Celtic Thunder: Mythology

St. Patrick’s Day has passed, so let’s celebrate belatedly with the latest Celtic Thunder offering!

**Note: I ordered through Amazon, so I did not get the deluxe set: IE both CDs and both DVDs. Hopefully Sharon later releases these separately for those who chose to order the way I did.**

Mythology is thrilling.

Celtic Thunder Voyage II

It’s Celtic Thunder time again! So, some people may be curious as to why there is a part II to Voyage. Well, Sharon Browne has explained it. And it all boils down to how royalties work in the US. So while the show itself is about two hours, in order to turn a profit, it had to be split into two DVDs. So, we have Voyage II!


This DVD opens with “Song for the Mira,” performed by George Donaldson, Keith Harkin, Neil Byrne, Emmet Cahill and Daniel Furlong. The more I hear the song, the more I like it. This go around, they opt for suits. And I must say they look quite dapper in them. The DVD continues with Neil singing “Hallelujah.” It’s even more haunting then his rendition on “It’s Entertainment” and he sings most of it solo. Keith and Emmet come out to sing the last part with him.

"Voyage" UPDATE

So, my PBS (well, one of 'em) aired Voyage for St. Patrick's Day. It is not the DVD show. So I wrote down the song order as aired on PBS:

(Songs not on the DVD are starred)

Deus Meus

Dulaman

Kindred Spirits

Jigs and Reels

Black is the Color

Lagan Love

(Break)

Maid of Culmore

The Dutchman

Red Rose Cafe

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears

Ride On

Hallelujah* (Neil with Keith and Emmett)

(Break)

Song for the Mira* (All sans Ryan)
My Irish Molly* (Emmett)

You Got a Friend in Me* (Daniel with Keith)

All Day Long

Friends in Low Places* (Ryan)

A Place in the Choir* (All)

(Break)

Clancy Brothers Medley

She Always a Woman* (Neil)

Cat's in the Cradle* (George)

All Out of Love* (Keith)

Galway Girl* (All)


Once again, this did not end with the complete performance of "Ireland's Call" though some was shown as the credits rolled.

Voyage

It’s March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. You know what that means? That’s right—Celtic Thunder again! This is the first DVD released without Paul Byrom and Damian McGinty. It’s the first to feature Emmett Cahill.

So, how is “Voyage”? Well, we’ll start with the DVD and then go on to the CD.

Celtic Thunder: LIVE! AGAIN!

So, I got to see Celtic Thunder again!

I always knew I want to go to one of the 2011 concert dates. But the question was when? Living where I do, I could go to either the one in Manhattan or a few in New Jersey. I wanted to see the Christmas show though, which narrowed it to New Jersey. I rounded up some friends and got tickets for the night performance at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Then a friend got sick so I asked my aunt to come.

I drove to the theater, which was only about a half hour away from my house. Though there was some traffic by Newark caused by a car crash closing a lane. And then my GPS wanted me to turn, but the police had blocked off the street. (I correctly surmised that was where the buses were parked). Then I had to find parking, which was harder than trying to find a spot in Astoria. We finally found one and I got a call from a friend who lives in Jersey and was meeting us there. I thought it was the “Where are you?!” call, but she was calling to let us know SHE just found a parking spot as well.

Fortunately, they delayed the show so I didn’t miss anything. And let me just say, my seats were excellent. When the lads came out, they were actually life-sized! And I could see their faces! Which made it easier to stare lovingly at them. And yes, my boyfriend was next to me the entire time.

Storm

Okay, back in 2009, Celtic Thunder filmed its 3rd DVD “It’s Entertainment.” However, the day it was filmed, “It’s Entertainment” was actually the second show. The first one was “Storm,” which was filmed and never released. But the fans knew it existed—one of the songs from “Storm” was featured on “Take Me Home” (Ryan Kelly’s “Midnight Well”). Fans clamored for it and finally wore producer Sharon Browne down. She released it to various PBS stations to air. The two in New York have not aired it, preferring to still air “Heritage.” I know others did the same, judging by responses posted on the Celtic Thunder Official Website. Some PBS stations refused to air them saying that “Heritage” didn’t bring in a lot of pledges. I’m not surprised. These are tough economic times and the cheapest pledge in New York is a $50 one!

Anyway, they released “Storm” on CD and DVD on September 20th. And thanks to Amazon, I was able to have it that day. So, this is strange to be using with a Celtic Thunder DVD but…

Let the Thunder and the SPOILERS roll!

Heritage

St. Patrick’s Day may be a week away, but it’s time to get our Irish on. The other day, I got Celtic Thunder’s latest CD/DVD—Heritage!

