North American Tour 2007

[Mark]

Hi everyone

I think thats a great idea Richard, a short tour of the cities that she has performed in with Celtic Woman. After all, thats how I became a fan - she came to my home town in November 2005 and the rest as they say, is history

I guess it would be some time before she could get back there though - I mean to do a tour of the states but, its a good idea.

Best regards
Mark

[Stephany]

tinky3344 said:

I think thats a great idea Richard, a short tour of the cities that she has performed in with Celtic Woman.

I know someone in particular who would be over the moon if Hayley did that. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
More seriously, in my opinion Hayley really needs to be around in the months to come unless I'm afraid the "CW effect" will disappear very quickly. And even though she's currently touring in the country, some US newspapers still don't get it.

CELTIC WOMAN
11 May 2007
© 2007 Seattle Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.

Celtic Woman, The High-Concept Irish-Music Extravaganza, Whose TV Specials Are A Favorite Of PBS Viewers (And PBS Fund-Raising Campaigns), Plays At 8 P.M. Sunday At Wamu Theater At Qwest Field Event Center, 800 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle. The Concert Will Feature Material From Celtic Woman's Latest Cd/DVD release, "A New Journey." Australian singer Hayley Westenra, whose latest album is "Celtic Treasure," is the opening act.

$55-$67 (206-628-0888 or www.ticketmaster.com ; information, www.celticwoman.com or www.qwestfield.com ).

Australian ? Opening act ?
That deserves a "GRRRRRRRRRRRR"

[grant]

stephany said:

[

CELTIC WOMAN
11 May 2007
© 2007 Seattle Times. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights reserved.

Celtic Woman, The High-Concept Irish-Music Extravaganza, Whose TV Specials Are A Favorite Of PBS Viewers (And PBS Fund-Raising Campaigns), Plays At 8 P.M. Sunday At Wamu Theater At Qwest Field Event Center, 800 Occidental Ave. S., Seattle. The Concert Will Feature Material From Celtic Woman's Latest Cd/DVD release, "A New Journey." Australian singer Hayley Westenra, whose latest album is "Celtic Treasure," is the opening act.

$55-$67 (206-628-0888 or www.ticketmaster.com ; information, www.celticwoman.com or www.qwestfield.com ).

Australian ? Opening act ?
That deserves a "GRRRRRRRRRRRR"

And they got their information from a specialist provider by the looks of it!!

maybe someone should tell them that they are paying to be given duff information.

Grant

[geralynnk]

Greetings everyone,

I was just reading on the Celtic Woman website that Hayley will be with the group until the end of 2007. Celtic Woman will be toring Australia, Japan and New Zealand in November and December. The information came from a member of the Celtic Woman staff. (I belive his name was John Flanagan) In addition, Celtic Woman will be filming a Christmas Special and it will air on PBS . The message said that the Special will be available on CD and DVD in October 2007. As for Hayley's status with C.W. in 2008, there is no confirmed information as of yet. I thought you all would like to know.

Best Wishes to all!

Geralynn

[Stephany]

Hi Geralynn,
Many thanks for the great info.
I created a new thread with your original post in order to avoid off-topic : Australia, Japan, NZ tour with CW - Nov, Dec 07.
Best wishes,
Stephany

[Stephany]

Hi everyone,
Here are a few excerpts from a Portland CW show review (May 11, 2007). You can see the full post here.

Danny Boy
In this song Hayley broke my heart. At one of the higher notes her voice cracked and being a singer (though not professional) I know how horrible that feels. I wanted to give the girl a hug, and I think everyone clapped extra loud for her afterwards. Or maybe that was just me

Mo Ghile Mear
I love this song I really just do. Watching Lisa and Chloe dance with each other was just really cute. Orla and Hayley don't have the same chemistry, but they do interact in an endearing way that I wasn't expecting.

Dulaman
I really really like Meav's version of this song, but now I really really like Hayley's. She was flirty and so confident which was great to see.

The Last Rose of Summer
Maybe I was reading too much into this, but it seemed like during this song Hayley kept looking to Chloe for reassurance. Which was really...heart warming for lack of a better word. And I don't know if anyone else mentioned this, but as they walked off the stage they held hands and didn't let go 'til they had to. *cue audiences: AWWWW*

[milewalker]

Here is a somewhat strange review from the Seattle Times. It says nice things about Hayley but the rest of it is a bit bizarre in my opinion....It also provides a weird contrast with the DVD review from New York that I posted yesterday.

Celtic Woman: Beautiful, sanitized singing
By Paul de BarrosSeattle Times staff critic

As packaged corporate entertainment goes -- we're talking Irish Mouseketeers here, folks -- the 2-year-old, platinum-selling group Celtic Woman is top drawer.

Their crisp, sold-out, TV-production-style road show at the WaMu Theatre Saturday -- from mist to misery to merriment -- was picture-perfect, powerful and polished.

It was also relentlessly wholesome and sanitized, had a couple of surprising weaknesses even on its own mass-entertainment terms and a deeply reactionary social message.

A sequel to the wildly successful Lord of the Dance, Celtic Woman is four lead singers and a fiddler, Máiréad Nesbitt, a veteran of Lord of the Dance and the real star of the show.

