The Visit With Loreena McKennitt - Concert - First US Tour Date in Nearly a Decade

So last night was the concert .

First and foremost let me restate my heartfelt thanks to Lady Rose and TeacherMan for my early birthday present!!!!

There was much silliness before and after the show - put Lady Rose and I together for any length of time and it is bound to happen.  I laughed a lot, which given my mood upon arriving at Lady Rose’s door is nothing short of a miracle.  I met “the other Kelly”, who needs a better blogonym, and who is a co-worker and friend of Lady Rose’s  and enjoyed making her aquaintance.  I look forward to seeing her again at Lady Rose’s Harry Potter Party Pallooza in late May.  She seems very sweet and has the same quirky sense of humor as the rest of us and by the night’s end it felt like I’d known her longer than just the couple of hours in reality.

But the reason you’re here reading this is to hear about Ms. McKennitt’s performance.  I was enthralled, I was enraptured … It was quite simply put one of the most memorable and beautiful evenings of my life.  It is hard to compare to last year’s concert gift, where we saw Bruce Springsteen.  Totally different venues, totally different music.  Let me just say it was AWESOME.

First of all The Academy of Music is a gorgeous theatre.  It is an older building with wonderful acoustics (as in I could feel the music through my feet and skin) and opulent decor.  It was a perfect pairing with the tone of the evening.

– photo borrowed from philorch.org

Ms. Mckennitt’s musicians are nothing short of masters.  The percussionists, the strings, the various other instruments (and yes there were MANY) were all played not only with great skill, but with obvious pleasure.  There appeared to be a great camraderie among the group and it was impossible to avoid catching a bit of their good spirits.

As for Ms. McKennitt herself?  She is even more impressive in concert as she is on CD.  Her voice is totally unique and it flowed through the room like perfumed honey.  Her transitions from one instrument to another were flawless.  Her little tidbits and stories shared between songs were enlightening and showed a great sense of humor.  Forgive me if I gush, I am a little star-struck. 

Favorite Moments (in no particular order)

Dante’s Prayer (from The Book of Secrets )

“Cast your eyes on the ocean, cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless, please remember me”

I did not get teary eyed during this song, I quite simply sobbed, but in a good way (I think).

Beneath A Phrygian Sky (from An Ancient Muse)

One of her new songs and I loved it. With such a large gap inbetween recordings and the reasons for that gap one had to expect a change in her music … and it did change … it grew, it evolved and it GOT EVEN BETTER.

“We wondered where our God was in the face of so much pain
And I looked up to the stars above to find you once again”“And a voice from down the ages, so haunting in its song
These ancient stones will tell us our love will make us strong”The Lady of Shallott (from The Visit)

This is a favorite song of mine and I hoped to hear it played live and I was not disappointed!

Compare her lyrics to the original poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Never-ending Road (from An Ancient Muse)

I dedicate this to my hubby GamerDude. We have had our fair share of challenges, and it seems that they will be continuing into the forseeable future. We are for some reason destined to walk a rocky road I guess. I am hopeful that we will find ourselves in a better place eventually and while things aren’t perfect I still choose him walk by my side on the road we call life.

“The road now leads onward I know not where
I feel in my heart that you will be there
Whenever a storm comes, whatever our fears
The journey goes on as your love ever nears

Here is my heart and I give it to you
Take me with you across this land
These are my dreams, so simple and few
Dreams we hold in the palm of our hands”

On a final note, while I am still not well, I am happy to report that the fever(s) and related night sweats may finally be behind me even if the throat and ear pain are still hanging around.  I am glad of this because waking up in a puddle was getting redundant. 

As of yesterday morning hubby was still advising me to stay home from the concert as I was running a fever and felt awful.  I feel better today, though it would’ve been worth it even if I got worse which is what he and I had feared.

I get sick alot, and I will admit to ignoring and poorly self-treating signs of a sinus infection for several weeks now.  But I really thought that I’d be feeling much better by now, I feel better than I did but still lousy.  These antibiotics better kick in soon or I’m writing a complaint letter to Bayer.

The plan for today and tomorrow is to do homework (mine, not the children’s), bringing MissAngst to get a haircut/trim, to catch up on some household duty stuff, and to cook.  Sunday I will be working till 7:30 or 8pm and then it is back to my usual grind.  But on the bright side I only have 2 more classes to get through and then I have a 3 week break before the new semester!  One step closer to my own small dreams.

May each of you find your way to your own dreams

Mama Kelly