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The Shows => Voices of Angels => Topic started by: Tracie on March 17, 2018, 10:26:11 PM

Title: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: Tracie on March 17, 2018, 10:26:11 PM
Continuing on with my tour experiences, here are my Voices of Angels stories and my quest to meet my favorite ladies.  A few months after my husband and I saw the Destiny tour, Celtic Woman announced the Voices of Angels tour.  We loved Destiny so much that we were definitely going to attend Voices of Angels.  There were going to be two shows in Minnesota, one in Rochester and one in Minneapolis.  We chose the Minneapolis show and bought our tickets the day they went on pre-sale.  A week after we saw and loved the Home For Christmas show, it was Christmas Eve and my husband surprised me with tickets to the Rochester show.  Then a month or so later my aunt and uncle contacted us.  They live in Colorado, are fans of Celtic Woman and knew that we are fans as well.  They invited us to go visit them when Celtic Woman would be there.  We loved the idea of a little vacation to Colorado, so we would then be seeing Voices of Angels three times within seven days.  We were so excited about our Celtic Woman week!  We were also very much wanting to meet the ladies, but couldn't find any meet and greet passes in our online searches of PBS stations.  I think the meet and greets must have sold out before we started looking for them.  We decided we would attempt to meet them at the bus, as we had seen pictures of other fans that had successfully done it.  So our Celtic Woman week began!

Pueblo, Colorado - June 7, 2017

The first Voices of Angels show we saw was in Colorado.  My aunt and uncle invited us to the Pueblo show since it was fairly close to where they live.  It was after we had those tickets and just in the week or so leading up to the show that we started to realize how big of a deal Red Rocks was and how amazing that show would be.  Had we known more about it in advance we probably would have picked that show instead of Pueblo.  Oh well, I figure the next time they have a show at Red Rocks, we can go visit my aunt and uncle again!

When we arrived at the show, we immediately saw Glenn at the merchandise table selling programs.  We walked up to him, told him that he's awesome and that we love the videos he and Ronan had been making.  My aunt joined us and told him that we had come from Minnesota and that we would be seeing both Minnesota shows as well.  Glenn said that was so cool.  He was really nice.  We didn't take a picture with him (I think I was a little too star-struck to ask), but after we got to our seats he was then walking around the theater selling the programs and I tried to sneak a picture of him.  He saw what I was doing and struck a pose for me.  My phone camera isn't great and it came out blurry, but it was still fun!  One thing I was thinking right away was that if I was feeling star-struck from meeting Glenn, I had no idea how I would feel if I succeeded in my quest to meet my favorite ladies.  Would I even be able to speak to them or would I just be overwhelmed with excitement?

We were sitting on the main floor about 20 or so rows back from the stage in the center.  We had brought four sets of binoculars so we could each get good up close looks at them.  Honestly, before the show even started I was ready to declare it to be the best show I had ever seen in my life.  I was so hyped up about it and yet they somehow managed to exceed my incredibly high expectations.  Every moment of the show was absolutely amazing.  I loved everything about it - I can't even pick out favorite songs from the show because I loved all of them.  It was fun having those binoculars to see up close details of all the dresses and of the singing.  My husband said he thought that Mairead was looking directly at him and smiling at one point when he was using the binoculars.  I said it's quite possible she could see that somebody was holding up binoculars!  He's quite tall too so he would stand out in a crowd.  The little theater we were in had amazing acoustics.  I thought it was a good audience too.  Every song got good applause and the final three songs each got standing ovations. 

We left with all four of us thinking the show was incredible.  My husband and I were telling our relatives that we wanted to meet the ladies.  My uncle drove around the back of the theater and we found where the buses were.  But then he just kept driving and headed home.  0-1 on our quest to meet the ladies.

