Rochester, like a musical super ball!

[Moscapoet]

OK, I'm dating myself here, but I'm sure some of you remember the Super Ball. I'm sure our parents do too with a few broken items and a chorus of "take that thing outside!!!"  The Super Ball was about the size of a baseball and had a rubber exterior. I don't know what was inside the thing but when you bounced it the thing went crazy! Only a slight tap on the ground from waist level would send it many feet above your head. Well, that is what happened on stage and in the audience in Rochester. You had to be there but watch out for flying notes, smiles, eye contact, and audience members! For every action there was a reaction many times it. Not since Red Rocks in 2009 had I felt that.

      On the heels of truly oppressive weather in outdoor venues at Lewiston and Bethel we get the cool climes of the Auditorium theater in Rochester. we also get the full effects behind a drying cold front and be the time we get to the venue it is simply glorious. Now why wasn't THIS show outdoors?!! Anyway, the venue is older and needs some TLC but still lovely and well worth the effort. Some of us have front row right behind the empty pit. Only a railing and ten feet or so of gaping hole divides us from the artists. I rather felt like the gorilla on the other side of a zoo enclosure placed there to keep folks on the other side safe! No scratching and throwing stuff here though!! 

       The show is as it was the previous two nights in terms of content but not in terms of the performance. Lewiston was tempered by the sapping of energy from the weather. Woodstock had its own thing going and with good reason. Tonight though it was all about the audience/artist feedback. This was a great audience in a packed house who fed the artists lots of energy and got it back and then some. It was a magnificent event on both sides of the pit.

        Chloe found something special tonight. Not the power of Woodstock but the gentility of this place. Tonight Galway Bay had an air of reflection and longing. When You Believe still soared but felt once again more personal. and tonight Chloe dialed back on Goodnight My Angel a bit and the softer feel to it was much better. Chloe also seemed to connect better with Walking The Night too. It was more moving and I could see in her expression she was feeling it more. It was a wonderful night for her and all of us.

    As those of us who attend frequently know, each show is different. There are nuances that make each night a separate experience both for the artists and the audience. For me it had not been since Albuquerque last November that I was given such a thorough bath of pixie dust from a certain fiddler. Oh my. Having an active front row of forum folks helped drive clapping along with her playing as well as standing ovations for quite a number of songs. The show was incredible and Rochester deserves as many more as they can get.

      The meet & greet tonight though was not one I care to repeat. Yes, it was Chloe and Lynn tonight. But Mitch was grumpy again, and when the air conditioner leaked on the floor after it had been shut off it should have been an omen. Mitch took the PBS rep aside and growled at him for adding a couple more people to the meet & greet. What is the deal? Is this not about supporting PBS? Who is this about anyway? Did adding a couple more cause any harm or significant delay? No. This is about PBS funding and about the artists and their fans and nothing else. Maybe Madstone gets a kick back and they felt like they lost out on a couple bucks, I don't know, but the customer here is the station and their members. I felt badly for Jack as he was such a nice man and cared very much about the experience of their donors. I waited until second to last with Mike behind me. Rachel politely and with a smile informed me one item I had put in an envelope to one of the artists had to go through the home office. OK, good to know and she was perfect about it. She really was very nice about it. What happened with the artists themselves I won't go into detail about. The communications were important and properly timed though. I can say though that Chloe did in fact did receive her calendar from her forum and said thank you. The marvelous show experience was really dampened by the after show one. I was like that air conditioner.

       So, back to the hotel and a short night when we head back across the state to Saratoga. One last show before a break until September.   

[Celeste]

Thank you, Scott, for your endlessly fascinating, personal, and detailed reviews. Reading them is like experiencing the concert live, but through your eyes. It's an intriguing experience, and I always wonder how close, or how different, my own feelings would be if I were at the same show. Your reviews provide a compelling variety of "living vicariously" for those of us who can only see a couple of concerts per year. I envy you your opportunities to compare one show to the next.

Rachel politely and with a smile informed me one item I had put in an envelope to one of the artists had to go through the home office. OK, good to know and she was perfect about it. She really was very nice about it. What happened with the artists themselves I won't go into detail about. The communications were important and properly timed though.

Do you meant that in order to give any of the girls something at a meet and greet, it can't be handed directly to them, but has to be mailed to a Celtic Woman Ltd address? If so, that's good to know. I had no idea. I never gave any of the girls anything at any of the M&Gs, but I'd read about other people bestowing various gifts upon them. I had no idea that there was a policy about such things. Or does the policy change depending on the type of gift being given?

