2020 is just around the corner.

2019 was my most ambitious concert-going year so far:

- 9 Celtic Woman shows (4 Ancient Land shows, 5 Magic of Christmas shows)
- 18 total Celtic Woman related shows (featuring current or former members)
- 17 flights
- 10 different states
- 2 countries

The concert season started off with a bit of a disappointment. Sarah Gannon (former choir member) was part of the Murphy's Celtic Legacy show for a while, but left shortly before the show I saw. The next day was a long but rewarding trip to Youngstown, Ohio to see Mairead Nesbitt for the first of 5 times this year. The even longer drive back home however was pretty terrifying for a number of reasons.

Later that month was the first of 4 Celtic Woman: Ancient Land tour shows of the year for me. For the first time, there was a "no hugging" policy in place by the venue. In humiliating but increasingly familiar fashion, I forgot was I was going to say to Megan. "The new girl curse" perhaps as I had experienced that problem with Tara several times prior to that. I already loved all the songs from the Ancient Land album / DVD and also loved all the new songs they added to the tour. Ancient Land would end up being my favorite Celtic Woman tour so far. Mairead's astonishing live version of Newgrange and the new Bean Phaidin arrangement were among the many highlights of the set list.

Shortly after a second Celtic Woman: Ancient Land show in Detroit, I flew to be part of the Celtic Heart DVD recording audience, featuring Tim Janis, Lynn Hilary, and Mairead Nesbitt. I wasn't sure what to expect. In particular, I wasn't sure how much of Lynn and Mairead I would actually see. I was pleasantly surprised to experience both of them in almost every song! The music was gorgeous and for those that haven't seen it yet, I can't wait for it to be available to you on PBS and DVD in 2020!

In May came one of two gauntlet-trips, with shows on 4 consecutive days and multiple flights in the same trip. I saw Lisa Lambe twice in NY, followed by Lisa Kelly (and Chloë) in Peachtree City, followed by a Celtic Woman: Ancient Land show and Meet and Greet in Calgary (via connecting flight) the following evening. The Calgary show was kind of a bitter-sweet end to the trip. In order to make that show, I had to skip Lisa Kelly and Chloë's extremly-short-notice "couch-and-greet" at the Lisa Kelly Voice Academy that morning. So another year gone by without meeting Lisa.

The Calgary Meet and Greet was probably the best I've experienced so far. My legs were extra-shaky from anxiety and travel fatigue, but I'd come up with perhaps my best prepared statements for the girls that day and for the first time, I delivered everything I wanted to say pretty much exactly as I wanted without any awkward forgetfulness.

Later that month, I got to see Celtic Woman for the Ancient Land tour final on my birthday at Red Rocks with Meet and Greet. Pretty difficult to top the Ancient Land DVD recording at a castle in Ireland with my friends Gregg, Tracie, and David in 2018. But Red Rocks on my birthday was pretty epic. The storm in the background over Denver served as both a unique and cool aspect of the show and as a distraction. I'll have to do a better job of mentally blocking out the weather-factor next time so I can enjoy the entire show.

All this in May came in the midst of a historic playoff run by the Toronto Raptors and another humiliating 1st-round exit by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I thought at that point my concert season was pretty much finished. I decided to add Mairead Nesbitt's show in Canton, MA to the schedule! It turned out to be a great weekend with amazing friend Tracie.

Then came the long and difficult time between Celtic Woman shows. I could feel for the whole first half of the year that the protective bubble of joy with which Celtic Woman had surrounded me over the past few years was going to burst and sure enough around August or September, it did. A sudden and devastating rush of anxiety and depression filled the void between shows. The next few months were plagued by relentless waves of emotional difficulties. It was by far the worst I've felt since 2015 (aka "the year of hell").

There were a bunch of key album releases around the same time: Celtic Woman: Ancient Land (Deluxe), Celtic Woman: The Magic of Christmas, Orla's "A Winter's Tale," Chloë's "Reimagined," Tim Janis' "Celtic Heart," CaraNua's "Celtic Dreaming" and Lindsey Stirling "Artemis" to name a few.

