Celtic Woman

A couple of weeks before Christmas, my Wife told me about an Irish group called Celtic Woman, and she was a big fan and they were coming to Houston and tickets were just about to go on sale.

Not one to miss a small hint when it smacks me upside the head, I duly bought tickets but cunningly waited until Christmas morning to give them to her. Even though it was only two weeks later, that was plenty of time for my Wife to completely forget about the show and the look on her face when she opened the tickets was priceless. Last night, it was finally show time.

Despite driving to the Toyota Center in torrential rain, we managed to get to the arena fairly unscathed ready to enjoy the show.

I'd never heard of the group until just before I got the tickets so I didn't really know what to expect but I was looking forward to the show because I knew my Wife was really excited to be going. If you're not familiar with the group, it comprises of four female singers, and a very energetic violinist. They're joined on stage by a backing choir and various other musicians.

The show was actually very good. It was called The Isle of Hope and the general idea was that it was about Irish immigrant arriving at Ellis Island, leaving one Isle for another.

The violinist was first out, dancing around the stage as she played. She didn't miss a note and the crowd showed their appreciation. The four singers came out and sang a song together, and then the remainder of the show was a mixture of them singing individually, all together, and the violinist performing her solos. The music was a mixture of original material written by the group, traditional Irish songs, as well as their version of contemporary hits.

My Wife was expecting a shortish show at no longer than an hour and when the lights came up just after 9pm we were about to leave until there was an announcement saying there would be a 20 minute interval before the second half. A quick toilet stop made the second half more welcome!

There was another 70-80 minutes, as well as one of the longest encores/farewells I've seen in my many years of concert going. The performers all said their goodbyes and bowed to the audience to take their applause but very time they finished what we thought would be the final song they broke into another.

I must admit it's not really the kind of show I would normally want to go to but I really enjoyed it. It made a nice change from the rock concerts I usually attend and I would definitely go again.