I left Asheville relatively early for the 3½ hour drive to Salem, VA.  For those who don't know, Salem is adjacent to Roanoke so this was a little bit like a homecoming.  Even though it was a nice day I had things to do so I checked into my hotel early and got caught up on a bunch of stuff.  After a quick bite to eat it was off to the Salem Civic Center to pick up my tickets at Will Call.  Gee, is that my shortest travelogue ever?  Jason (rfd452002) had purchased my second ticket and would be meeting me there.

The first thing I noticed as I entered the venue was a PBS representative outside greeting people as they arrived.  There were several others inside doing the same thing.  There was also a table set up that was hosted by Suzanna and a few more people.  All of them were personally thanking those who had pledged for tickets to the show.  I said it last year and I'll say it again this year, Blue Ridge PBS is the best PBS station that I've ever dealt with.  Of all the stations that I'm a member of, and that's quite a few, I've never seen another one that showed that much gratitude, especially in person.  I expressed my appreciation to all of them, including CEO James Baum, for how they treat their members and more specifically how they've treated us.  To Blue Ridge PBS: Thank you, you are an island in the world of PBS stations.

The Salem Civic Center is an arena, but it's a little different than most.  Having been built in an earlier era, it is comparatively small.  In fact, it is the first arena I've ever been in that didn't have seating around the entire perimeter.  It is more like a high school gymnasium, although bigger of course, with blank end walls.  Since there was no end seating, the stage was setup at one end of the building rather than in a typical “half house” arrangement.  I don't know what the capacity was but the floor seating appeared to be sold out and the bleachers were more than half full.  Not bad.

Once Jason arrived we proceeded to our seats.  This was the first venue this year that did a bag check and I had to explain a few of the items in my “bag of tricks.”  More about that later.  Our seats were front row on the floor, farther right than I would have liked but not bad.  We took care of that later, too.  Tiffany was behind us in the fourth row but because the floor seats are packed so tightly there was no way we could get back there to talk to her.  Sorry, Tiff.  Bubba strolled by and we exchanged a quick “Hello.”  The stage seemed a little lower than CW's normal arena stage, so they may have been using the arena's own.  The lower stage height would have made the view a little better if the speakers hadn't been directly in front of us.  With the normal arena stage the speakers are below stage height but tonight the big bass speakers extended several inches above the stage and the smaller speakers on top of those blocked certain angles.

Soon the lights dimmed, then darkened, and it was time.  Being a smaller than normal arena the audio equipment didn't have to work as hard and the sound was quite good.  First Chloë's voice, then LisaK's and finally LisaL's covered the sound of the wind and the show had begun.  As soon as the lights came up I was located; Jason even elbowed me when LisaL recognized me and joked, “You've been spotted!”  The audience was not quite as boisterous as Asheville's but there were enough screamers and whistlers to make the girls happy.  The only negative thing about the audience was a sluggish standing ovation at the end of the first act; other than that they did quite well.  Looks like Virginia beat North Carolina.  I'm sure there's a sports reference that could be made out of that but I have no idea what it is.

The two slow songs, Fields of Gold and Galway Bay, were spellbinding as both Lisa and Chloë really became one with the song.  Chloë's introduction to Galway Bay included a reference to Dublin, VA, a few miles down I-81 and she said that she chose to believe that she was only 20 minutes from home rather than 20 hours.  It was very touching.  I've also noticed that when Chloë introduces Anthony as a “champion with the bagpipes” there is a noticeable murmur of approval that ripples through the audience.  That happened again tonight.  Máiréad was absolutely on fire and did an easy 11 spins again; I never get tired of counting those.  I've yet to find an audience who knows when My Lagan Love is over so I'm always the first one to start clapping and that was true again tonight.  I got chills as always for the new bits in Orinoco Flow and I worried a little for the structural integrity of the building when they cranked up the bass at the end.  The whole place was vibrating; very cool!  I won't mention a certain duet because nothing's changed there.  Máiréad got her first audience participation with Granuaile's Dance and she loved it.  How she can do what she does is a mystery that will never be solved.  You could have heard a pin drop during Danny Boy and you could not have heard a bomb drop during Mo Ghile Mear!.

