Tara's Links:

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https://twitter.com/tara_mcneill

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxVS3PSgkNcImhS1pI62KQw

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https://www.instagram.com/taramcneillmusic/

SoundCloud:
https://m.soundcloud.com/taramcneillmusic


Fan Forum Accounts

Tara's Forum on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TaraMcNeillForum/

Tara's Forum on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TaraMcNeilForum

This topic is for discography for the Celtic Woman group.

We can have a separate discography for each of the girls' separate solo / collaborative work in their own boards.

Album	Release Date	Type
Celtic Woman	March 1, 2005	Studio
A Christmas Celebration	October 3, 2006	Studio
A New Journey	January 30, 2007	Studio
A Celtic Family Christmas	October 14, 2008	Studio / Collaboration with The High Kings
The Greatest Journey	October 28, 2008	Compilation, with some new tracks (studio / live)
Songs from the Heart	January 26, 2010	Studio
Lullaby	February 15, 2011	Compilation
An Irish Journey (France)	October 3, 2011	Studio compilation, with 1 new track
A Celtic Christmas	November 25, 2011	Compilation
Believe	January 24, 2012	Studio
Awakening (Japan)	February 22, 2012	Studio
Home For Christmas	October 9, 2012	Studio
Silent Night	October 9, 2012	Studio compilation, with 1 new track
Believe (Japan)	May 25, 2011	Studio
Irish Songs	March, 2012	Compilation
Emerald - Musical Gems	February 24, 2014	Studio
O Christmas Tree	October 21, 2014	Live
Decade	March, 2015	Compilation
Destiny	October 23, 2015	Studio
Christmas (Icon)	November 5, 2015	Compilation
Voices of Angels	November, 18, 2016	Studio
The Best of Christmas	November 24, 2017	Compilation
Homecoming - Live from Ireland	January 26, 2018	Live
Ancient Land	September 28, 2018 (digital),    October 26, 2018 (CD), September 6, 2019, Deluxe (Digital)	Studio
The Magic of Christmas	October 25, 2019	Studio
Celebration	March 27, 2020	Compilation
Postcards from Ireland	October 29, 2021	Studio
Christmas Cards from Ireland	Nov 4, 2022	Studio (digital EP only)
20 (20th Anniversary)	January 26, 2024	Studio

Note: Although technically not a group album, Celtic Woman released Solo - 10 Girls, 10 Songs, 10 Years on May 28, 2015.

DVD	Release Date	Lineup
Celtic Woman	2005	Chloe, Lisa K, Mairead N, Meav, Orla
A Christmas Celebration	2007	Chloe, Lisa K, Mairead N, Meav, Orla
A New Journey	2007	Chloe, Hayley, Lisa K, Mairead N, Meav, Orla
The Greatest Journey	2008	Chloe, Hayley, Lisa K, Mairead N, Meav, Orla (included Alex, Deirdre, Lynn)
Songs from the Heart	January 26, 2010	Alex, Chloe, Lisa K, Lynn, Mairead N
Believe	January 24, 2012	Chloe, Lisa K, Lisa L, Meairead N
Home for Christmas	October 29, 2013	Lisa L, Mairead N, Meav, Susan
Emerald	February 25, 2014	Chloe, Lisa L, Mairead N, Susan
Destiny	January 15, 2016	Eabha, Mairead C, Mairead N, Meav, Susan (Tara played harp)
Homecoming - Live from Ireland	January 26, 2018	Eabha, Mairead C, Susan, Tara
Ancient Land	February 15, 2019	Eabha, Mairead C, Megan, Tara
Celebration	2020
Postcards from Ireland*	2022	Chloe, Megan, Tara, Muirgen, Susan
20 (20th Anniversary)	2024	Mairead C, Tara, Muirgen, Emma, Chloe, Lisa K, Meav, Mairead N

* In 2022, PBS aired Postcards from Ireland: Holiday Edition, a variation in which 4 Christmas songs replaced some of the regular songs. The tracks were released as a digital EP, but they were not released on DVD or Blu-ray.