In spite of all those exciting album launches, I went stumbling into CWazy Christmas (the final show-gauntlet of the year) in a highly destabilized emotional state. It was very swingy from hour to hour and there was a legitimate concern I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the shows after the stress of travel was added on top of an already fragile psychological predicament. I managed to block out the negative emotions for the first 2 Celtic Woman: Magic of Christmas shows, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I got to finally see a show at the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend, Indiana, where the Emerald DVD had been recorded. In Indiana, I got to meet all 4 girls at the stage door at the same show! I wasn't so lucky in Findlay, Ohio, where I waited an hour and 25 minutes in the cold before having to drive 2 hours to my next destination. The girls apparently came out just after I left. That drive was a nightmare and I'm lucky I made it to Detroit for my flight to New Jersey the next day.

The Tim Janis show at Carnegie Hall was pretty good. At the Celtic Heart DVD recording, I had feared Mariead and Lynn would be underutilized. At Tim Janis' Christmas show, that fear was realized. Mairead was on stage for a few songs but Lynn and her gorgeous voice weren't featured nearly enough.

The next day, I flew to Atlanta to see Chloë's Christmas show with the Atlanta Pops Ensemble. I hit a huge emotional downswing that morning and it took a LOT of effort to scramble back in mental shape before the show. There was a nice fan gathering before the show and I was surprisingly sociable by that time. Chloë sounded fantastic, although she sounds even better with a full orchestra (rather than a subset) behind her. The Meet and Greet after the show went pretty well. Chloë once again was incredibly patient with me as I worked through all the stuff I had planned to say to her. I guess I must have delivered my content well, because both Chloë and I were in tears by the time I was finished.

Having held myself up for the show and the Meet and Greet, the next day (which included a flight to Denver) was accompanied by another brutal bout of anxiety and depression. The flight over was terrible from an emotional standpoint and most of the evening (thankfully no show that night) was lost trying to recover mentally. I am so thankful my friends were there to get me through that.

By the next day, I was finally feeling better and the show in Denver and that night, with my best friends at my side, I was able to fully appreciate the Celtic Woman show in Denver. As Tracie and her shoulder well-know, I enjoyed that show so much I was in tears of joy for pretty much the entire evening. We got to meet all 4 girls after the show at the stage door and take a rare group photo with all 4 of them.

Only 2 Celtic Woman shows remained at that point: Milwaukee, WI and Cedar Falls, Iowa. I finally got to meet Glen! The tour finale in Cedar Falls was my 18th Celtic Woman show and 40th Celtic Woman related show. I'll try to do a more extensive writeup for those shows over the next week or two.

Technically, the last show of CWazy Christmas, 2019, and the decade, was a non-Celtic-Woman show, but it was a pretty spectacular one: Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It's an elaborate and high-energy production. The lighting, stage, and music were all fantastic, although I think last year's Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas production was even more spectacular.

2019 was a pretty busy year! I finally got to meet Lynn Hilary (after Tim Janis' Celtic Heart DVD recording in Maine). But I still haven't seen Alex perform live or seen CaraNua. I got to see Mairead Nesbitt a lot, but didn't get to see Chloë nearly as much as I had wanted. But I saw my 2 all-time-favorite tours (Celtic Woman: Ancient Land and The Magic of Christmas) a total of 9 times! The best times of the year though were the shows I got to see in the company of my best friends. <3

The New Year, 2020, looks like it will be even more exciting. I already have tickets to 12 Celtic Woman: Celebration tour shows (including 3 in Ireland). I'm going to be going to the Fox Theater Atlanta show in 2020 one way or another as well (just waiting on a M+G that's more reasonable than $750 or else I'll get a regular ticket in the balcony somewhere). That will make it 13 Celtic Woman shows for 2020 so far. I also have tickets for at least one Chloë show a plans for a second show in the works.

I wish all of you here at the forum a Happy New Year.

Here's to the year ahead and all the joy it will bring in to our lives courtesy of the group we love, Celtic Woman.

My apologies for the significant delay in getting this posted. It's been a little hectic.

On December 5, 2019, I finally saw a show at Carnegie Hall for the first time!

I flew from into New Jersey in the morning and took the train to Manhattan. I walked around Central Park for an hour or so and then had dinner with Mr. Peabody and some other superfans. I then walked off the dinner by rushing to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center before heading back to Carnegie Hall for the show!

