Sun May 11, 2008
7 :30 P.M.

Dodge Theater
400 W Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85003
Tickets
866-353-5167

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Mon May 12, 2008
7 :30 P.M.

Centennial Hall - U of A
888 N Euclid Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85721
Tickets
866-353-5167

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Celtic Woman (woman rather than women) is the realization of a dream for Composer and Musical Director, David Downes and Show Producer, Sharon Browne. Downes had been the music director of Riverdance and looked to produce a show focused strictly women performers. It has been a huge hit from the very start.

On the surface, the “concept” of Celtic Woman seems rather unpromising. Take four solo women vocalists and a fiddler, set them up on a stage and back them up with a virtual orchestra of musicians. Unlike the Irish Tenors who were mostly geared to the classical music audience or the humor and music cabaret shows that hit the US every March, Celtic Woman was geared to the same audience as Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, and the and the other Flatley inspired shows. The question was whether there was an audience for people to simply watch singers without dance or some other form of action. Whatever the fears, Celtic Woman is a huge success.

If there is criticism of Celtic Woman, it is usually that the show appears to more traditional eyes as “over produced” and “glitzy”. The same was said of Riverdance. But the women of Celtic Woman are all extremely talented as well as beautiful. In any case, the show works.

After three DVD’s, repeated exposure on PBS, and sold out shows in Europe and America, the answer has obviously been “yes”. Through the creative use of lighting, staging, and selection of material; the team of Downes and Brown have taken the show from simply a showcase of excellent performers into a very effective show.

The performers in Celtic Woman continue to change. In original members Chloe Agnew, Orla Fallon, Lisa Kelly, Mairead Nesbitt, and Meav Ni Mhaolchatha (who has left to continue her solo caree), the group Hayley Westenra and Lynn Hilary to replace Meav and Alex Sharpe to fill in for Lisa Kelly who left on maternity leave. The plan appears to be that they will always have five performers for the live shows, but will alternate certain vocalists for each show.

I will admit that I have not seen their show live. It is well out of my price range. But if the videos are any indication, they are pretty impressive.

A few weeks ago The Brazen Heads presented two videos to support their new CD, “Who’s Yer Paddy”: “One Eyed Reilly” and “Who’s Yer Paddy”. From an artistic standpoint, their videos break new ground.

Most band videos are pretty simplistic. They are simply a presentation of a performance. In some cases, Celtic performers use professional video teams to produce DVD’s and use segments for online videos (Celtic Woman is a good example). But visually they are still just videos of performances. The other most common approach is a generic slide show of photos like pictures of Ireland.

The Brazen Heads videos go far beyond anything other Celtic performers are doing. The difference is that the Brazen Heads have scripted a series of sight gags that match the lyrics of the songs. In terms of style, the Brazen Heads videos resemble the classic MTV videos of the 1980’s when record labels put big money into the video process. The Brazen Heads lack that kind of money, but made up for limited money with their creativity.

“One Eyed Reilly” reminds one of some of the segments of the classic Beatles movie “Help”. Drummer Roy Plisko wears an eye patch and makes faces as “One Eyed Reilly”, but it is guest Michael Fitzpatrick who provides most of laughs as a guest performer on the cow bell. The sight gags come fast and furious.

“Who’s Yer Paddy” is the video debut of Shala Pero as Annie who simply steals the show. The “plot” is that Annie has a baby and no one knows who is the daddy/paddy. One at a time, everybody in the band comes to her room and then gets pushed into the closet as someone else arrives. Describing it does not do justice to the gags and how effective Shala is as the center of attention. Her expressions are just priceless.

More than just being effective at promoting the CD, their videos offer a chance for the performers to show their comic talents and personalities. The thought that went into the production of these videos puts them in a class of their own.

Video

Rather than bringing in out of town bands, the Emerald Ball featured local performers with Pat McCrossan, Jane Hilton, and Johnny Kerr. This year’s program was a huge success.

The sad truth is that programs like the Emerald Ball have a reputation for being rather stuffy. Performers who are popular with one group are often bored or worse when presented to another group. It takes an extremely an versatile performer to handle this challenge. Pat was born for the job, almost literally.

Pat’s family had a successful “show band” and Pat was performing on stage from his early teens. Show bands played for dances and were a mainstay of the Irish music scene in the decades following World War II. The emphasis was not simply playing for dancing, but to entertain with humor and worked to get the audience involved. Over the years Pat has learned to play all kinds of music from Irish to rock to country to jazz to classical, but always with his own imprint.

By combining with Jane Hilton and Johnny Kerr, the show included step dancing and ceili dancing to go with Pat’s range of “other” dance music: waltzes, swing dancing (Johnny Kerr and his wife were showcased on the floor), and a variety of other styles including doing the twist. There was a little bit of something for everyone. And of course, Pat was his usual outrageous self.

One key to the program was the wide range of age groups at the event. The energy of the younger participants was infectious and helped to get everyone involved.

The fear that the Emerald Ball would be boring was happily dismissed. Pat is many things, but boring is not one them.

The Brazen Heads officially released their CD “Who’s Your Paddy” Sunday evening at the Dubliner and used the opportunity to debut the videos for their songs “One Eyed Reilly” (already available on the internet-see link from our front page) and the title track “Who’s Your Paddy”. Both are absolutely hilarious.

Both videos are loaded with sight gags and are even funnier on repeated viewings as one catches more of the gags. I’ll do a more comprehensive review of the CD and videos after St Patrick’s day when I have time to make sure I’m spelling everyone’s name right.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1137492/the_brazen_heads_one_eyed_reilly/

People are always telling me how much they appreciate the work I do with AIMS. The sad part is that most people do not realize how much work goes into putting together the calendar and events listings. What is worse, they don't understand how much of the struggle is unnecessary.

1. Bands Gig Listings - I love it when bands send e-mails about their upcoming performances, but I can live with accurate and up to date listings on their websites. You would think they would jump at having more publicity and hopefully a greater attendance.

2. Venue Calendars - Some pubs have their schedules listed months in advance, but several never seem to get the information on their websites, forcing me to call to get the info. What is worse, frequently there is no listing near the phone and I get asked to call back. In some cases I end up calling more than once. This is a lot of work to give them free advertising.

3. Celtic Organizations - It is absurd how many organizations lack easily accessible information about their banquets and other events. Some groups lack websites entirely, some are very slow at getting information up, and at least one buries all event information in their newsletter. I would like to give a link to their information, but they make it all unnecssiarly difficult.

4. Arts Organizations - Most of the big ticket concerts are put on by arts organizations who know what their schedule is going to be well in advance. Unfortunately, many of these groups wait to put up information until they are ready to sell the tickets. This forces me to go through their online calendars several times a year, rather than the start of their season when they know what they are doing. (For example, last year Gammage booked Celtic Woman and got publicity through Channel 8, but did not have it on their website for another three months).

Music fans can really help me by sending listings of events, non-Phoenix area gigs, and Phoenix non-pub gigs. But just as important, keep pestering the bands to send me their information. They all know they should, but they need reminding.