Celtic Thunder Review

I thought I fell in love with Celtic Thunder when I saw The Show on DVD.  My best friend and I kept watching the show over and over.  I went to their website to get some background information on the group and was devastated when I discovered I missed them in concert by about two weeks.  Then at the beginning of March my younger sister called and said they were going to be in town.  I told her she must be mistaken because they didn't have a concert schedule posted for 2009.  She said, "I just saw the commercial and they're going to be at the Township Auditorium on March 27th."  Well, I went to the Township's website and there was the date.  I then called my best friend and she said she would buy the tickets if I would go after them.  We got some of the best seats available and they were only $55 each.

As the weeks passed I got more excited.  I could barely contain myself come Friday.  We got to the auditorium an hour early and watched as they set up the orchestra pit and the stage.  I wanted so badly to take pictures but we were informed that if anyone was caught taking pictures our cameras would be confiscated. 

I thought I fell in love with a group of guys from a video.  Well let me tell you.  Seeing Celtic Thunder in person was like dying and going to Heaven.  I don't know if there are enough words in the English language to describe what it was like to have the group right in front of me.  The announcer told the crowd that if we had been to a previous show or seen The Show that there would be a few new pieces.  Every new song that was added to the repertoire was awesome and just made me want the third CD and second DVD even more.

We got to see a lot of the performances and what was really neat was seeing the female dancers with the men.  The ladies wore the same dresses that they wore in the video.  A lot of the concert was predictable because I had the video memorized but it was still just as thrilling as ever.  I noticed a lot of differences from the video and the live performance that I attended.

Ryan didn't appear as tall in person and Paul seemed to be a little stockier.  Damian is obviously hitting puberty because he couldn't hit the high notes like he did a year ago and thus, they had to leave his performance of "Puppy Love" out of the repertoire and that just about broke Halie's heart.  But he did perform two new songs: "Happy Birthday Sweet 16" and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."  Watching Damian perform transported you back in time.  He is 15 but can perform the golden oldies as if he were an old soul.  He incorporated a lot of Elvis and John Travolta moves into his performance and the teenagers and ladies alike would just start screaming.  Paul got a little braver and attempted some sexy moves that had the crowd cheering.  I was brought to tears by the new solos that George did and that is what made me really want the new CD.  Keith was performing "I Wanna Know What Love Is" and this lady in the balcony above us yelled out, "I'll show it to you."

There was more dancing in the concert and a smaller orchestra than what they had in their hometown of Dublin, Ireland.  The female violinists also danced and sang.  The conductor played the piano, accordion and sang with them during one or two numbers.   I kept my fingers crossed that they would play "Caledonia" because I so desperately wanted to hear the bagpipes.  Well, they not only performed "Caledonia" but they also performed "Ireland's Call" and one other song that utilized the bagpipes.  Because I was so familiar with the video I was up and down and performing a lot of their dance moves and hand gestures with them. 

The first part of the show lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes and then we had a 15-minute intermission.  I don't typically like instrumental music but during the intermission the orchestra played some pieces that were spectacular and at one part during the second half the orchestra did a song and dance piece and you felt as if you were in a fairytale.   The second part lasted for about an hour and a half.  Celtic Thunder performed a song that spoke of going back home and while they were performing they had a video of soldiers in the background and I don't think there was a dry eye in the house when they performed "Danny Boy."

After the concert we all gathered around the fence that surrounded the backside of the auditorium.  We got to see the group leave and as they left they would run to the fence and reach thru and sign posters, DVDs, and CDs.  I heard they are returning in the fall and my best friend and I said that we want to be there again.  If you have a chance to see Celtic Thunder in concert or on your public television network-do it!  I really need to give the group 25 stars because that would allow for five stars for each of the five performers.  

I saw several of my church members there and today at our homecoming we all sat together at the dinner on the grounds and told our other friends about the concert.  One guy said his wife dragged him to the show and he was glad she did.