Well, I'm back from my first show of this tour and all of those wonderful feelings came rushing back.  The show started, of course, with that mystical entrance of our beloved Máiréad and a chill went up my spine; it still hasn't come down.  The crowd was a little quiet at first, but that didn't affect the performance in any way.  They loosened up a little more towards the end.  All the girls were perfect.  Just a few comments:

Lynn has settled in and is as comfortable as if she was always there.  Her Dulaman is different, yet every bit as flirty as Meav's.  And I've loved her Scarborough Fair since the first time I heard it last year.

Orlagh's new haircut is very cute and suits her well.

Chloë is as bubbly as ever and her Nella Fantasia still gives me goosebumps when she hits that high note near the end.  When she thanked us after You Raise Me Up, she got a big thank you back from a loud audience member!

I'll echo other reviewers' comments about Alex and say that she's not Lisa but she's good!  Her versions of Lisa's songs are different enough to call her own but are still amazing.  The Voice brought down the house!  I haven't seen it mentioned before, but during the second half she wears Lisa's green gown from last Spring's tour.  I know in the poll the red "Whoa" gown beat out the green one by a sizable margin, but I like the green one and Alex looks just as stunning in it as Lisa did.

And, finally, there are no more words left to describe Máiréad.  Even though I know it's coming, when she plays the first note of the Last Rose of Summer instrumental I just melt and by the end I'm a puddle.  I don't remember how they did the lighting last year, but the way they have her backlit during this song is breathtaking.

The seats were not as good as promised but still good.  Of course, any seat at a CW concert is better than no seat at a CW concert.  There seemed to be some lighting problems, not with the stage lights (which I assume are CW's) but with the house spotlights.  They couldn't seem to find the girls!  The sound, however, was fabulous, which was especially surprising since it was an arena setting rather than a theater.  Their voices during Over the Rainbow were so crisp and clear.  You could have heard a pin drop, the audience was so in awe!  The only time I've heard them better was from the front pit at Wolf Trap when it was basically an acoustic performance.

That's all for now.  Tomorrow it's on to Providence for 3 shows.

Original review is here and here.