New Oct concerts - Alex (2023)

Venue

I attended 3 of Alex's 6 shows in Richmond, Utah this October.

The concerts were held in the 3rd floor ballroom at the Cherry Peak ski resort in Richmond, Utah. The building was part way up a mountain. The roads were clear in that particular area while I was there, but I'd be very reluctant to drive there if there was any snow on the road. Given the steep slope and all the sharp turns, the chances of stopping a vehicle on ice, or even on snow for that matter, would be slim, even with decent snow tires.

The dinner, served on the 2nd floor of the building before the show was fantastic! What ended up happening though is a lot of people rushed through dinner or skipped it entirely to claim their seats. On night one, I ended up with second row, but only because a couple of seats had somehow been overlooked. Most of the seats were already taken by the time I got up there. On the other two nights, I went to claim a front row seat before starting dinner so I could get first row.

In the ballroom where the concerts were held, there were seats for around 100-200 people. Some of the vues would have been slightly obstructed due to pillars in the room. Alex and the band were on a shallow stage in front of the seating. The dancers had a separate stage off to the side (earlier in the week, the dancers had been in front of the main stage, but they were later moved to a large raised platform at the side so people could see their feet). There were 2 pillars in front of the dancers' stage, so from where I was sitting, I had an obstructed view of them on all three nights.

Alex's band flanked her on the main stage. She had a drummer in the back behind a plastic shield, a guitar, keyboard, violin, cello, and a multi-instrumentalist who played double-base, guitar, tin whistle, bagpipes, a frame drum, sang, and probably played a few more instruments.

Set List

Irish Eyes (Rose Betts)
Spanish Lady
Sí Do Mhaimeo Í
Landslide
Dance: Gypsy (from Lord of the Dance)
Breathless (The Corrs)
Fields of Gold
Dance: Walls of Limerick (4 volunteers from the audience learned and participated in the dance)
It's So Easy (Linda Ronstadt)

Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac)
Here, There and Everywhere (The Beatles)
Dúlamán
Longer (Dan Fogelberg)
Dance: The Reel (by Secret Garden)
Blackbird (part in Irish, part in English)
Why Walk When You Can Fly (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Over the Rainbow
Dance: A Capella Dance
Broken By Design
Atlantic Sky
The Parting Glass

Alex played bodhran during the first 2 songs and played tambourine during Everywhere.

During the 2nd and 3rd of the shows I attended, pianist Steve Young joined Alex as a guest for a few songs. He played on a grand piano that had a fantastic sound. Steve performed "Morning Has Broken" as a piano solo in place of the dance lesson piece. He also accompanied Alex as a duet on "Here There, and Everywhere" and "Over the Rainbow." I greatly enjoyed the piano arrangements.

For most of the time, Alex was the only singer. Sometimes, one or more band members sang harmony with her. There was a portion during Dulaman where the audience was encouraged to sing along.

The dry air in Utah was making things difficult on her voice. She had to keep hydrating throughout the show. She sounded great though!

Highlights:

Alex had lots of fun up on stage. She was jumping and dancing around her limited stage space while singing. She told jokes and funny stories between songs. She even did a few impressions. Her body language and the whole way she expresses herself while performing are remarkable.

The room had quite a bit of energy and Alex had us all clapping for about half the songs in the set list.
My favourite songs were Breathless, Over the Rainbow, and Atlantic Sky.

The Celtic Woman versions of Over the Rainbow have pretty harmonies, but as a solo, it's a lot easier for a performer to fully use her voice to convey emotion. Alex got her start as a professional performer playing Dorothy in a stage production of the Wizard of Oz. At the time, she was actually homeless, so getting the role meant the world to her. Dreams really do come true. She sang this really well!

Atlantic Sky was written by some of Alex's friends in Utah. The instrumental backing arrangement was a little different than the version on her EP. The live version of the song was amazing, even better than the version on her EP! I could really feel the emotion she was projecting from the stage.

The Parting Glass, like the David Downes and Gavin Murphy arrangements, had the chorus end in a major key instead of a minor key. It even included a bagpipe bridge. It was much more like the David Downes arrangement than the Gavin Murphy arrangement although the Celtic Woman versions do sound more clean.

