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Author Topic: Report from Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City (SPOILERS)  (Read 2516 times)
VegasDavid
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« on: December 19, 2018, 12:36:58 AM »

I just saw the show at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City with the Utah Symphony Orchestra!

A small group of Scariff School dancers were performing in the lobby, starting at least about an hour before the show.  (They were the same dancers that I saw perform with Máiréad Nesbitt just a few days before.)  Thankfully, no one was crowding up to the stage, so there was plenty of room for me to just walk up there and sit down on the floor, getting a front row view of the impressive performance.  Mia Leonelli was there again and I got to meet her.

I also encountered Dennis and Susan, the couple that took a nice picture of me after the second night at the Johnstown Castle.  Dennis lurks on this forum, so, hi, Dennis!  It's nice to be recognized once in a while.

The Celtic Woman set list was almost exactly the same as Tom's reported set list,  so instead of rewriting the whole thing, I will just point out the differences or the things that Tom didn't explicitly mention.

I thought the first song was Jingle Bells (with the orchestra only).  I'm pretty sure it started with a J, and I can't find Murphy's Mistletoe (the name printed in the program) when I search the internet.

Before introducing Silent Night, Éabha mentioned that she had once attended a concert in Abravanel Hall when she was a child and pondered what it would be like to be up on stage.  Then she mentioned how she learned the Gaelic version of Silent Night first and was surprised when she first heard some people singing it in English.

Introducing Danny Boy, Mairéad mentioned that the song comes from the same place that she comes from (Derry) and that it is like the second national anthem of Ireland.

Éabha introduced the Wexford Carol, mentioning that they had recently recorded the Ancient Land DVD at the Johnstown Castle in Wexford.  Audience members near the front row applauded in the middle of that, probably indicating that a bunch of us were there at the castle!  I know at least three were.

Megan's stunning Christmas Song solo was just Megan and the piano player.  I really loved this song, and it made me think that Megan's power level has exceeded 9000.  I think she got the best reaction of any solo song.  I overheard some ladies behind me praising "the blonde one" during intermission.

Mairéad's rendition of We Three Kings was also stunning.  After being gentle and soft for the previous songs, she let loose a lot of wattage in this song, and I really loved near the end of the song when she switched into high-pitched opera mode a few times in the middle of a verse.

A terrestrial Anto Byrne had big parts in Amazing Grace, We Three Kings, and Auld Lang Syne.   Caitriona Frost and the woodwind player from Johnstown Castle were there too.  Lloyd Butler was directing, and I forget the piano player's name but they did introduce him.

They did We Wish You a Merry Christmas as a partial singalong, directed by Mairéad.  In the middle of the song, she asked the ladies in the audience to sing a verse, complimented them as the best singers on the whole tour, then asked the guys to sing a verse (we didn't get a compliment, lol).  Similarly to what Tom described, we did a massive standing ovation after that song.  Just when we were thinking the applause might start to die down, we let out a spontaneous resurgent burst of cheering that surprised Mairéad and put a smile on her face.

And, of course, we did a second standing ovation afrer Auld Lang Syne, so the concert had a really strong ending.

At the merchandise table, I got two Christmas shot glasses and a magnet.

I'm glad I went!
« Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 11:35:47 PM by VegasDavid » Logged
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