To be fair, you may recall that “Heritage” was the first part of the Celtic Thunder show I saw in October. I couldn’t really give it a proper review as I barely knew all the songs in the show. Also, there are a few songs that aren’t on the show but on the CD that I’ll cover as well.

We Wish You a Celtic Christmas!

This past Saturday, I sat in front of the TV with a secondary turkey coma caused by Thanksgiving leftovers. My father suddenly yelled down the stairs that a Celtic Thunder Christmas was on Channel 23 (one of my many PBS stations). I was very excited; the last I had heard on the Celtic Thunder website was that the Christmas special may not be shown. The CD went on sale in mid-October. I resisted buying it right away just because I feel Christmas is coming earlier and earlier each year. So I waited till after Halloween. And now I was able to see the performance (taped September 17th).

The show’s set utilizes the “It’s Entertainment!” set—a raised dais for the band, a street lamp, bench and fountain. For this production, everything was covered with “snow.” The show opens with Neil singing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” Neil sings a bit more in this special, which is well-deserved. He also sings “When You Wish Upon a Star” and is part of “Hallelujah” (which was from “It’s Entertainment!”).

Damian gets to sing both the classic “Winter Wonderland” and the original work “Our First Christmas Together.” When I ran upstairs during the first pledge break to use the bathroom and get something to drink, I found my father watching it as well. As clips of Damian singing popped up, he commented that he did not expect that voice to come from him. I told him that it was even stranger since I had been following Celtic Thunder since before Damian’s voice changed, but I like him as a baritone.

Keith this time around got two of the most covered Christmas songs—“All I Want For Christmas Is You” and “Last Christmas.” I wish I could say more as Keith has a great voice. But after so many covers of these songs…it’s easy to tune them out. (Keith does join Neil for “Hallelujah”). George gets some more fun songs in this show, “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” and the original song “Going Home for Christmas.” I love the second song he sings, which is funny given some of the lyrics: “Say good-bye to the lights of Broadway, farewell to old Times Square”  I live in New York City! But the feeling behind the song—going home to family and friends—is universal.

Amongst Ryan’s songs, we get “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow” as well as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” While these two are not necessarily high on my list of favorite Christmas songs, I love Ryan’s voice and can tolerate these songs. (Ryan is the third performer on “Hallelujah” with Neil and Keith). And lastly, we have Paul singing the classic “Ave Maria” and the original piece “Christmas Morning, Donegal.” The second song is not available on the CD, unless it was purchased off QVC. It’s a beautiful song that I hope will someday be available to everyone.

There’s a reason I decided to mention Paul last. The day before the show aired (Black Friday), Celtic Thunder’s producer, Sharon Browne, posted a new blog to the website. In it, she described how the show was changing over from “Heritage” and “It’s Entertainment” to “It’s Entertainment” and “Christmas.” About halfway through, she dropped a bombshell: Paul was leaving the group after the tour was over. He wanted to focus on his solo career and was jumping into the waters, hoping the fan base he’s accrued during his time with Celtic Thunder will support him. Like most fans, I was sadden by this announcement. Paul is my favorite member (as I said in my review of the show I saw in October) and I love his voice. I have left “Recuerdame (Remember Me)” on repeat quite a few times. But we all wish him well—I know I do and I will gladly buy tickets to any concert he has in the New York City area!

Amongst the group numbers, there is “Christmas 1915,” which appeared on an earlier CD but not on a DVD. It’s a haunting song about soldiers singing Christmas songs on Christmas night, the battle lines forgotten. Because it was recorded so early on, the men try to recreate how it sounded back then. For the older four, this is no problem. However, the song was recorded before Damian’s voice deepened as such he sings the song in a higher register. There is also the a capella version of “Amazing Grace,” which Neil joins them for. While a bit unexpected for a Christmas special, it fits the tone nicely. My favorite ensemble number is their rendition of “Silent Night.” Damian and Ryan sing the first verse in Irish while the others harmonize on the other two versions. It is one of my favorite songs on the album and has been since previews went up on iTunes!

The show ends with the group singing “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as snow falls in the Poughkeepsie Civic Center.

The musical arrangements are beautiful as always. The performers all seem to have fun performing and filming the special. It’s a great DVD for the holidays and now even more valuable as Paul is leaving. I highly recommend it for any Celtic Thunder fan! And for those who may have not yet seen the group, I suggest stalking your local PBS station for their airing!

Let the Thunder Roll…

I don’t know exactly why, but one day a few years ago I decided to stop on one of my PBS stations (because of Staten Island’s location, I not only receive Channel 13 from New York but also Channel 21 from Long Island and Channel 25 from New Jersey). There was a concert on and the music intrigued me. That show was Celtic Thunder. I fell in love with their Irish-infused music and how great all their voices were. I purchased their first CD and would play it while at work. In fact, my boss commented on the oddity of “Puppy Love” following such Celtic sounding songs.