Collaborations

- Anne Murray: Duets: Friends & Legends (2007) ... track: "Song For The Mira"
- Endless Ocean 2 soundtrack (2009)    ... Video game soundtrack. All previously recorded Celtic Woman songs.
- Le Bagad de Lann-Bihoué: Degemer mat, Bienvenue (2012) ... track "The Water Is Wide" (also released on "An Irish Journey" in France).
- Oonagh: Aeria (Sartoranta - Fan Edition) (2015) ... track: "Christmas Secrets"


Variants

On May 25, 2011, there was an album called Believe released in Japan.  It was more or less a variant of Songs from the Heart, but it also included two versions of Princess Toyotomi.  When Celtic Woman released their new CD / DVD the following year, it was also called Believe.  Since there was a previous release called Believe in Japan, the new material was called Awakening in Japan instead.

The albums and some of their variants are more completely documented on this site:
http://cw-ct.com/cw-disco/disco.html

There were also deluxe, target-exclusive, and some PBS-exclusive releases (ie. "Fan Favourites-Celebrating 10 Years" was a PBS donation exclusive and was never commercially available beyond PBS).


Appearances on Compilation Albums

The Merriest Time Of The Year (2008) ... O Holy Night (A Christmas Celebration)
The Best That Is Irish Volume II (2017) ... Ride On (Destiny), Harry's Game (CW)
St. Patrick's Day (2018) ... Tir na nOg (Destiny)
St. Paddy's Day (2018) ... Danny Boy, The Hills of Ireland (Destiny)
Songs for Mom (2018) ... Baby Mine (Lullaby)
Street Lights (2018) ... Mná na hÉireann (Ancient Land)
Xmas Songs (2019) ... Away In a Manger (A Christmas Celebration)
Krampus Christmas (2019) ... Carol of the Bells (A Christmas Celebration)
Fireplace Christmas Classics (2019) ... I'll Be Home for Christmas (Home for Christmas)
Music for Christmas (2019) ... Auld Lang Syne (Home for Christmas)
Relaxation Station (2019) ... Danny Boy (CW)
4 ALL AGES: Bedtime Music (2020) ... Over the Rainbow (A New Journey), Baby Mine (Lullaby)

Celtic Woman Member Timeline

To document each of the leading performers in Celtic Woman and when each of them performed with the group.

A few of the start/end dates are best guesses based on when lineup changes were announced or start/end dates of tours.

It may not be standard practice to record temporary absences from a tour (medical leave, lineup swaps, etc.) as a break in membership, but that's the way I've been doing it.

The rendered timeline appears here (updated July 6, 2023):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Woman#Member_Timeline

---

Alex Sharpe

Key Dates:

    Dec 2007 - May 26, 2010
    May 3, 2015 - June 28, 2015
    Mar 11, 2018 - Mar 23, 2018

Originally filled in for Lisa Kelly while Lisa was on maternity leave (2008).
Then stepped in for Orla full time in 2009.

Left May 2010 (after the 1st leg of the SftH tour).

Returned May 3, 2015 - June 28, 2015  (10th Anniversary Tour)

---

Chloë Agnew

Key Dates:

    September 15, 2004 - August 5, 2013
    January 22, 2020 - August 20, 2022

Mairead Carlin took over for Chloë originally. Chloë returned in 2020 to take over for Eabha during the Celebration.

Susan was scheduled to fill in for Chloë 6 times on the 2020 Celebration Tour (Mar 7, 13, 14, 27, 28, and 29, 2020). However, 4 of those shows (along with the rest of the tour) got postponed due to Coronavirus.

---

Deirdre Shannon

Key Dates:
    July 20, 2005 - February 2006

Filled in for Méav during tours in 2005 while Méav was on maternity leave. Original tour: July 20 - Oct 22, 2005. Deirdre left in 2006 when Méav returned.

---

Emma Warren

Joined as Megan left.

Key Dates:
    May 4, 2023 - Present

---

Éabha McMahon

Key Dates:

    Aug 11, 2015 - Jan 21, 2020

She took over for Lisa Lambe.

