I was excited to see a post with Mairéad picture.....then after getting really excited and thinking CW finally getting back to 5 girls with 4 vocals.....I saw the sad news about Hannah. :'(

It seems all of a sudden. I'm guessing Hannah may had a larger opportunity and decided to go for it. My hopes that's the case and it's not on bad terms. Maybe Hannah will be back someday and stay on for a couple of tours. It doesn't make any since with Hannah being on their socials over the last 6 months more than the others. I really haven't seen any videos of Emma.

I'm really excited to see the new lineup with Mairéad, Muirgen, and Emma and hear how they'll sound! I was thinking Emma would be in the same range as Mairéad, but this would be interesting to see.

I wonder why they chose to do silhouettes instead of pics or no pics of the ladies.

Quote from: rfcw on April 29, 2023, 07:10:23 PM

It's remarkable how many good songs Brendan Graham has written.

Now you're making me wish for a CW-CT super-tour!

Now this may be wishing too much, but CT did a cruise back in the day. Why not have a Celtic Cruise sponsor by Celtic Collections with CT and CW as musical guest for the shows. 7 night cruise should be long enough to spotlight both groups. Then during the cruise they can have random meet and greets with each member throughout the ship.

Why is Hannah's picture in the CW website grayed out? Usually that means they are not current. The rest are in color. Couldn't CW post a color photo to help match the others?

I was going through YouTube tonight and noticed that there's no more David Downes ladies anymore. All the ladies now in the lineup joined after the David Downes Era.

Tara is the longest member now, and she came in during Destiny.

As I bet everyone does when they search Celtic Woman on YouTube, you go down a deep rabbit hole of videos. I ran across the 10th anniversary tour from 2015. The tour was amazing. Having Meav, Lynn, and Alex as guest on the tour made it the best one. I can't believe it's already almost the 20th already. Another 10 years. WOW. I really hope the 20th anniversary tour helps top or in line like the 10th anniversary!

Something to think about...
I remembered Ebha joined at the end of the 10yr tour, which makes her being with the group for only 4 years. 2015-2019. Megan has been with the group this year for 5 years, 2018-2023. That makes her staying in longer than Ebha. It doesn't feel like she's been with the group for that long.

Then I thought about Susan. Now she joined in 2012 for the Believe tour, but she's been full member until 2018 and then a understudy up to 2022. There has not been a tour she has not performed in. She understudy Mairead during Ancient Land when Mairead was out due to health. She understudy Chloe during Celebration 15yrs tour when Chloe had other duties. Then she filled in again this last tour in place of Chloe and again for Megan at the end of the tour. So I would say she's still a member and has been for the last 10 years.

Ok, now this post has gone way off topic. You see how I can easily go down a rabbit hole.🤣

So what are your thoughts about the all 2nd generation (post David) group? Is this now a new generation? Can we say there's no connections to the original group

I got caught up in the rumors of an anniversary tour in 2024. Then I wondered if they release the anniversary album before or after the tour. But then I checked (and as I'm sure you all know) ... Decade was released in 2015, and Celebration was released in 2020. So that 20th anniversary album ain't coming any time soon ... say 2025.

So I would think there's plenty of time to release a new album with new material with Hannah this year. Especially because they're not touring.

What I don't understand is that the 15th anniversary tour was 2020. The rumor is the 20th anniversary tour will be 2024, not even 5 years later. Depending what date their celebrating one of the two anniversaries tours are off.

2004 was the start, but didn't tour until 2005. The anniversary tour should be 2025 not 2024 for celebrating their first tour.

2024 would be 20th anniversary since the first concert which would have made 2019 the 15th anniversary.

So I was torn at the beginning of this board days ago when it was posted about CW not touring.

After some time to reflect and think, I believe it's possible for all the reasons presented in this board, (losing music rights, changing music directors, spending time to prepare for 20th, etc.)

But think about this. If they are taking a year off, this gives them plenty of time to produce and bring us fans a huge 20th anniversary concert. It takes a lot of planning to scout out venues, prepare songs, and work on production for a PBS special. I can see them spending this spring practicing, learning songs, and then filming in the fall like they are known for.

After having time to reflect and all of this coming to mind, I started to get excited! The 15th Celebration tour was my last tour going to see. That was after missing the Ancient Land tour. I think the 20th is a great time for me to jump back on the tour wagon and start seeing them live again.

Besides, who knows. Maybe taking the year to plan helps previous artist prepare their own schedules to come and perform for the 20th PBS special and/or tour. Just imagine Meav, Alex, Susan, and Lynn joining in like they did for the 10th anniversary tour. Hey, Lisa Lamb may come back for short term. What about Ebha and Mairead C or Mairead N. There's infinite opportunities that can be brought to the 20th anniversary tour.

Stay positive, yes the year of suspense will make us all insane, but just keep thinking how amazing the special will be when released.