The men of Celtic Thunder are George Donaldson, Ryan Kelly, Paul Byrom, Keith Harkin and Damian McGinty. Recently, a sixth member was added to the group: Neil Byrne. Neil, though, has been working with Celtic Thunder since the beginning. Neil plays in the Celtic Thunder band and provides backup vocals.

I also bought as many of their CDs as they could possibly put out. I also watched every show broadcasted by PBS. But everyone knows that everything is better live! So I did a little digging on the group’s official website. And they were going to be in New York City, at Radio City, on October 1st! I asked some friends to come with me and my friend Lauren said she could. I bought the tickets and eagerly waited for the month to pass.

On Friday, after we stopped by the Comfort Diner (which I highly recommend to anyone who lives near Arthur Kill Road on Staten Island), she and I took the train-ferry-train down to Times Square. We walked down 7th, which was bustling with slow-moving tourists and the native New Yorkers trying to outwalk them. We talked about the annoying promoters constantly trying to get you to see a comedy show. And of course, they tried. But because of the foot traffic and hawkers (and because I remembered that Radio City is closer to 6th), we left 7th Ave. We arrived at Radio City, where a large crowd was being ushered into the music hall. We got on line, had our tickets scanned, my bag checked and soon entered Radio City.

Our seats were very good. We were in the orchestra, row UU—which is front orchestra—center section. As we took our seats, the woman in the row behind us recognized me. She and I attend the same church. It was nice to know there’s someone else in my neighborhood who likes Celtic Thunders as much as I! Shortly after, an announcement told the audience that the forecast called for some thunder in the area and Phil Coulter took the stage. He is Celtic Thunder’s music director. He explained that the first act we would see was a show called “Heritage” while the second act was “It’s Entertainment!”

“Heritage” was a section devoted to the men’s favorite songs from Ireland and the traditional set. The show opens with the song “Heartland,” which is standard for Celtic Thunder. Each guy, including Neil, got to sing a solo piece while they still performed group numbers. Some of the highlights for me were Damian singing “Come by the Hills” entirely in Gaelic (which I was worried would bore my friend as I’ve heard the song in English while she hasn’t but she said she liked it anyway), Paul singing “Red, Red Rose,” and a lovely duet by Ryan and George that I wish I knew the name to. “Heritage” finished with “All God’s Creatures Have a Place in the Choir,” a toe-tapping gospelesque song that led us into our intermission.

While at intermission, the woman next to my friend and I adopted us. She heard me explain to my fellow parishioner that I had only seen Celtic Thunder on TV. She, however, was an avid Thunderhead (defined as a fan of Celtic Thunder) and this was her third concert. She asked us who are favorites were and Lauren gave a vague answer while I piped in with “Paul!”

Soon, though, the lights dimmed and “It’s Entertainment” started with all five guys singing “Take Me Home.”  Lauren noted that the crowd was more enthusiastic and participated more during this section. I explained to her that “It’s Entertainment” was already released and performed, so the audience already knew what to expect. This section is devoted to songs spanning several decades and styles.  For example, Damian sings “Standing on the Corner” from The Most Happiest Fella, a Broadway-musical while Ryan sings the Bryan Adams hit “Everything I Do (I Do It For You).” Other highlights included Keith’s “Surfer Melody”—Surf City; Fun, Fun, Fun; and Surfin’ USA—as well as George’s rendition of the Pretenders’ “I Want to Spend My Life With You.” One of my favorite performances was Paul singing “Doo Wacka Doo,” complete with some fancy footwork! Another highlight was the trio of Ryan, Keith and Neil singing “Hallelujah.” The finale was the U2 hit “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” which had us on our feet and clapping along.

I’ve been ignoring a big part of the show: the band. They weren’t there just to provide the musical accompaniment. They got their own chances to shine, especially Neil who ran between the drums and the guitar for one number. One female fiddler was quite impressive as well.

For their encore, the five came back out in kilts to perform “Ireland’s Call.” I knew this was coming—they sing it to conclude every show, much like Billy Joel sings “Piano Man.” Hearing “Ireland’s Call” on television is thrilling; hearing it live is electrifying. Everyone in the crowd sang along and our adoptive friend even did the hand motions with the boys. But sadly, all good things come to an end and the Radio City lights came back. We tumbled back to the crowded, noisy city streets and went to meet friends at a local bar.

Overall, the concert was everything I hoped it would be. We had great seats, with great views of the stage. The music, performances and lads were much better live than on TV. I believe this was just the first of my many Celtic Thunder shows!