My first front row seat of this tour, thanks to Scott.  Those of you who have sat in the first few rows know what I'm talking about; for those who haven't, it is an entirely different show up there.

Scott picked me up at my hotel and we went out for a wonderful steak dinner.  A great start to an amazing night.  We got back in time to chill a little before heading across the street to the venue.  After passing the security inspection we headed to our seats, front row just left of center.  The couple to our left had just purchased all of the CW CDs at the concession table and asked about the "Sail Away" song.  We gave them the correct title and showed them which CD it was on.  They had only seen the PBS shows and were worried that it might be too loud up front.  I assured them the sound would be fine.

Apparently New Hampshire schools manage to teach their students how to tell time because everyone arrived when they were supposed to.  And I didn't see a single camera flash during the show.  All in all a much better behaved audience.

The time arrived: the lights dimmed, the smoke started swirling, and that vision in white appeared.  This time there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that there wasn't anything about the show that I didn't like.  Of course, I knew that moment was coming all along, I just needed time to absorb all of the newness.  As soon as Máiréad made her first visit to our side of the stage, she recognized Scott and I from the previous night.  In fact, not only did she make eye contact, she actually mouthed a "Hi."  That alone made my night!

I'll just give a few song highlights.  Fields of Gold is a perfect song for Lisa; it suits her style and she does it wonderfully.  As I mentioned before, When You Believe really showcases Chloë's range and newfound power.  She seems to be singing much of this song in a slightly lower register than her more classical songs and her voice sounds really great.

The Call is a fabulous way to start the second half.  Most people seem to know about the drums at the beginning of Mo Ghile Mear now so not as many people jump, but not too many know about the drums at the start of The Call so the jumping is back.  And still funny!

Máiréad's new solo, Coast of Galicia, is absolutely delightful.  Unlike some of her songs where she has a slow part and then rather suddenly switches to a fast part, this one starts slow and gradually builds to her usual frenzied climax.  It's much more interesting to watch as she slowly winds up.  I love it when she heads to the back of the stage because that's a sign she's getting ready to take a flying leap to the front.

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears and O, America are very emotional and powerful songs and each time I hear them I get drawn in a little more.  Chloë does a short introduction to O, America which gives everyone a chance to hear her lovely Irish accent.

Since I was in the front row this time, I got a really good look at the second half gowns and from up close they are stunning.  From a distance I thought Lisa's and Lynn's were both black with gold and Alex's and Chloë's were both black with silver.  Now I could see that Lynn's was actually more of a copper or bronze color and Chloë's was a dark blue.  Absolutely beautiful.  Even Máiréad changes into a similar gown although it's cut a little shorter to give her more mobility.  It struck me that with that big corset style dress, our already tiny Máiréad looks even smaller.  If they keep this up she will be Tinkerbell soon!

Since the audiences at Proctor's and Mohegan Sun hadn't given the girls a standing ovation after Mo Ghile Mear Scott and I started one.  It took a little while but eventually they got the hint and everyone was on their feet.  After You Raise Me Up where they usually go directly into Máiréad's Reprise the stage went dark for a little while and I was wondering if they were going to make the audience work for an encore.  Máiréad had seemed to be having a little trouble with her new dress earlier so I suspect they were making a preemptive "wardrobe adjustment" before she started running everywhere.  Soon the lights came back up and everything finished normally.

In summary (finally) David has, no surprise, created another fantastic show.  It is a worthy successor to the New Journey tour and when it is preserved on DVD I'll be watching it over and over again.  David has been at every one of my shows so far but has not been performing.  I'm hoping he will take the stage at Radio City one or both nights.

Original review is here.