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Messages - dbbii
1
« on: July 26, 2026, 09:06:04 AM »
Ronan was part of the choir/dancers for a couple of the CW tours.
2
« on: July 23, 2026, 09:13:08 AM »
Some of it comes down to what we need. We need food, we need housing, we need transportation. If I only have $X to spend, some things have to be cut out.
It's tough to make money in a lot of jobs right now. I graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering. Spent the next 40 years in construction. Was it hard? Yes. Traveled a lot. Made a decent living, which was why I was able to go to a lot of CW shows! Was my job always 8-5? No. Some days more, some days less, but it was a steady paycheck. I understand that jobs are different than when I was working. And then there's the whole AI thing.
Am I a fan of on-line shows? No. It's not the same as live. And yes, I'm spoiled. I have some of the CW DVDs, but haven't watched them in years (mainly because I can't find my DVD player!).
My daughter has gone to a bunch of CW shows with me over the years. She still likes CW, but her tastes in music have changed. She's been to 2 Post Malone shows. Both stadium shows. Even made it to one Taylor Swift show. It's obviously a totally different experience. We went to Red Rocks for CW. Great show, but at some point I like the "smaller" venues, especially if you can get close up seats.
What do I want? Well, it would be nice not to have the lineup keep changing. I do understand why it is. Since I'm old, I'm also a tradionalist. I understand every musical director needs to put their own "stamp" on the music. Sometimes it works, sometime it doesn't. Look at movies. When they do a sequel, it's usually not as good as the origional. Think Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, etc.
Having said all this, I still support CW and will continue to as long as I can.
3
« on: July 21, 2026, 10:14:20 AM »
Keeping in mind I'm old (69), I would guess we won't see a DVD again. It seems as if everything is going to streaming. One reason I'm keeping my older vehicle is it has (GASP!) a CD player and I have lots of CD's. Similar thing with DVDs. I really don't want to watch a concert on my phone!
As far as touring, I also believe a lot of it is based on cost. If you aren't selling out, or at least close to it, you end up in the hole financially. And, with the way the economy is today, a $100 concert ticket is a big expense for some people. I hate to think about how much I spent over the years going to CW concerts. Plane flights, rental car, hotels, etc probably averaged $1,000 a show. Could I do it today? Yeah, I'm lucky I can. The bigger question is do I want to?
The other issue is the make up of the group. I can completely understand that a member can get tired of being on the road for months at a time. Having to perform every night must be exhausting. So at what point does the group become a CW Tribute Group? And part of this has to do with the TV issue. That's how I first encounted CW. I was flipping thru TV channels one night and ran accross them on PBS. Liked the music. Saw they were coming to my town, so bought tickets. I was hooked. Not sure that could happen today.
Especially in the "early" days of CW, if you did the M&G after the show, you actually got a minute or two to talk to the girls. Over the years, most of them recognized me. I think it was 3 years ago, I went to a Lisa Kelly Masterclass. She remembered me and some of the conversations we had. Same thing with Chloe. After she left CW, she did some individual shows. I went to a couple. At one of them, I asked her to sign a college graduation card for my daughter, who had been to a number of shows with me. She wrote a very touching note and gave me a T-shirt to give to my daughter. You don't get that kind of an opportunity any more.
So what do I want? I agree there's been too many line up changes, but I also understand why. Some of that may be that the artists need income, so, if CW isn't touring/recording, what do they do? Same thing with the smaller band, backup singers, etc. It's a different show. Maybe a smaller venue?
It's a tough situation. All "we" can do is support them.
4
« on: July 12, 2026, 02:38:51 PM »
My thought is don't hold your breathe for increased PBS funding. PBS is going to be treated just like any other broadcaster. Sell advertising to pay for what you are producing.
I've had some concerns about CW ever since COVID. Granted, I've had concerns about other events as well. Now we have the cost of gas, hotels, travel, etc going up. I only went to one show this Spring and I think I paid just under $100 for the ticket. Thats probably in line with what I paid in years past. Guess was the venue was maybe 70% full.
