Some of the earlier tours were around 4 months long.  That's gotta be brutal.  A different bed every night.  What do you do for meals?  And at some point you have to miss your family.  Plus, you have to be "on" every night.  (ok, they do have days off, but...).  So, on some level I'm impressed that the girls stuck it out as long as they did.

There's a post that talks about the issues that Shannon Brown ran into, at least with Celtic Thunder.  Article claims the "company" lost something like 2.7 million pounds.  Is the current production company making money?  Going back, say prior to COVID, most of the shows I went to were pretty full.  Lately, not so much. 

Do I want this to end? NO.  But if it does, I have a bunch of great memories.

Interesting that the article says the company behind CT has total losses of 2.9 million pounds.  That goes back to 2019.

One of my favorite songs is Ireland's Call, when done by Celtic Thunder.  Great closing song.  Anyway, one line is "from the 4 proud provinces of Ireland:.

Keeping in mind I'm old (as in maybe 4 TV stations old) ....

Everyone keeps saying streaming is the way to go.  Part of that however is you have to specifically look for something.  In my case, I found CW by simply running thru channels one night (cable) when I was bored.  Today, there are so many options/subscriptions/etc out there, how do new groups get exposure?  While CW isn't a "new" group, it kind of is because of the way COVID effected everything.  Going back to the "early days", I went to a lot of shows.  The girls recognized me, especially when the M&Gs were after the show and more informal.  It's different today.

So is the PBS funding cuts having an effect on groups like CW?  Yes, but there are other factors. 

This got me thinking, which can be dangerous!

I've been to 6 shows at RCMH.  The last one was in 2012.  I was fortunate that my daughter wanted to go with me to all of them.  We had M&G's for 2 of them.  It was fun.  Got to see some Broadway shows, Statute of Liberty, etc.  One reason I'm only going to 1 show this year (or that's all I'm planning on) is it's local.  It's not about money -- I hate to think how much I have spent over the years!  Rather, I'm waiting to see if I still enjoy the show.  We all know the group has changed, and probably will continue to do so.  Change is not always bad. 

I initially went to 1 show each of the first 2 years after I saw CW on PBS.  The Isle of Hope tour was 9 shows, and it went up from there.  Why?  Obviously the music, but some of it was the performers and the way they connected with the audience. 

Best example goes back to 2023.  I went to Lisa Kelly's Masterclass in December.  Lisa remembered me from the various M&G's I attended.

I have tickets to see the show on March 25 in Clearwater, FL.  Been there several times to see CW and CT.   Even if I really, really like the new show, not sure if I can make anything else.  I used to try to go to two shows at a time because of travel.  Nothing against Canada, but they're doing some shows there, and travel (flying) has become a giant PITA.

Going back to pre-Covid, I was probably going to 9 or 10 shows a year.  Covid screwed up a lot of things, including tours.  A lot of groups are still trying to get back to "normal'.  Not touring for some amount of time can cause groups to lose audience. CW is probably no exception.  Right now, I'm only planning on going to 1 show this tour.  Some of my reasoning is because travel, mainly flying, has become a real PITA. 

Having said that, Chloe is doing a show outside Savannah, GA on St Paddy's Day.  Since it's only a 5ish hour drive for me, I'm going to go.

Several of the PBS M&G's were really good.  For example:

Christmas 2023 in Atlanta.  The Atlanta PBS station had a pre-show reception.  There were at least 100 people there.  Decent food and drinks.  The photo op, which was limited to maybe 25 people, was rushed.

2012 in Tampa, FL.  Held in the 2nd floor lobby of the PAC.  Soft drinks available along with chips, etc.  Chloe and Mairead sitting behind a table siging autographs.  This was soon after Mairead got engaged.  Wearing her ring.  My wife has some jewelry knowledge and briefly talkd to her about the ring.  Chloe got up from behind the table and came around to hug me (I'd meet her a bunch of times previously).  I thought the PBS lady was going to have a heart attack!

2009 in Fort Myers, FL.  My daughter's first M&G (she was 15).  She was nervous.  Chloe did a wonderful job of putting her at ease.  Said she saw my daughter singing along.  (front row).

2009 in Akron, Ohio.  Held in the Green Room.  Girls generally just mingled.  Talked to Lisa K.  Show was at the Universitys PAC.  Told Lisa I was in the band at school, and performed here a couple times.  I said I can now say I had performed on the same stage with CW.  Lisa laughed and said since I was obviously older than she is, she can say she performed on the same state I did!

I think it was in 2013 that the M&G became a preshow photo op.  Not the same, but I have do have some decent photos with all the girls and I was able to ultimately get them signed.  The girls were happy to do it, but whoever was running the M&G for CW was not happy.

To me, it's not unusual that a group keeps changing members, especially when, in the case of CW, they started like 20 years ago. 

I keep getting emails from various venues in my area advertising various "tribute" bands.  When does CW become a tribute group?