---

Hannah Traynor

Key Dates:

    October 11, 2022 - July 6, 2023

---

Hayley Westenra

Key Dates:

    August 24, 2006 - June 2007

    Alternated with Méav on Tour:
      Méav: Feb 14 - March 8, 2007
      Hayley: Mar 9 - Apr 5, 2007
      Méav: Apr 11 - May 3, 2007
      Hayley: May 4 - end of June, 2007   (end of the spring leg of the ANJ tour was June 29, 2007)

Not sure of Hayley's official end date.

---

Lisa Kelly

Key Dates:
   
    Member:
    * Sept 15, 2004 - Jan, 2013

    Active:
    * Sept 15, 2004 - Dec 2007
    * Feb 13, 2009 - Dec 21, 2011

During the ANJ tour, and again during the "Believe" 2012 tour, Lisa took a break for the birth of her children.

• In 2008, she was replaced by Alex Sharpe who later became a full-time member of Celtic Woman when Orla left.
• Lisa was back in 2009 for the IoH tour. I based her 2009 return date on the first date of the IoH tour (Feb 13, 2009).
• On Dec 2, 2011, Lisa announced taking maternity leave and would not be participating in the 2012 Believe Tour (replaced by Susan McFadden). Last show of Christmas tour in 2011 was Dec 21.
• Jan 5, 2012, CW announced that Susan would be replacing her on the Believe Tour (Susan debuted with CW in February at Nashville, Tennessee for the kickoff of the "Believe" North American Tour and continued with the remaining tours in 2012.)

---

Lisa Lambe

Key Dates:

    Nov. 29, 2010 - 2014

    Lynn substituted for her from April - September 7, 2014
    Lisa Returned from November 23, 2014 - until the end of the year

Additional Notes:

• In November 2010, Lynn Hilary announced she was leaving.
• Feb 14, 2014: Announced that Lynn would be replacing Lisa Lambe while she was on LOA.
• Lisa Lambe continued to perform on the Emerald Tour in February - March, 2014.  ... Thanks Tiffany
• Wikipedia indicates that Lisa Lambe returned for two tours in the fall and winter of 2014. I'm not sure that she returned for the fall tour.

---

Lynn Hilary

Key Dates:

    Aug 17, 2007 - Nov. 12, 2010        (Started touring with ANJ on Oct 10, 2007, announced as a new member on Aug 17, 2007)
    Feb 14, 2014 - June 8, 2014       (Emerald, toured in place of Lisa Lambe, announced Feb 14, 2014, but first date back on tour was Mar 16, 2014)
    Sept 3-7, 2014                    (Emerald tour in Brazil)
    Apr 8, 2015 - May 23, 2015      (10th Anniversary Tour)

Lynn originally took over for Méav.

Piecing the dates together for Lynn has been quite challenging. Did I miss anything?

---

Mairéad Carlin

Key Dates:

    August 23, 2013 - January 13, 2021
    July 6, 2023 - Present
   
    From May 3, 2015 - May 26 (leave to be with her dad, with Alex filling in for her)
    From Oct 25, 2019 - Nov 10, 2019 (medical leave, with Susan filling in for her)

She took over for Chloë.
On October 23, 2019, Mairéad wasn't able to perform in the 2nd act of the show due to illness.
On October 25, 2019, Mairéad was unable to perform and Celtic Woman performed with only 3 members.
On October 27, 2019, it was announced that Mairéad had to have surgery for appendicitis and would miss time from the European leg of the Ancient Land tour during recovery. Susan took over for her while she recovered. Mairead Carlin returned to the tour on November 10, 2019 for the start of the UK leg of the Ancient Land tour.
On January 13, 2021, Mairéad announced she was moving on from Celtic Woman.
On June 4, 2021, Celtic Woman announced she had departed Celtic Woman earlier in the year.
On July 6, 2023, Celtic Woman announced she was returning to Celtic Woman, coinciding with Hannah's departure.

---

Máiréad Nesbitt

Key Dates:

    September 15, 2004 - Aug 7, 2016

---

Méav

Key Dates:

    Sept 15, 2004 - July 19, 2005
    Aug 23, 2006 - Aug 17, 2007
    Aug, 2012: "Home for Christmas"     (album only)
    Aug 7, 2013: "Home for Christmas"      (special/DVD only)
    Mar 6, 2015 - Apr 4, 2015     (10th Anniversary Tour, in place of Lynn)
    Aug 2015: "Destiny"     (album / special / DVD)
       
Note:
    During the 2007 ANJ tour, Méav was featured Apr 11 - May 3

Lynn took over for Meav after Meav's primary runs with the group.

