I won't make this a super-detailed review, others have and will do a better job. See Tracey's Springfield review for a excellent synopsis:
http://www.celticwomanforum.com/index.php?topic=836.0. I'll just make some observations.
First, the trip to the concert itself was very eventful. I hadn't traveled the PA turnpike in a while but I expected an easy and quick trip. Boy was I wrong! Less than halfway into the trip I was stopped for almost 45 minutes because of a very nasty accident (triple fatality) involving a FedEx truck and a car and an extremely hot fire. After I finally got east of there and got on the Schuykill expressway, traffic was moving at about 10 mph
the whole way to the Belmont exit. This was on a Saturday afternoon; I shudder to think what it's like on a weekday morning. It's a good thing I gave myself plenty of time.
I arrived at the Mann Center by mid-afternoon, I had never been there and wanted to do a little reconnaissance first. After I found the free parking at the top of the hill, I started hearing
The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun from the venue. It was the sound check and I got to hear a sneak preview of Chloe and Meav singing the
Last Rose of Summer, Chloe singing
Nella Fantasia (my favorite, I always get a little chill when she hits that high note near the end), and Orla singing
New Grange.
Once the gates opened at 6pm, I wandered around and located my seat. I saw Rich and his son eating their dinner. (Rich, sorry I didn't say Hi, but I didn't want to interrupt and I also suffer from terminal shyness.) The venue is very similar to Wolf Trap, but the seating is a little better, in my opinion. I had third row side orchestra seating and at Wolf Trap the side seating is way off to the side. This was actually a very good seat, although not as good as tonight's seat!
What can I say about the concert that hasn't already been said? Since this was my first CW concert, there was so much to take in and I concentrated on Mairead. As a certified Mairead fan, it's a good thing that she isn't on stage for every song or I'd never get to look at the other girls! She is an absolute hoot to watch and she has waaaay too much fun. On the DVD the viewer is at the mercy of the director and can only see what he wants you to see, but her antics while she's in the background are a delight to watch. When she's not playing, she uses her bow alternately as a conductor's baton, a drumstick, and a sword. She did appear to have either a thin bandage or perhaps just a support stocking on her right leg, but that didn't keep her on the ground. Considering she didn't have much real estate to move around on, she was airborne a surprising amount.
Some other random observations... The gowns were beautiful, mostly white in the first half and colored in the second half. Mairead's white gown was particularly striking and gives her a very angelic appearance and Lisa was stunning in green. Lisa's new hairdo took a little getting used to, but it grows on you. The sound was great, although at time the girls voices seemed a little soft. It also seems odd at times to hear strings with no orchestra. The Philly crowd was a little subdued, and while some in the crowd tried to clap along when prompted, they quickly faded.
The only bad things about the show were unrelated to the show itself. After the intermission, Mr. "Big Head" and his wife in the row in front of me decided to swap seats and I lost my view of half the stage. And apparently Philadephians can't enjoy a show without alcohol, because everyone reeked of booze after they came back to their seats.
Other than that, though, it was an amazing experience and I am so looking forward to Wolf Trap tonight. Front row center pit seat, literally inches from the stage. It doesn't get any better than that!