It had been an adventure getting the tickets. I had ordered them for Mr. Peabody and I while he was flying back from Europe. I couldn't ship to Canada for some reason so I sent them to him...only they never arrived. I had to have them re-printed and held at the box office instead.

The show was in the Stern Auditorium. It was visually impressive, with a deep orchestra section and a total of 5 levels (4 narrow balconies at the back and around the sides of the theater.

The stage was pretty large and somewhat high relative to the first row where I was sitting, next to Mr. Peabody.

The opening performance wasn't actually in the program (I'm trying to confirm who it was), but it was incredibly impressive. That guy had one of the most ridiculous vocal ranges I've ever heard.

Mairead Nesbitt got 2 solos (Carol of the Bells and You Raise Me Up) and accompanied on stage in a few of the other songs.

You Raise Me Up, for which Lynn accompanied a singer (not Lynn), really hit me hard this time. Mairead's been there for me through some mental struggles over the past few months and I'm grateful for all the times she's been there to raise me up. There were a lot of tears shed during this song.

Lynn, unfortunately, didn't get any solos. She sang a duet of Merry Little Christmas with Colbie Caillat. It sounded nice (though I much prefer the Celtic Woman group arrangement). Lynn's mic didn't seem like it was turned up high enough though. Colbie Caillat was definitely the dominant voice in that song. I could hear Lynn's harmony but not nearly as distinctly as in CaraNua. In the "group" numbers for which she was on stage, she was basically singing backup. I thought they could have done a much better job of using Lynn's gorgeous voice in the show.

Lynn seemed a bit shy that day. She was standing off to the side of the stage and had to almost be coaxed up to the microphone by Colbie Caillat.  As someone that's very shy myself in most situations, I empathize with her and I actually thought it was adorable.

One of the non-Celtic Woman highlights of the show was Lisa Fischer's performance of "On the Wings of an Angel" (a Tim Janis song). She sang with a tremendous amount of heart.

Tori Kelly also did a great job with her solo, Never Alone.

Another of Tim Janis' own songs, Solid Ground, peaked my interest. At the time, it sounded really familiar but at the time, I wasn't sure why. I later realized I had heard Hayley on YouTube perform the same song (possibly at one of Tim Janis' show at Carnegie Hall a few years ago). Tom Rhoads did a good job with it although I'm admittedly biased toward Hayley's performance.

Most of the songs in the show were performed in contemporary styles. There was a mix of traditional Christmas songs, contemporary Christmas songs, religious songs, and generally uplifting ones. Most of the songs/performances were good, though not necessarily anything I would fly to see were it not for Lynn and Mairéad.

Eimear McGeown (who plays flutes whistle, and some other wind instruments) was in a few songs. She was one of the performers in the Tim Janis Celtic Heart PBS special and DVD, which releases nationally in 2020.

Tim Janis himself was backstage for most of the show. He came out to play piano for a few songs and to talk about the charities.

There were a few interludes where people close to the charities (Forever Young Foundation music therapy, Sophie's Place, and The Golden Hat Foundation). I'd encourage you to find out more about each of the charities. There were some really touching stories about the charities during the show. There was a story about a little girl's wish list: one item of which was simply to "change someone's life." There was also a song written by Sophie, who had always dreamed about performing in front of a large audience  but never got the chance. The song was performed by her siblings.

I'm a believer in music therapy and the ability of music to calm our minds and heal our hearts. I really connected with some of those charity stories and they were a highlight of the night.

There was no Meet and Greet for this show. The show ran close to 2.5 hours with no intermission. By then it was too late to wait at the stage door for Mairead and Lynn. I had to rush to the subway to catch the train back to NJ. I made the train (barely) with one minute to spare.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. It had variety and some good performances. Given how little Mairead and Lynn were in the show and that there was no M+G, I not sure if I'd fly to one of those in future years ... unless the timing and lineup are just right.

Amy is performing with Songful Artists on the CW Network's show "The Christmas Caroler Challenge."

The show was pre-recorded earlier this year. The first 2 episodes were last night.

In each of the first 2 episodes, 6 groups of carolers competed in front of a live audience. Each group performed 2 songs: the first of their own choosing and the second was a "grab bag challenge" where each team drew a carol from a bag and had moments to prepare an arrangement before performing it live on stage.

The groups all sounded great!

