and I just shrugged and said I didn’t even try to count, cause it makes me dizzy just to watch! How she can spin like that AND Fiddle is just amazing. I have decided on Mairead’s title in the show, as to me Lisa is the Mom, Chloe is the Spokesperson and Charmer, and now Mairead is the Comedian. With all her looks and smirks and expressions, with some yells thrown in, it always gets the audience laughing and riled up so by the end of a fast song, you can’t help but stand up and cheer! And we did just that.

[Mel]

Part 13

I will again state, that Chloe and When You Believe is by far my favorite of ALL of Chloe’s songs. I did whisper to Ryan, that he needs to be prepared. Since Chicago, Chloe has turned up the power on this song. That is the only way I can describe it. And when she gets to the final, high note and just holds it, and your like..ok…how long this time, and then she just lets it go…you are just like…WOW!! Ryan just like looked at me and said just that…WOW. I just grinned and said…told ya. I have this new little gesture I do when Chloe gets done; it’s a pounding of my fist, like a hammer on a nail, because she just NAILS that note and the song., then she gets this grin and twinkle as if saying “Oh yea…I got them”.

Lisa and Fields of Gold I simply adore watching. I know Lisa mentioned she had a to take a bit of time adjusting to doing a pop song, but she has, or least it sounds like she has become more comfortable with this song. I am just glad I hear Barley now and not Bali, which is what I thought Sting was saying, and then Lisa. I particularly love this part:

I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We will walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold

Ok, seems Tom wants to add a new move to Orinoco Flow, where we sway back and forth. But Ryan and Tom just couldn't seem to work together lol.

[Mel]

Part 14

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears is just such an Awesome song, and when Chloe sings the parts about being fifteen years old, and knowing SHE was that age when she started, always gets to me.

First half double whammy, least for me is with Goodnight My Angel, and then Danny Boy. Goodnight My Angel isn't a long song, but short and very sweet, but it packs a punch. I know people say they are tired of Danny Boy and it's overdone, and I am sure it has been. But I don't really listen to the words so much now. When I first heard this sung in Chicago with all 4 Girls, I just melted. Their harmonies are just so beautiful. Several parts really just make me like just almost giddy. One is when they first harmonize in the beginning, I am like...WOW. Then later, they, not sure what to call it, but they start at one pitch, and just keeps going down...but gives me chills every time. Love watching how Chloe will keep this one low tone for a few seconds, then sort of hands it off to Lisa, so Chloe can sing her one part. Again, don't really know how to describe it, it's just something you pick see after seeing them a few times I guess .

[Mel]

Part uh..oh..15

It's always fun when Mo Ghile Mear starts, and when those drums BOOMED...well you could feel the vibration go thru you. During the part where Mairead comes out and does her part, I was looking I guess at Lisa, and then I hear this loud THUNK, as Mairead's shoes hit the staging and landed right in front. With the arena staging, instead of a solid floor, it just made that sound that you literally could hear up to the rafters, and we all kind of jerked and heard this gasp. But then we look up at Mairead and she just is Grinning from ear to ear, and a twinkle in her eyes, like....'Ah Ha! Got ya! How'd ya like that landing!'. She had just Stuck that Landing and we wished we had some of those 10 score cards they use for gymnasts lol! I am not a sure, but I think Mairead was having a lot of fun tonight! . Well I didn't have to worry about standing up alone this time, as we all rose to give the entire ensemble a huge round of applause.
During the break, Ashley had come up and we found out we had 2 seats in the front row that were empty and one in the second, so that when the 2nd half was about ready to start, Ashley and Tara took the 2 seats, though not side by side, and Daryl moved to the second row seat. This was Ashley's first CW show, and she had just done her first Mel Move!

Now it was time for the 2nd half to start. I love The Call, but that drum that starts off scares me every time! Even when you know it's coming, you don't know EXACTLY when it's going to start. These last 3 shows I made it a point to really watch, as I realized both nights in WPB, for SOME Reason, I was distracted . The first time I seen The Call performed, in Chicago, I had to get use to all the moves. Now I love them. Especially watching Chloe, she is just so graceful, and she gets this look, it's priceless.