It really comes down to the group and their fans. Last year, my daughter wanted to go see Post Malone in Toronto. Her mother agreed to go with her! Kinda big bucks after you consider air fare, hotel, food, even tickets, etc. Concert was at the Toronto baseball stadium (who's name escapes me now). Somewhere aroud 50,000 people.
Then there is the performer formerly known as Kenye West. He was in Tampa (where I live) a month or so ago. Two shows at the football stadium. Probably 60,000 fans.
I'm considering going to one of the Christmas shows in Atlanta. I know it's going to cost me around $1,000. I can afford it; it's just do I want to?
5
« on: July 08, 2026, 09:43:33 AM »
Quote: "Makes you wonder if they ever once tested a full fall tour on Symphony how much sold out they'd be."
For various reasons, I only went to 1 show this Spring. In past years, I've done as many as 10. The one I went to was in a 2,500 seat venue. It wasn't full. Compare to the last time I was at Red Rocks where there were about 9,000 people. It's not just CW. I went to a CT show this year; same thing. Not a full house. So, what's going to happen with the Christmas tour attendance?
It seems like a lot of shows are not sold out. I go to various Broadway type shows in my area (there are 3 decent venues within 45 minutes). None of the ones recently have been sold out. Is it the economy? Maybe. Is it the show/music? Maybe. Putting on a show, especially one that does one night stands, has to be expensive. When does it mot make sense economically?
6
« on: June 02, 2026, 04:45:22 PM »
So as has been typical, there ae 2 shows in Atlanta. When to one back in 2023. Got the M&G package. Local PBS station did a really good job. Food and drinks! There were about 100 people at the PBS event. Only maybe 25 had the photo op.
Two weeks before the CW show, I went to Atlanta to see Chloe Agnew in concert. Then, the next day went to Lisa Kelly's Masterclass. I drove (7 hours) to see Chloe's show, but flew to see CW.
Not sure what I'm going to do this year. Who knows what flights are going to be like by then.
7
« on: May 20, 2026, 06:54:07 PM »
I voted incorrectly. I clicked on the Outdoor castle show. What I meant to vote for was the Indoor theatre shows. Main reason I voted this was was because I was at the Atlanta SFTH taping both nights. When they pan the audience, you do get a glimpse of me twice!
I did not make it to Ireland for any of the shows, but the DVDs were pretty good. I went to a couple of shows at Red Rocks. I would have liked to have seen a taping from there. It is a great venue.
8
« on: May 15, 2026, 02:27:44 PM »
So I was browsing the forum and found a listing of all the girls birthdays. I'd seen it before. Brought back an interesting memory.
I'm pretty sure it was at a SFTH concert in St Petersburg, FL. It occured on Mairead Nesbitt's birthday, April 18. Some number of "us" were sitting in the first 1 or 2 rows. So, when she came out near the end of the show to do the closing comments, we started singing Happy Birthday! By the end, most of the audience was singing along! Mairead kind of didn't know how to react!
9
« on: May 15, 2026, 02:16:45 PM »
I was a member of the old CW forum and, I think, the High Kings for a short time. You made a statement about bringing things over. How do I do that?
I saw the High Kings once when they performed prior to the CW concert at, I think, Radio City.
10
« on: May 14, 2026, 08:22:06 AM »
This is, unfortunately, not unusal. There have been several forums I followed over the years. Typically, it seems as if they are owned/managed by a single person. When something happens to that person, no one pays the hosting bill, etc and the forum just dies.
11
« on: May 03, 2026, 03:53:54 PM »
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.
12
« on: May 02, 2026, 06:12:05 AM »
I read this as this tour is ending and there's no plan for another tour/recording right now. My guess is CW needs to analyze where they are financially and see where they go from here. I only went to one show this year, and it wasn't full. Are they reevaluating?
13
« on: April 25, 2026, 04:58:53 PM »
Interesting that the article says the company behind CT has total losses of 2.9 million pounds. That goes back to 2019.
14
« on: April 23, 2026, 08:27:19 AM »
My first live show was in 2007. I think I'm up to 90 CW shows, plus some of Lisa Kelly's shows, her Masterclasses, and some of Chloe Agnew's shows. I've done around 35 Meet & Greets with various members.
15
« on: April 14, 2026, 08:51:09 AM »
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:.
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