Where do I start?  Well it has to be the seat, of course.  I have had front row seats before, but not like this.  I was only 3 feet from the stage, dead center.  I think I'm forever spoiled and won't be satisfied with anything less ever again.  Surprisingly, there were several empty seats in the pit area and after intermission some fans moved down for the second half.  Being so close means that even though the house lights are off, you're still visible to the performers and they do make eye contact.  It was actually a little unnerving at first, almost like the roles of performer and audience were reversed.  Initially, my shyness reflex kicked in and I would look away, but I fought it and began to enjoy the attention.  Lisa seems to enjoy watching the audience more than the others.  Most of girls don't linger too long on any one person, but watch out for Máiréad, she will stare you down until you crack!

It didn't take long for SGS to kick in, that's Stupid Grin Syndrome.  The primary symptom is sore cheeks from have the biggest ear-to-ear grin on your face.  Once you realize it, and make a conscious effort to return your face to some approximation of normal, you'll find that it returns almost instantly as soon as you drop your guard.  Oh, well.  Consider it an occupational hazard.  Then there's CSWM disease, that's Can't Stop Watching Máiréad.  Anytime she's on stage, she is so animated and is having so much fun.  Almost too much fun!  She was definitely still wearing a bandage on her right leg, but it did not slow her down one bit.  During the instrumental finale at the end she broke some of her bow strings, but she kept on going without missing a beat.  I always knew that Máiréad was more petite than the other girls, but up close she is even smaller than you think.  I guess that's why she can so easily go airborne, she really is a pixie.

On to the show...  Several songs are arranged differently than on the DVDs and just when you're in the groove they throw you a curve.  The first is of course the extra verse in The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun.  I like it.  Caledonia was perfect, of course.  Then it's pixie time.  Considering the stage is only a fraction of the size of Slane, Máiréad was all over the place, flitting (like a Butterfly) back and forth from one side of the stage to the other, teasing the other musicians, and playing the audience as much as her instrument.  One thing that's very hard to catch on the DVD is her fingering.  On the faster-paced songs her fingers are flying so fast that they almost become a blur!  Meav did her usual amazing job on Danny Boy; the audience waited in awe-struck silence until she finally released that last note and then they erupted in applause.  Chloë was clearly having a great time during The Prayer and Orla was great on Siuil A Run.  Orinoco Flow got the audience all pumped up and is a great lead-in for Granuaile's Dance which brought the house down!  Beyond the Sea and The Blessing were next and Lisa's voice is so great with just the piano accompaniment.  I'd have to agree with some others here in that I prefer Hayley's performance of Scarborough Fair, but that may be just because I heard her version first.  Still, Meav did a great job.  In Philadelphia it seemed like they played a little rain sound effect during the intro to Vivaldi's Rain.  I didn't notice it here, but it certainly didn't detract from Chloë’s performance.  Then came the crowning achievement of the night.  While the DVD version of Over the Rainbow is impressive, it doesn't hold a candle to last night's performance.  As I mentioned, they reduced the volume from the girls' microphones and in the front row you could their voices completely natural.  As soon as Chloë started singing and I didn't hear the amplification, I could tell it was going to be something special.  You could have heard a pin drop and when they finished the whole place exploded.  I still get a little misty just replaying it my head.  When the first drum beat for Mo Ghile Mear was hit, several people in the pit area jumped and dropped things!  It's that loud when you're that close.  What a rousing finish to the first half and time to recuperate from SGS!

The second half starts with Nick and Ray entering, playing their bodhrains and getting a deserved round of applause.  Then Meav appears in her red gown and gives her usual flirty performance of  Dulaman.  There is definitely a YEEEOW in there, right around the time she exchanges lines with the one chorus member.  New Grange is a very mysterious sounding song and leads right into The Soft Goodbye.  Once again Lisa was stunning in green.  I very much liked Chloë's performance of The Last Rose of Summer, her voice is a little softer than Hayley's.  Then Máiréad shows off her classical skills on the instrumental version, which leads into my second favorite performance of the night.  I've always loved Nella Fantasia and Chloë does it beautifully.  Most of the DVD performances are rather polished, but here she really let her emotions shine through.  I get a chill every time she hits that high note near the end.  The only bad thing to report here is that Des did not get his usual applause after his solo.  I guess the crowd didn't want to interrupt Chloë.  And, of course, Chloë's song gave the other girls time to change into their At the Ceili costumes.  Even though the quarters are a little tight, they was plenty of dancing and quite a bit of it includes the members of the chorus.  Then it's Máiréad's time to shine again.  Her rendition of Shenandoah is incredible and she really puts her heart and soul into it.  Then she kicks it up several notches and goes crazy!  Alternately teasing and taunting Nick and Ray, she is everywhere.  Running, jumping, leaping, spinning; I don't know how she does it!  And when she's not interacting with her fellow performers, she comes after the audience.  Beware the Fiddling Pixie!  Then it's time to slow things down a little with Orla's haunting performance of Carrickfergus as the show begins to build to the inevitable finale.  What can I say about Lisa and her Voice?  When she moves to the front of the stage and hits that final note it's just amazing.  Sing Out got the audience clapping along but when Máiréad starts the intro to You Raise Me Up  you know the end is near.  A well deserved standing ovation leads to another advantage of being in the front row.  As the girls line up almost at the very front of the stage, and as we stand right at the stage, the girls are only a few feet away.  It's a little hard to explain, but while their beauty is, of course, breathtaking, they also seem much more like real people than celebrities.  They seem genuinely overwhelmed by the attention, but gracefully accept it.  And being less than 4 feet from Máiréad brings on an acute case of simultaneous SGS and CSWM!

Finally, Máiréad gets one more chance to strut her stuff during the instrumental Finale and boy does she go nuts.  More Rock and Roll than Irish traditional, she is once again everywhere, covering every square inch of the stage, playing so fast that she actually breaks a couple of strings on her bow.  It's a wonder that she doesn't do that more often.  After another standing ovation, everyone returns for a rousing performance of Spanish Lady.  A final standing ovation, with the girls once again only a few feet away, and then it's over.

While the Philly show was great, this show is one I'll never forget.  Ever.  I'm clearly not a wordsmith, and I'm sure others can do a better job of conveying their emotions, but these performers touch things in your soul that "normal" music just doesn't.  If you haven't seen them live, and the opportunity presents itself, run, don't walk; you won't regret it.

Original review is here.