Earlier, Jason and I had noticed some empty seats to our left, and we planned an ISU.  At intermission we made that happen and now we were only 6 seats right of center.  It was the best seat I've had on this leg of my tour.  Early in The Call our new location was registered in the girls' GPS and all was right with the world.  Anthony started in the back center of the arena for Amazing Grace and walked straight up the center steps to the stage.  It was one of the best performances yet.  Dulaman gets a little saucier each time and Lisa's little instrumental bit is a hoot.  Stunning performances of The Moon's a Harsh Mistress and When You Believe led into a riotous version of At the Ceili.  Each time I see this I catch something new or different.  LisaK gets a kiss on the cheek from Eoghan now and  Brian gets a noogie from Chloë but in the end LisaL still picks the “poor” guy.  Ah, Last Rose Fantasia; I just can't get enough of that and Non C'e Piu.  After standing ovations for You Raise Me Up, the Finale and Spanish Lady, it's over.  Almost.  LisaL had another treat tonight, she blew a giant two-handed kiss to Jason and me.  I'm think I'm beginning to like her!

While we waited for the audience to clear out there was no sign of Dustin or Bubba and I was unsure where we were supposed to go for the Meet & Greet.  Finally we found Bubba and I asked him.  He got on the radio, “Bubba to Dustin.”  “Go for Dustin,” was the reply.  After being pointed in the right direction we checked in with Suzanna and entered a room with some light refreshments.  I had some delicious triple chocolate brownies which are chocolate brownies with chocolate icing and chocolate chips on top.  Yummmmm, and another feather in Blue Ridge PBS's cap.  As soon as I saw Dustin I said, “Go for Dustin” and got a laugh.  Both he and Bubba are great sports.  Dustin asked everyone if they had a good time and then he looked at me and joked, “I know you didn't!”  After announcing that our guests would be Máiréad and Lisa Lambe, he informed us that we would be relocating to a hallway on the other side of the building because of logistics and we followed him.  Once there we formed a line along the wall with Jason and me hanging toward the back, as usual.

While waiting, I got my things organized.  By now most of the things that I need signed are for Chloe, but I have a program and a card for others so I wasn't empty handed.  I was also not empty handed in another way, but I'm getting ahead of myself again.  For those attending a Meet & Greet, the best approach for taking pictures seems to be the buddy system.  Have the person behind you take pictures of you while you're at the table and then you take pictures of your buddy while they're at the table.  It worked great tonight with Jason covering me and vice-versa.

As we got closer to the table I took a few candid shots, dodging Bubba, and then handed my camera to Jason.  I gave my items to be signed to Bubba and started chatting with Lisa who was first at the table.  After getting a hug and thanking her for the kisses I gave her the three remaining buttons I had of her so she could share them.  I had only given her one in Atlanta to make sure that I would have enough for other forum members.  She said that she was going to send one to her Mom so that she could see what she looks like now!  Then I got a hearty handshake from Máiréad who was delighted to see me.  After giving her the spin count and chatting a bit I reached into my bag.  I paused while Lisa finished signing a few things and Máiréad joked that I was up to something mischievous.  With Jason at the shutter I pulled out my first Flake delivery of the tour and Lisa's eyes widened like saucers.  First she hugged them and then she posed with them; she is so funny.  Then Máiréad grabbed them and they vanished from the table.  Jason took my picture with the girls and I reciprocated.  They kept chatting as they were led away and all too soon it was over.  A near repeat of Roanoke last year, but this time with photographic evidence.

We were invited back to the room where the refreshments were and when we got there it was just Jason and I and several Blue Ridge PBS personnel.  I had some more brownies and we chatted for a while.  They all remembered us from last year and once again I thanked them for being such wonderful hosts.

I wish every PBS station, every show and every Meet & Greet could be like tonight.  Roanoke may be the “Star City” but the stars certainly aligned in Salem this evening.  I'm very happy right now.

The original review is here.