Meav later became the vocal directory for Celtic Woman.


Notes about the dates used:

• 2005 - 2006, Méav was on mat leave (Deirdre filled in). If anyone has the date Deirdre officially took over for Méav in 2005, please let me know. *** For now, I used the day before Deirdre's start date (Deirdre started on July 20, 2005, based on that being the first date of the first US tour).
• I based Méav's return date in 2006 on when the ANJ special was recorded. If someone has a more accurate date, please let me know.
• In 2007, following the filming of Celtic Woman's Christmas DVD at the Helix, Dublin, Méav left Celtic Woman to concentrate on her solo career.
• Méav later featured as a guest soloist on the CW Christmas album Home for Christmas (the first time Méav had appeared with CW since she left the group in 2007).
• Méav was also featured on the subsequent CW PBS special, "Home for Christmas", which was recorded on 7 August 2013.
• I based Méav's start date for the 10th Anniversary Tour as March 6 based on her Wikipedia page. If anyone has further supporting evidence, that would be great.

---

Megan Walsh

Key Dates:

     Active: August 16, 2018 - April 16, 2023

---

Muirgen O'Mahony

Key Dates:

     Active: June 4, 2021 - Present

---

Órla Fallon

Key Dates:

    September 15, 2004 - Dec 9, 2008

Alex Sharpe took over for her.

Wikipedia says she left in 2009, but other sources say she left in December 2008 (after ACC). Given that one of the articles about her leaving was dated December 10th, I'm inclined to believe that December 9, 2008 is correct.

---

Susan McFadden

Key Dates:

    January 5, 2012 - August 12, 2018
   
    From March 11-23, 2018, Susan had to take a leave from the tour due to the passing of her aunt. She returned March 24, 2018.

    From Oct 27, 2019 - Nov 10, 2019, Susan filled in for Mairéad Carlin who was recovering from appendicitis. Susan filled in for her.

Susan was scheduled to fill in for Chloë 6 times on the 2020 Celebration Tour (Mar 7, 13, 14, 27, 28, and 29, 2020). Unfortunately, 4 of those shows (along with the rest of the tour) got postponed due to Coronavirus.

Susan originally took over for Lisa Kelly.

---

Tara McNeill

Key Dates:

     Active Aug 7, 2016 - Present

---

Wikimarkup Code:

http://www.celticwomanforum.net/index.php?topic=199.msg341#msg341


Sources:

http://www.celticwomanforum.net/index.php?topic=199.msg349#msg349

Here are the lyrics as far as I can tell, as determined by listening to the song.

Note: the lyrics and song are original works by Joshua Spacht.


He holds her close to him, sunset in their eyes.
Final embers of light. Running out of time.
The sky begins to dance, putting on a show
As twilight lingers in the valley below.

So they linger and he whispers...

"In my eyes, you look like an angel
Could it be I've seen a glimpse of heaven
Come the night, come shadows and darkness,
'Cause I'll be by the side of an angel."

She holds his face in her hands
(whispers in his ear)
"How I've loved you throughout
The passing of each year
The days grow shorter I know,
So I take every chance.
To always linger when you ask me to dance."

So they linger and she whispers...

"In my eyes, you look like an angel
And I know you are a gift from heaven
Through this life, I won't fear the darkness
'Cause I'll be by the side of an angel."

Oh!!!

He reaches for her hand
Twilight in her eyes
Final embers of life. Running out of time.
And though she can't rise to dance,
He hums her favourite song,
And slowly sways until the last light is gone

And he lingers, yes he lingers,
Oh, he lingers, and he whispers...

"In my eyes, you look like an angel
Could it be I've seen a glimpse of heaven
Come the night. come shadows and darkness,
I'll be by the side of an angel."

Ohh!!!

(You are my angel)

<La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la-la>
<La la la la la la la la la la la la la la>

He holds her close to him...


Additional Notes:

I'm not sure about the words in angle brackets < >

At the end I'm not sure if she's humming "la" or "na."