And can you tell us anything else about the "important communications"? If, however, they're personal and not to be shared, I completely understand. But you've certainly tantalized us with the mystery.

[Moscapoet]

You may hand things to the artists at meet & greets just know that they will go through other hands before the artists themselves get them. A certain amount of scrutiny is paid to particularly written material. Chloe already had her Chloe calendar from the night before. However, when I asked Mairead the next night if she had received her items yet she had not. On the other hand, when Mike drops off a supply of Cadbury's I think they find their way quickly to the artists!! Perhaps minus a few!  As for the communications it was related to a sentence I had in my main review from the night that both artists felt I needed to edit which I did that night. It was an inaccurate use of a musical term. Nothing major and it does show that the reviews get read which I knew previously. In any case, the next night went much better. That review will be up soon.

[Celeste]

Nothing major and it does show that the reviews get read which I knew previously.

Wow. I have to admit, this very much surprises me. I mean, none of us are industry professionals, are we? I always assumed that any time I was writing a review, it was pretty much being written for the fan base, and that perhaps at most someone in the CW organization would scan reviews for technical content (e.g., reports about lighting gaffes and...truncated content *cough cough*), the way that someone scans the items that are handed to the girls during M&Gs.

I still find it hard to believe that the girls themselves read any of the forums or reviews. It's a lovely idea, though. I just don't know where they have the time. I remember at one M&G, I asked Lisa if she had seen Chloe's "L'Assenza" video, and she stated that she hadn't; indeed, she barely seemed to know what I was talking about. I took this as an indication that the girls didn't have much time for Web browsing, since talk of "L'Assenza" was over all of the forums. (On the other hand, Lynn mentioned that she had viewed it.)

Thank you for the info about M&Gs. It's just another reason why I thnk CD signings are so much nicer and more informal. I wish those happened more often. (Are you listening, CW Ltd? )

[MrPeabody]

OK, I'm dating myself here, but I'm sure some of you remember the Super Ball. I'm sure our parents do too with a few broken items and a chorus of "take that thing outside!!!"  The Super Ball was about the size of a baseball and had a rubber exterior. I don't know what was inside the thing but when you bounced it the thing went crazy! Only a slight tap on the ground from waist level would send it many feet above your head. Well, that is what happened on stage and in the audience in Rochester. You had to be there but watch out for flying notes, smiles, eye contact, and audience members! For every action there was a reaction many times it. Not since Red Rocks in 2009 had I felt that.

You're dating all of us, Scott.  I had those as a kid, too.  It was highly compressed rubber which had a very low energy loss.  Whatever momentum you gave it, it lost very slowly and would bounce seemingly forever.  Cool and dangerous at the same time.

        Chloe found something special tonight. Not the power of Woodstock but the gentility of this place. Tonight Galway Bay had an air of reflection and longing. When You Believe still soared but felt once again more personal. and tonight Chloe dialed back on Goodnight My Angel a bit and the softer feel to it was much better. Chloe also seemed to connect better with Walking The Night too. It was more moving and I could see in her expression she was feeling it more. It was a wonderful night for her and all of us.

Everyone was firing on all cylinders in Rochester.  It was one of the best, most energetic and most emotional performances I've seen in a while.

      The meet & greet tonight though was not one I care to repeat. Yes, it was Chloe and Lynn tonight. But Mitch was grumpy again, and when the air conditioner leaked on the floor after it had been shut off it should have been an omen. Mitch took the PBS rep aside and growled at him for adding a couple more people to the meet & greet. What is the deal? Is this not about supporting PBS? Who is this about anyway? Did adding a couple more cause any harm or significant delay? No. This is about PBS funding and about the artists and their fans and nothing else. Maybe Madstone gets a kick back and they felt like they lost out on a couple bucks, I don't know, but the customer here is the station and their members. I felt badly for Jack as he was such a nice man and cared very much about the experience of their donors.

I agree about Jack, he was a perfect gentleman.  I try to follow the old rule that if you can't say something nice about somebody, don't say anything at all.  I didn't mention Mitch in my review.  'Nuf said!

[Moscapoet]

Yes, Celeste, we found out quite awhile back that the artists do visit their forums. Mairead is especially attentive. Reviews are read and special ones get a huge volume of traffic. Those include DVD recording reviews and first show of tour ones especially IOH and SFTH. Each of them has let us know they very much appreciate them. Some of the others in the ensemble have been complimentary as well.

       Mike, It was the best show experience of the four shows for you and I no question. But you have a couple of great ones coming up the next two nights and I can't wait for those reviews!!

[MikeyK]

Another great review, Scott! Thanks for sharing!