Rochester, Minnesota - June 11, 2017

For the show in Rochester, we had seats in the third row all the way to the left.  This show was in an arena, so we were wondering what it would be like in comparison to the theater with the amazing acoustics.  We got there early and we saw a group of people with meet and greet passes and were bummed that we hadn't been able to get them.  When the doors opened, it was Glenn selling programs once again.  We walked by him and waved and asked if he remembered us from Colorado and he said that he did and welcomed us back to the show.  Ronan was also out in the lobby that night, but he was on the phone so we didn't want to disrupt him.  We got inside and were thrilled to be so close to the stage.  Although we were in the third row, being all the way to one side we actually had nobody directly in front of us because the first two rows had the seats in the center.  It was a pretty decent view of the stage too.  There was a curtain to the side that led backstage and a couple of times before the show started we could see people peeking out from behind the curtain, checking out the crowd.  We couldn't tell who it was though. 
   
When the show started we were very pleased that the sound in the arena was great.  While not quite as good as the acoustics in the theater, everything still sounded wonderful.  The entire show was amazing once again.  The biggest difference between the two shows was that the crowd in Rochester was really boring at first.  They were so quiet for the first few songs that I felt bad for the performers.  They changed up the order of the songs to put Across The World earlier in the set and I'm sure that was an effort to get the crowd into the show.  It worked too, it got people clapping along.  The crowd really got going once they got to The Kesh Inn and Nil Sen La.  By the end of act one, the crowd was really into it and stayed really into it all the way through act two, giving standing ovations to each of the final three songs.  I'm glad the crowd wasn't dull the entire time.  My husband and I both said afterwards that we thought Tara had looked directly at us and smiled a couple of times, which was awesome.

After the show, we walked around the arena and found the buses at the back.  The buses were very close to the building and we didn't see any other fans (or anybody at all) out there.  We weren't really sure how to go about attempting to meet them and weren't sure if we were allowed to walk right up to the buses.  We hung back and just kept an eye on the building to see if we would catch the moment that they walked out, but in the end the buses drove away without us ever seeing a single person climb on.  We waved at the buses as they drove past.  0-2 on our quest to meet the ladies.  One chance left.

Minneapolis, Minnesota - June 13, 2017

The show in Minneapolis was in a theater and we went with my mom.  The acoustics in this theater were amazing, just like the first theater.  When we entered the lobby, it was Alan and Carl selling programs.  We walked up to them and I told them that we had already seen the show twice and that we loved their dancing.  They thanked us and said they hoped we enjoyed the show again.  We had fourth row seats all the way to the right.  It was great being so close to the stage again and seeing everything from the opposite side.  Once again, the show was incredible.  It was my mom's first time seeing them and she loved it too.  The big difference at the Minneapolis show from the other two was that the crowd was spectacular.  From the moment the ladies came on stage to start singing Mo Ghile Mear the crowd was roaring, and that roaring never stopped the entire night.  It was so much fun to be a part of.  We could really see how much the ladies were loving it.  They kept looking at each other with huge smiles on their faces, they were adding extra yips into the songs and they even commented on it.  Before The Parting Glass, Eabha said that the crowd was amazing, which was the same thing she'd said at each of the three shows, but then she added onto it that they had been on the road for a long time and that this was one of the most amazing nights they'd had.  It was really incredible.  During one of the standing ovations, Mairead locked eyes with me and gave me a huge smile.  That was so awesome.  The Minneapolis show is the best show I have ever been to and it was the amazing crowd that really put it over the top.  The ladies, band and choir gave us top notch performances at each of the three shows, but being in a roaring crowd added that extra level of awesomeness to it.  The Celtic Woman Instagram account posted shortly after the show had ended, "what a night we just had in Minneapolis!"  What a night indeed.  When the Homecoming tour was announced, I was shocked to see that Minneapolis wasn't on the list.  I thought for sure they would come back after how amazing that night was.  Now I'm hoping for this year's Christmas tour!

