Wilkes-Barre lived up to its reputation as one of the best hosts for a Celtic Woman show.  Last year we had the first annual MáiréadFest here and both the show and the Meet & Greet afterward were awesome.  There was no 'Fest this year but there was still a great show and a great M&G regardless.

I arrived from Erie in early afternoon and found that the other forum members (Tony, Scott (Furface), Dwight and Ryan) had already arrived.  Dwight was planning to meet Wickie and several of her friends, so Tony, Scott and I headed out for dinner.  Wickie ended up running late so Dwight and Ryan joined us.  We met Wickie and her friends at the venue as they were putting the finishing touches on a presentation they were making for the girls.  After getting inside we headed for our seats.  Tony, Scott and I were at the right end of the front row in the center section.  The rest were just behind us in the second row.  Dwight had programs, CDs and DVDs for Wickie and her friends and I gave them all Fiddler Crossing signs.  The stage was set for a rockin' and rollin' night.

For some reason the crowd here always seems to be much more energetic than most and tonight was no exception.  As soon as Ray and Nicky appeared on stage the applause and cheers started and that would be the case all evening.  As soon as Máiréad appeared on stage during the opening number my ears started ringing as Wickie and her 3 friends starting screaming and it was El Paso all over again.  Chris and Gaby times 2!

It was obvious that the girls were feeding off the crowd's enthusiasm because they were all giving tremendous performances.  Máiréad in particular was absolutely on fire and shooting looks and smiles in our direction all night.  I got one particularly saucy look during Coast of Galiçia!  She did 11 spins which seems to be her normal amount this tour, up from 10 last year.  Alex did her usual fabulous job on a certain song, which I don't think I need to name anymore.  No encouragement was needed to get the crowd clapping along or standing which was a refreshing change from a certain nameless Maryland venue.

Intermission gave my ears a chance to recover from the constant screams coming from the second row.  Just kidding, girls!  As always, the second act was better than the first.  The screams continued, too.  And not just from the row behind me, but from the entire venue.  This crowd was juiced!

From a technical standpoint, the sound was excellent.  It was not as good as Erie but there was no way it could be because there are no building acoustics to enhance the natural sound.  Surprisingly, the lighting was pretty good, too.  Once again, it was not as good as Erie but it was good enough that I began to suspect that they may have brought someone from Erie along with them.

After some more hearing recovery time we followed Mitch to the Meet & Greet.  It was in the same room as last year but with a lot fewer people.  Our guests were Lisa and Máiréad.  That's 4 out of 6 for Máiréad now and I am a very happy camper.  While we weren't being rushed, they were trying to encourage us to not dawdle too long as they were trying to beat the weather and get into New York ahead of the next blizzard.  I chatted with Máiréad for a short while and then asked Lisa whether she got my gift from the night before.  A puzzled look came over her face and I pointed to Claire and said that I saw her carrying the box out of the M&G in Erie.  Claire looked like a kid who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar and said to Lisa, “It's in your refrigerator.” and then added that the chorus had their eyes on it.  I told Lisa I'd have more for them in Wallingford and she said that she'd soon have to go on a diet!

We chatted with the PBS folks for a little while and then went to TGI Friday's for a late night snack and post-concert conversation.  We all agreed that the energy was on high tonight and it was of the best shows on this tour so far.  Next up, Radio City Music Hall on Friday and Saturday.

The original review is here.