Celtic Thunder hits London Ontario!!

Back in October, my mom and my sister and I went to see Celtic Thunder in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre. It was a fabulous show. It was verbatim from the PBS special. The fellas voices were bang on and they sounded incredible. The stage was awesome and the band was perfect too.........and then one day...............

My phone rang and it was my Mom. She had just found out that Celtic Thunder was coming to London to do a show and she wanted to know if I wanted to go with her. (Well that's a silly question!!!) I said I would love to go....but Jade will kill me if I don't take her too, so Mom decided to get a ticket for her as well and that it would be her birthday present!!! My mom sent an invitation to Jade in the mail to attend the event BUT she did not tell Jade what the event was!!! We did an incredible job of keeping it a secret....Jade did not know what she was going to see until we were walking up to the John Labatt Centre and she saw the 3 Celtic Thunder transport trucks!! She was "excited" to say the least!! Which was the reaction we were going for!!

Our seats were AWESOME. We were 6 rows back from the stage!! They were perfect. We could see everything.....even the beads of sweat!!!

I had my hopes up when we got the tickets because right on the ticket it said "NO RECORDERS" so I was hopeful they would let us take pictures. But......when we got there, signs were posted everywhere saying no cameras, recorders, cell phone cameras - NOTHING. So that was a big drag because we were so close. I asked the John Labatt dude anyway - just in case I was misinterpreting the large pink signs.....but nope I understood. I was not even allowed to take a picture of the stage with no one on it. So you'll have to enjoy these pictures I found on the web instead.

So Mom and I were sitting there discussing the show and what Jade was to expect - boy were we surprised!!

The show started the same...with the creepy guy with a hooded cloak on the big screen - he reminds me of a horror movie - but anyway - and then the drums start!! You can just feel the vibration in your chest - it is awesome...a little loud for some, but it totally gets you "into" it when you can actually "feel" the beat of the drums. Then they came out and did their first song, which was Heartland, and of course they nailed it and it sounded great. According to the PBS special Keith should be next sitting on his rock playing his MacPherson guitar.....but oh..what's this?? Keith is standing....Keith is wearing a hat....and he sang a different song...what is going on?? That was the first of many surprises!! They have changed up their entire show. It was fabulous. We thought the show in Toronto was awesome....this one was 10 times better - seriously. We were hoping they would still do the song A Bird Without Wings, which Damian and George sing together, as it is a beautiful song. Yes, they did sing it...but believe it or not......Damian's voice has changed from a soprano to a tenor since October! He still sounds great - but it was just different than what we were expecting. They even got the string section involved more in the show this time! They were doo-op girls when Damian was singing Breaking Up is Hard to Do and Happy Birthday Sweet 16.

It was great to see them singing and performing different songs, and it was nice to see them interacting a bit with the audience as well. That was one thing that struck me in Toronto - they do not say a word....they smile and nod and wave, but they did not speak a word. This time however, Damian said "thanks" once and it caught us by surprise. George said "thank you" once, Ryan said "sing along London", and Paul said something but I cannot remember what is was. Keith came right over to in front of where I was sitting and said "Hello London" he knew I was there I'm certain of it!!! (ha ha - a girl can always dream!!!)

I thought my mom was going to jump out of her seat when George came out and sang "500 Miles" by the Proclaimers. That's one of her favourite songs and always makes her think of the movie "Benny and Joon" with Johnny Depp! They also added the song "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. Paul did a fabulous job of singing it. I must admit it made me cry. They also did a fabulous version of "Every Breath You Take" by Sting. It seemed to be getting to the end of the show and it appeared as though they were done and I was like...no....they can't be done....they have not come out in their kilts yet. So off the stage they go......and the band starts playing - it was cute - the one tiny little fiddle player put her hair up funky and she was in bare feet and she started flitting about the stage playing her fiddle and kind of making a "competition" between the other band members! It was a fun performance for sure. It was a little bittersweet when I looked at the piano player cause his profile looked like a younger version of my Poppa (love you Poppa -miss you lots).

And then.......Out they come in their kilts to sing Caledonia. I get goose bumps just thinking about the show. It was fabulous. They were showing their legs and kind of being silly, pulling on Damian's kilt etc. They look like they have a fun fun time when they are together.

Check them out!!!! Don't they look fabulous in their kilts.

I must say - these guys put on one kick ass show and if you ever get the chance to see them - take the chance. You will NOT be disappointed.

I was looking on the web, and I guess the people who follow them are called "Thunderheads" so I guess....I'll sign off today with.....

Chow for now,

Thunderhead

Jacqui