After the show, it was our last chance to meet them on the Voices of Angels tour.  We walked around one side of the building and didn't find the buses.  My husband didn't want to be out in the city in the dark so we were giving up and heading to our car.  When we crossed the street, I looked back and saw a gap at the other side of the theater, so we walked down to see what was in that gap.  There were the buses and as we were standing across the street, we saw Tara climb on!  We quickly made our way across the street to see if we could meet any of the others.  We again weren't really sure what to do, but my mom just walked right up to a security guard and asked if the ladies were all on the bus already and if not, could we meet them.  The guard said they weren't all on the bus yet and yes, we could wait for them.  Oh my goodness, the excitement!  He pointed us around a corner to wait and we then saw that there was a group of fans already there.  They had gotten pictures with Tara, so she had stopped.  We just missed meeting her!  As we anxiously waited, we noticed that there was a bar patio nearby and that the band was hanging out there.  I'm not really sure how long we waited out there.  Maybe 10-15 minutes?  During that time, Ray got up and walked by us and said something, although I didn't catch a word of what he said.  Caitriona got up and walked by and the group of fans cheered for her, to which she gave us a huge smile.  Susan walked by and gave us a smile and a wave, but continued on to the bus without stopping.  At that point we were wondering if we would actually get to meet any of them or if we were only going to see them walk by.
 
And then, the big moment finally arrived.  Eabha and Mairead came out of the theater and were walking directly towards the fans, which resulted in the group erupting into applause.  We were so incredibly excited, they were going to stop and meet us!  As they walked up, the first thing Mairead said was that they loved us as an audience.  Then they started making their way around the group.  Eabha came over to us first and my mom had her autograph her program.  Mairead started to walk over to us too and was asking my mom if she wanted her to sign the program too, but then she got side-tracked by somebody else.  She was taking pictures with other fans and then what I thought was so great was that she made sure to go back to my mom, asking if she should sign the program.  Then I asked if I could have my picture taken with them.  As we were getting set for the picture, I told them that this was the greatest show I had ever seen, to which Mairead replied "awwwww, thank you!"  It was so thrilling to stand in between Eabha & Mairead, two of my four favorite performers in the world, and to put my arms around them and have them put their arms around me.  I absolutely love the picture I got with them.  It makes me so happy every time I look at it.  They were both so incredibly sweet and kind.  The security guards kept trying to get them to go to the bus, but they wouldn't leave until everybody out there had the pictures and autographs that they wanted.  I thought that was so great of them to make sure to get to everybody.  As we were leaving, I realized that I should have told them thank you for their wonderful music providing me with much needed stress relief, but while everything was happening the words just didn't come to me.  I was pretty overwhelmed.  I'm glad I at least said the one thing to them.  My mom said that while they were each signing the program, she told them she was giving the program to me because I was such a huge fan and that this was the 5th time I had seen them in concert.  I'm really glad my mom talked to them a bit since I was too overwhelmed to say much.  The whole experience was incredible, especially with it coming right after the most amazing show with the most amazing crowd.  What a night!

A couple of days later I private messaged them a thank you, saying how much I enjoyed meeting them and telling them that what I missed saying was a thank you for their music relieving my stress.  I wasn't really expecting a response back, I just wanted them to know how much I appreciated them.  Eabha sent me a very sweet response back and said she was happy that their music could bring me peace.  Awwww.

So that's my Voices of Angels tour experience.  Thanks for reading my stories, these have been really fun to write up!  I'm so excited to see Homecoming in June and to have my first meet and greet!  I've got a little less than three months to figure out what to wear and what to say to them.  Eek!! 


Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: Tracie on March 17, 2018, 10:35:07 PM
I'd like to share my picture, but I'm not figuring out how to post it here.  I'll keep trying or if somebody could let me know how to do it, that would be great!  A really small version is on here as my thumbnail :)

Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: GlenS on March 17, 2018, 11:07:29 PM
below the area that you type is a  Attachments and other options click on it and click on Browse and find your picture on your computer click on it and hit post and your done
Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: Tracie on March 18, 2018, 09:15:26 PM
Thanks Glen!
Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: Tracie on March 25, 2018, 09:28:37 PM
I thought I'd show you all the project I did last summer to memorialize my Voices of Angels experience. I'm a scrapbooker, so after meeting Mairead and Eabha I wanted to do something fun with the picture. I made this using my picture with them as the centerpiece and the surrounding pictures are ones we took at the concerts. This is hanging up in my craft room.
Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: CWazyTom on March 25, 2018, 11:02:30 PM
That looks great!
Title: Re: My Voices of Angels tour experience
Post by: Tracie on March 25, 2018, 11:09:25 PM
Thanks!