Punctuation and line breaks are probably pretty messed up as I'm not used to writing lyrics.

Any corrections while we wait for something more official, please let me know. Please just reply without quoting the post with the lyrics. That way they can just stay in one place and can edit the 'master copy' as necessary instead of having a dozen quotes floating around the forum with partially correct lyrics. Thanks.

Hayley's most recent international studio album was Hushabye (2013).

However, Hayley has been dropping hints on social media for quite a while that she's working on new material. She's recently been spending quite a bit of time in LA, including time there in recording studios.

It's believed that she's working on new songs, but it's not known how far along she is in that process or when the music might get released.

Tonight, I watched the Celtic Thunder X PBS special, partly because the group is Sharon Browne's baby and partly because some of the other people on the forums are fans.

Mini-Review

I thought it was good. Their style and song choices are less up my alley than Celtic Woman. Just not my cup of Barry's Tea (#ShamelessPlug). I preferred their previous special, Legacy, to this one, but they did do some songs I really enjoyed. From the Ground Up and May the Road Rise to Meet You were good harmony numbers.

I'm not a huge fan of what they did with The Voice, but I'll give them credit for trying to do it differently. I'm sure their version of Streets of London sounds fine ... unless you've hear Mairead Carlin sing it, because once you've heard it from her, nothing else compares.

I really like their fiddler, Nicole Hudson. She's of course very talented. She doesn't move around as often as the Celtic Woman fiddlers, but she always looks like she's having a great time and when I see her smiling off the left of the screen, I smile too.    By extension, The Devil Went Down to Georgia and the band instrumental before the finale were among my favourite moments of the show.

My favourite moment was the finale, Ireland's Call. They always do a fantastic job with that song. Lots of fun and great harmony!



Pledge Breaks

One of the same hosts that does the Celtic Woman pledge breaks was doing this one. She's alright. I wouldn't call it highly inspired promotional work, but I suppose it was adequate. She pronounced their names correctly. I guess O'Dwyer is easier to pronounce than "Tara" or "Woman?" I dunno... It wasn't quite at the same level as the person doing the pledge breaks for The Bloody Irish. THAT was impressive work.

They had Ryan Kelly and Michael O'Dwyer in the studio this time ( they didn't have Celtic Woman in the studio during the Homecoming airing ). Michael I think was a bit nervous. Ryan was pretty cool.


The Road Ahead

Celtic Thunder apparently has a tour show within half an hour of me this fall. It's super-convenient location-wise, but...

... It looks like I'll be going to a LOT of shows in the second half of the year (possibly 10 in the span of 4 months). If I have to choose between seeing Celtic Thunder, Chloë, Amy Rivard, CaraNua, Lisa Lambe, Lisa Kelly, Mairead Nesbitt, Orla, or Chloe Lowery, those boys are definitely getting the short end of that stick. I think I'll leave it until the last minute and try to get a nosebleed seat depending on what happens with the other shows.


Overall

Overall, the show was entertaining. Their performances get my head bobbing and toes tapping. I've got nothing against Celtic Thunder, my heart will forever and always belong to Celtic Woman. <3

It looks like Mairead is going to be part of a musical soundtrack of The Little Prince!

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgjGCJDhqw_/

Excerpt from original post:

So excited that Nick and my gorgeous friend Jamie Reid have asked me to sing for their new musical soundtrack of The Little Prince- playing the part of The Little Prince himself. I can’t say much more but I will tell you the other leads are Hollywood Royalty and I’m SO excited. Hint: #thegreatestshowman #lesmiserables

Hmm. My guess (without having looked up everyone else in both casts), is Hugh Jackman.

An Irish Heart


On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2018, I saw Chloë Agnew perform with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra in Van Wert, Ohio!

Like most of my trips to see Chloë, this was a drive. This show was almost 7 hours away. But the more I see her live, the more I believe there's nowhere that's too far to see her.


The Gathering

IloveyouSarahBurke!! <3 got a few of us together for a pre-show gathering at the nearby 'Black Angus On Main' restaurant, which was just a few minutes away from the venue by car. That was fun, IloveyouSarahBurke!! <3 !! Thank you!