I was a bit of a celebrity-fan at the show, the last show of the week being my 82nd Celtic-Woman-Related performance attended (if I manage to see all the shows for the rest of the year I have tickets for, I'll be at 89 by the end of the year, assuming my count is still correct, which would make Mairead Nesbitt's show in January my 90th show overall).

I met a fan that had tickets to the Songs from the Heart DVD recording, but ended up not being able to go due to travel costs. It's likely there were people from Utah there who have seen Alex more times than I have, but there wasn't anyone else there who has reached my level of insanity.

Post-Show:

After the shows, Alex stuck around to meet with the fans. The first two nights I was there, it was a free-for-all, where she mingled with various people in the performance area. On the third night, it was more like a PBS meet and greet: it had a line and was rushed. As usual, I waited until near the end to allow people that haven't gotten to meet her much a chance to do so.

Journey and Sightseeing

There wasn't any reasonable direct flight, so I took a connecting flight with a layover of a few hours to accommodate delays to the first flight.

I made a stop at the State Railroad Museum on the way from the Salt Lake City airport to my hotel in Logan, Utah. It was small but had a lot of information. They had full-sized train engines and train cars on display outside. Inside, they had a cool model railroad system that spanned multiple rooms, illustrating the different sections of the transcontinental railroad and the construction challenges along the way.

Logan Canyon Scenic Byway was the scenic highlight of the trip. It's about an hour drive (1 way, without stopping) from just east of Logan all the way to Garden City. I was about 3-4 weeks late for the fall colors, but I was instead treated to spectacular snow-capped mountains, sometimes just on the peaks, sometimes on the trees as well. It's unfortunate I was behind the wheel, because that made it challenging to take in all the beauty of the surrounding landscape. It was difficult to get photos along the route. The highway had a lot of tight turns I couldn't see around, a lot of blind-and-poorly-marked entrances, and no shoulder except for a few turnaround spots. By the time I could spot a place to safely stop, I was usually past a place I could take a good photo. Still, I spent a good 8 hours or so in there backtracking and stopping where I could.

I only ended up doing 1 trail in Logan Canyon. That was the Wind Cave trail. It was a steady incline up the side of a mountain. The view was absolutely gorgeous, but my fear of heights started wreaking havoc on me almost immediately. Sometimes, the fear of heights isn't too bad. On that trek, it was horrendously bad. There was a steep dropoff with no guardrail within inches of the trail the entire time. It was chilly at the start of the hike. It got warmer after about 30 minutes, but it also got muddier and the mud made the trail slick. I managed to get all the way up to the wind cave. Trying to get past that point is where it got really, really scary. The path suddenly turned from mud to ice and also started sloping downwards. I had to get on my belly and anchor with my hands as I edged back to a flat part of the trail. It was a fantastic view, but I don't think I'll ever be doing a mountain hike again, especially if there's any snow in the area.

After that, I decided to head for Tony Lake, which was supposed to have some nice easy trails. However, what I had overlooked during my rushed research before this trip was that the lake was on the other side of a mountain. About 5 minutes up that mountain, the road turned to ice and the car was sliding all over the place. Again, there were no guardrails, there wasn't any shoulder shoulder, steep dropoffs, and sharp, bland corners. There was also no place to turn around for 20 minutes. Once I could finally turn around, I was inching down the road at about 5 miles per hour hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life.

Alex will be back at Cherry Peak for 3 concerts around Valentine's Day 2024. I unfortunately won't be going to those. It's too dangerous for me to drive there if there's snow on the ground. The area was incredibly beautiful, especially with the snow, but being on mountainous terrain with snow on the roads and trails put my anxiety way, WAAAAY over the red line.

Closing Thoughts:

Alex's sense of humour and aura of joy remind me of Chloë. The whole way she expresses herself on stage is a treat. No matter the style, her voice sounded perfect for every song. Last year, when I saw her on Jenny Oaks Baker's Christmas tour, she was sick and had to take it easy when performing. It was great to finally hear Alex sing in person with her voice in all its glory!

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