Amy's group went in the 2nd episode. They were at a bit of a disadvantage because they hadn't performed together before the competition. Most of the other teams had performed together for years.

The competition had 3 judges that scored each song on various criteria. The scores from both songs were combined. teams were then all brought out on stage. 3 teams were called forward. 1 of those teams had the best score and that team was revealed first. Of the other 2 teams, one would be eliminated and the other team would advance to round 2. The teams were presented stockings. The team that was safe had a cookie in their stocking. The team that got the lowest score got a lump of coal in their stocking and was eliminated.

Amy's team survived and will compete in round 2, which airs on the CW network on December 22. The last episode (presumably the finals) is on December 23.

Here's an article with some more info from Amy:

Tonight was the final performance of the Ancient Land tour.

Some of us were lucky enough to begin this journey at Johnstown Castle in Wexford, Ireland at the DVD recording. It's still hard for me to process that I was there. It was such an amazing experience to finally visit Celtic Woman in their homeland and it was even more special getting to share that experience with forum friends I hope I stay close to for the rest of my life. There was such anticipation at the castle as the sun went down and Celtic Woman unveiled their beautiful new show.

Ancient Land featured my favorite set list of any of the tours I've seen so far. The new arrangements (including Newgrange, Bean Phaidin, Orinoco Flow, and Fields of Gold) were all phenomenal and they instantly became my favorite versions of those songs.

I got to attend 4 shows (not including the castle) and 4 Meet and Greets! The planning was a bit hectic, but it was definitely worth it!

In an astonishingly fortunate coincidence, the last show of the North American tour occurred at Red Rocks on my birthday. I couldn't have asked for a better gift than to enjoy that beautiful music at a bucket-list venue with great friends.

I wish I could have seen more shows over in Europe, but I was holding back precious vacation days and funds for shows by former Celtic Woman members that never materialized in the fall.

It's sad to see such a special tour come to an end, but the sun sets only to rise again. The 2019 Symphony / Christmas tour is only a few weeks away and the Celebration Tour is just beyond the horizon.

Thank you to everyone at Celtic Woman who made that dream come true for all of us at the castle and for every incredible night on tour. You should all be very proud of all the hard work you did. I promise you it was worth it. After 15 years, you still find a way to enrich our lives and touch our hearts. Rest assured that it won't be long before I return to once again experience your beautiful Ancient Land.

Album

Billoboard World Albums chart

Weeks on Chart:	9
Debut Position:	11
Peak Position:	5
Weeks at Peak:	1
Chart Debut:	Nov 9, 2019
Peak Date:	Nov 23, 2019
Last Chart Date:	Jan 4, 2020

Source:
Original: https://www.billboard.com/music/celtic-woman/chart-history/WLP/song/1172590
Archive: N/A

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iTunes Chart

Days on Chart:	2
Debut Position:	91
Peak Position:	91
Days at #1:	-
Chart Debut:	October 25, 2019

Source:

Original:
http://www.itunescharts.net/us/artists/music/celtic-woman/
http://www.itunescharts.net/us/artists/music/celtic-woman/albums/the-magic-of-christmas/

Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200429234515/http://www.itunescharts.net/us/artists/music/celtic-woman/
https://web.archive.org/web/20200430000056/http://www.itunescharts.net/us/artists/music/celtic-woman/albums/the-magic-of-christmas/

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Week by Week:

Billboard World Albums Chart:

Source:
http://www.billboard.com/charts/world-albums
https://www.billboard.com/charts/world-albums/2020-01-04


Week of...           Chart Position

Nov 05, 2019      11
Nov 16, 2019      9
Nov 23, 2019    5
Nov 30, 2019      12
Dec 07, 2019      11
Dec 14, 2019      7
Dec 21, 2019      7
Dec 28, 2019      9
Jan 04, 2020      14
Jan 11, 2020      -
Jan 18, 2020      -
...

Amy has a new album debuting November 1, 2019!

      Amy’s 80’s Xmas

What are your favorite tracks from the Celtic Woman: The Magic of Christmas album and why?

Alex performs in 2 tracks of Brett Pruneau's album Joyful:

- Peace
- I Believe

You can see a lyric video from 2017 of Alex and Brett singing "I Believe." Alex has a couple of astonishing moments in this song:

https://youtu.be/1GhF0VcN47g