I was my usual shy, non-talkative self, but I was having a great time.


Meeting Chloë

There were no Meet and Greet tickets available that I could find. So in the time leading up to the show, I was wondering if there would be a post-show Meet and Greet in the lobby or not. She was in the Lobby and Greet after the show I saw with Nathan Carter last year. But I hadn't seen one of Chloë's orchestra shows before, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to meet her. Someone that went to an earlier show mentioned that there wasn't any such thing organized after her shows with the Atlanta Pops. I had reminded Chloë on social media often in the weeks leading up to the show that we were coming. She was looking forward to having us at the show, but could she meet us?

Someone that had gone to Chloë's show the previous night had managed to meet her by waiting at the merchandise table after the show. When Dermot came out to retrieve any merch that was left over, they asked if he could get Chloë and he did. That was my plan going into the evening, but we found out before the show that she couldn't stick around after.

So things weren't looking particularly good for meeting Chloë this time.

Near the end of the pre-show gathering, Karsten let us know that he had a secret contact that said we could meet Chloë before the show if we showed up early to the venue.

So we all hurried over there. In our excitement, we got there a few minutes before the doors to the veneue opened. It was a bit chilly outside, but we took the opportunity to take some pictures outside the Niswonger Performing Arts Center before they let us in.

There was a group of people gathered near the back of the lobby that apparently were part of a Meet and Greet group. These must have been special tickets for sponsors or members or something, because there were definitely no Meet and Greet tickets for general public sale anywhere. If you've read my post on my Celtic Woman: Home for Christmas concert in Saginaw in December of 2016, you may recall that I had been a bit surprised to see a Meet and Greet group assembled before that show as well. I was having somme traumatic flashbacks at that point. The staff was saying we needed some special Meet and Greet stickers. Umm ... what? The Meet and Greet group went in. This time though, I had a feeling Karsten and his mystery contact would come through.

Shortly after the M+G group went in to the back area of the venue, some other people from the staff came out and asked if we were the group of fans there to see Chloë. We were. After some confused dialog between some members of the staff and them calling back to the uh, surprise contact, they took us to the front of the Meet and Greet line. The mistro of the Atlanta Pops was outside the room where the M+G was taking place. Some of the others in the group got photos with him. Just as I was about to, the staff told us to go in quick and see Chloë because there were a bunch of people waiting behind us and they were a bit short on time.

So we peeked into the room and there was Chloë!!! I got to go first! She recognized me and welcomed me over with her brilliant smile. She just seems to get more and more beautiful every time I see her. As usual, I got really giddy and rushed over her like an excited child running over to hug Elsa at a Disney theme park. I gave her a great big hug. She loved the cheap, oversized St. Patrick's Day novelty hat I was wearing. She also loved the Chloë forum buttons ( thanks Jim ). I asked her if she wanted one and she did, so I put one in her gift bag.

I had her sign some things, offering her a selection of pens with various colours and tip sizes to choose from. She said she liked how I came prepared and organized for these. I had a flashback to my first Meet and Greet with her, where I hadn't remembered to bring anything to sign at all. I smiled at her and said this wasn't my first Meet and Greet anymore. I had come a long way since the first time I met her, but I was still shy and practically speechless in her presence. She thanked me for coming and said she was so glad I had come all this way to see her again. Like my first Meet and Greet with her and every subsequent Meet and Greet I've been too, I couldn't do much but smile and thank her repeatedly. I got to hug her again and take some photos with her. I must say, when I first met her, I was really bad at taking photos. I was not photogenic at all and my smile was pretty awkward. She has been such a positive influence in my life in so many ways. But one of the most important ways is that, over the years, I have finally learned how to smile, for her. <3

In the excitement of meeting Chloë, I actually left the room the gift bag still in my hands. Woops! I rushed back in after a couple of people had met her and left it for her at the back of the room.


The Venue

The merch stand was set up in the lobby. The Atlanta Pops had some merch there. Chloë had her typical assortment of signed photos, CDs (not her new EP which should be out later this year), and pretty much all the merch a Chlovër would desire. By that point, I pretty much had everything on the table already. There was signed photo I didn't have yet, but I have quite an overwhelming amount of her signed photos back home at this point, so I decided to pass this time. She did however, had a nice little clear, signed glass I didn't have yet, so I got one of those.