You get the feeling Nesbitt could toss off fiddle tunes hanging upside down, which she practically did, prancing and spinning in a multicolored nymph's gown as she bowed with dizzying accuracy.

The four singers harmonized celestially on that old Celtic classic, "Over the Rainbow" (huh?), but as soloists were a bit too similar.

The demure New Zealand star Hayley Westenra, with tresses on her shoulders, was stunning on the classic ballads "Danny Boy" and "Scarborough Fair."

Lisa Kelly, a brunette with bangs, was fetching on the homesick ballad "Caledonia" and the sad farewell "The Soft Goodbye."

But Orla Fallon, a redhead who also played Irish harp, was a bit mannered and false, and she swallowed her words on the faux-Druidic pastoral, "Newgrange."

Chloe Agnew, a full-faced blond teenager with a fragile soprano, was golden on "The Last Rose of Summer," but stiff as a student recitalist on Italian arias.

It's silly to fault a show like this for homogenizing folk tradition -- Celtic Woman is to Irish music as Pat Boone was to R&B -- but it's worth complaining that its curtseying image of female purity and innocence is alarmingly retro.

Add to that its militaristic drumbeat, and inspirational songs like "You Raise Me Up" start to take on the well-scrubbed vibe of the Christian right.

For Irish music, forged in political repression, personal pain and pagan fire, that's a little creepy.

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247 or [e-mail].

[Stephany]

Hi Jon and thanks for another interesting review.

milewalker said:

The demure New Zealand star Hayley Westenra, with tresses on her shoulders

Is that supposed to be a metaphor, just to point out that she's young

[graemek]

Hi Stephy,
demure means (Quiet, modest, reserved or serious)
tresses refers to the way she often curls her hair like a loose spring.

I think its only to give a word picture, no metaphor there. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

"her hair like a loose spring" is a metaphor. HERE SHE IS.

Graeme

[Richard]

Thanks for posting the interesting review, Jon!

It's silly to fault a show like this for homogenizing folk tradition -- Celtic Woman is to Irish music as Pat Boone was to R&B -- but it's worth complaining that its curtseying image of female purity and innocence is alarmingly retro.

I thoroughly enjoy the show as presented on the DVD, and it comprises a mixture of traditional and modern music performed in a highly entertaining way. Inevitably some of the show will seem slightly old-fashioned, but that adds to its charm and appeal. I don't see what the reviewer is trying to complain about.

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Stephany]

graemek said:

Hi Stephy,
demure means (Quiet, modest, reserved or serious)
tresses refers to the way she often curls her hair like a loose spring.

I think its only to give a word picture, no metaphor there. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

"her hair like a loose spring" is a metaphor. HERE SHE IS.

Graeme

Hi Graeme,
Many thanks for the enlightenment!!
A lovely description for a gorgeous picture.
Stephany

[Stephany]

More reviews from the Seattle and Spokane CW shows.
Today is Hayley's day-off. Unless she's performing solo once again somewhere else i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Seattle - May 12th, 2007
I had a blast last night and it was energenic and uplifting especially near the end. Hayley was the highlight for me; As much as I love Meav's renditions of songs on ANJ, Hayley surprised me with her nearly dead-on performances of Dulaman (did I heard a hiccup in there somewhere?), At The Celi, and a few others. The Last Rose of Summer duet with Chloe stirred my soul, it was too sweet.

See full post here.

Spokane - May 13th, 2007
As many of you know, Hayley has replaced Meav for this leg of the tour and she did a fine job, although my wife missed Meav on several songs. Hayley did particularly well on Scarborough Fair.

See full post here.

[Stephany]

Looks like Hayley quickly grows in the CW fans' hearts.
It's getting worse - they now clearly want her to stay!!

Maybe we ought to write to CW and let them know we want Hayley to stay!

See original post here.

I think that's a good idea =]
I love Hayley being a part of CW. she brings a new vibe, and of course, a wonderful voice/character as well. I hope she doesnt leave~

See original post here.

Perish the thought! Hayley not with Celtic Woman? Say it ain't so! As far as I'm concerned, Hayley, our Golden Angel, is here to stay!! At least, that's what I hope. I think she has fit in SO well that it's like she just belongs where she is. She is a Celtic Woman. She is home!

See original post here.

And finally, here is a short mention of Hayley in a review for the Portland CW show.

Saw the show in Portland! Hayley blew me away.
I must say that I was surprised that Hayley would be joining in the fun 'At the Ceili' but she was phenomenal.

See full post here.

[Joe]

Hi Stephany,

Many thanks for these fan reviews from the US west coast. Wow...these people are keen for Hayley to stay on permanently.

That is a beautiful new avatar you have there, Steph !

[Stephany]

joe said:

That is a beautiful new avatar you have there, Steph !

Thanks, Joe
Here is another quick mention of Hayley from yesterday's CW show at The Boise. Click here[/url] to read the full post.

Chloe is a really talented singer, and really has fun on stage, especially with Lisa and Hayley (she and Hayley do a little head-bobbing thing during one song when they are face to face). She started “Last Rose of Summer” and did the duet with Hayley, which was a little surprising as I expected Hayley to start off due to too many watchings of the Slane video.

I hope you don't mind if I ask, but what is a head-bobbing thing ?
Couldn't find that one in the dictionary