The show was in what I would call a normal-sized auditorium, the size in which one might see a Celtic Woman show. It was larger than the typical venue for her solo shows. I suspect quite a bit of the crowd was a local crowd there to see the visiting Atlanta Pops Orchestra.

The stage was fairly simple in design, with a white background, lit with green for St. Patrick's Day. There was what I'd call a medium-sized orchestra. I didn't count the number of pieces, but if I had to guess, I'd say maybe 30-40. The orchestra was pretty far back from the front of the stage, leaving lots of room for the performers in front of them. We were about 3 rows back, just to the left of center stage, the best seats I could get. I thought the seats turned out great!


The Show

Before the show, someone came out on stage, thanked everyone for coming, thanked the sponsors, and mentioned that they would be recording the show

I believe it was being recorded for a promotional video, rather than something one might see on PBS or a DVD one day. They had a few cameras set up partway up the aisles and microphones set up for the members of the orchestra.

The lights went down and it was finally show time!

I've seen Chloë a few times now, including a few of her solo shows, a show with Nathan Carter, and one with Lisa Kelly in Peachtree City. While every time was special, this show was quite possibly the best. Chloë sounded fantastic! She sounds great at her solo shows, with Dermy as accompaniment. But with an orchestra behind her, she sounded better than ever! Chloë performed some songs from her regular set list, including some arrangements of fan favourites from Celtic Woman. The Atlanta Pops arrangements were a bit different than David Downes's arrangements. Although I did prefer some of the CW orchetral arrangements, I thought the Pops arrangements were great overall. Chloë also performed some songs she I hadn't yet heard her perform live before.

Chlovërs, I have heard her sing some pretty impressive stuff. She has reduced me to tears on multiple occassions with her passionate performances and beautiful voice. But with that powerful orchestra behind her, it was on a different level. I was fighting back tears (often unsuccessfully) for almost every song in her set list! Her duets with Dermy were incredible!

Dermot, who usually plays guitar and piano in Chloë's solo shows, was only singing this time. He performed a solo for St. Patrick's Day. I've heard him perform it at Chloë's shows before. It was quite impressive.

Another treat during the show was Scott Porter, who danced a few times during the show. This time, I got to fully appreciate his performance, since I wasn't getting blasted repeatedly in the eyes with strobe lights the whole time.

The Atlanta Pops orchestra had some standout pieces as well, while Chloë was getting a breather backstage. They did some good medleys, but my favourite pieces were Shenandoah and The Ashokan Farewell. Those were both deeply moving and very well done! The conductor was quite funny and was very complimentary of Chloë. While Chloë was in Celtic Woman, he had dreamed of one day performing with her. Dreams really do come true.

Chloë gave us shout-outs during the show shared her engaging smile with us several times. There are people who can sing. There are people who can interact with the audience. But there is nobody else like her. <3


Post-Show

After saying goodbye to Sarah, Karsten, and Eric (hopefully I get to see them again for Lisa's show in August), I headed back to the hotel. From past experience, I knew I wasn't going to be doing much sleeping any time soon, so I posted pictures until after 2:00 AM, when I couldn't keep my eyes open any more.

The drive home was pretty long (including a extremely slow border crossing, likely on account of March Break), but at least I didn't have to do this one alone.

On the way back, I played Homecoming ( the signed Target-exclusive version ) to get ready for my two Celtic Woman concerts coming up in less than a month. Then, I listened to a mix of former Celtic Woman guests and former Celtic Woman choir members (including Amy Rivard, in honour of passing through her hometown on the way back).


Closing Thoughts

Chloë refers to their touring group (her, Dermy, Scott Porter, and the Atlanta Pops conductor) as The Wolf Pack, I believe. They make a great team and treated us all to a wonderful show. There were quite a few standing ovations during the show and Chloë seemed genuinely flattered by all the love and support. If you're reading this Chloë, you deserved every bit of it. You were so wonderful! Thank you sooooo much, from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to meet with your Chlovërs and for one of the most memorable shows I've seen in my life. <3