I cannot think of better music for the Halloween/Samhain season than Loreena McKennitt!
Last night a friend and I went to see her and her small ensemble perform at the DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, MI. I bought the tickets awhile back and so was able to get row 7 and at my preferred edge of the row so easy to get out. We parked across the street in the parking garage and got there early enough to park on the ground floor. There was a streamlined entry process where the tickets were on my phone and I self-scanned them into a supervised kiosk. We had to go through metal detectors and a person was doing random wand scans. Ushers helped us find the right entrance and to our seats.
About the venue, taken from their website, “Located inside Grand Rapids’ convention center, DeVos Place, DeVos Performance Hall is a 2,543-seat performing arts theater featuring performances by all four Grand Rapids arts groups including The Grand Rapids Symphony, The Grand Rapids Ballet, Broadway Grand Rapids and Opera Grand Rapids.” There was plenty of leg room between the rows and between the seats to make the 2.5 hour concert experience comfortable. The acoustics were good for a place that size.
For Loreena’s performance, no photos or recordings were allowed, but I did get two pics before the show began of the venue. The top image is the cover of the program.
Loreena alternated between her piano and her harp throughout the show. She sang on all songs except maybe one instrumental. Brian Hughes played acoustic and lead guitars as well as Bouzouki, and often played two within one song. Caroline Lavelle played mostly cello but also accordian, recorders, and some backup vocals. Hugh Marsh played violin. Dudley Phillips played both electric and double bass. All of the performers were excellent individually and as part of the group.
About Loreena, from her website:
Loreena McKennitt is well known as a composer and singer. In a recording career spanning more than two decades, Ms. McKennitt’s ‘eclectic Celtic’ music has received critical acclaim world-wide, and gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in 15 countries across four continents. To date, she has sold over 14 million albums with a catalogue that includes seven studio recordings, three seasonal recordings, a live in-concert DVD and two DVD documentaries. She’s won two Junos, Canada’s premiere music award, garnered two GRAMMY® nominations and has performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
I’m not sure where I first came across her music, but I was hooked after watching her excellent, “Nights from the Alhambra” released in 2007, taped live in Spain in 2006. When I saw she was coming to GR, how could I resist.
Loreena is an excellent singer and musician, but she is so much more than that. It is her energy and soul that elevate her into what I regard as a wise crone and spiritual leader. Between songs, she entertained the audience with amusing stories from her extensive world travels but she also educated us. She’s a tree hugger. My kind of people! She’s done more than a fair amount of philanthropy. She talked about multiple books she’s read about the health of the planet and the well-being of children in the electronic age. She also shared a shocking and shameful fact about Spotify: for every thousand listens, the artist is paid one dime. Yep. Ten cents for every thousand listens.
The music is Celtic and written by Loreena for the most part. Two traditional tunes, “Greensleeves” and “Wild Mountain Thyme,” were also performed.
The video included is from 15 years ago, and it is a much bigger ensemble than what she had last night, but I like the video and love the song. I enjoyed the concert and the energy from the musicians very much. One last thing: seeing famous people live vs. on a TV screen is a truly magical experience. Get out and see live music as often as you can. It not only gives you a real experience, it also supports musicians.
Tao Talk 
she sounds amazing!
Glad you got to see her live!
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She is amazing and me too :)
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How awesome! I love her!
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:)
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Thanks for taking the time to post this Lisa. I’ve not had the opportunity to see her live though I know she’s been in my area. If I’m not mistaken she self publishes her own music. Very talented. Cheers to live music!
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You’re welcome, Randy. Maybe you’ll get a chance to see her sometime. Are you near Stratford? I think that’s her home base. Yes, I think she has her own label.
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Yes we are very close to Stratford but don’t take advantage very often
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From what her website says there is an almost 100 year old school there that she has worked to turn into a cultural center.
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Oh interesting! It’s quite the Mecca for the arts for sure. And they have swans so there is that if you’re not artsy 🦢
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I love this old cd. One of my favorites.
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:)
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I love the Mummer’s Dance. Perfect for the season. Lucky you! (K)
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Kerfe, happy you are familiar with her music. It was a very pleasant experience to see her live.
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I’m glad you had a great time. I agree there’s something very special about live music you cannot replicate by listening to a CD, vinyl record or cassette tape, even if you have a great stereo.
Based on the two clips, Loreena McKennitt reminds me a bit of Irish folk group Clannad. Have you ever heard of them? If not, I can highly recommend their 1985 album “Macalla”.
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Thanks, Christian. Have heard of them but not familiar with their music. I think she’s a bit like Enya as well. They weren’t selling any merch there but the program had a merch section.
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In the beginning of her professional career, Enya who is related to the members of Clannad, actually was part of the group for a couple of years. They are a family band.
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Oh! Good to know, Christian :)
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I love Loreena McKennitt! I came to know her when a coworker, back in 2001, asked if I knew who played the music in the film “Mists of Avalon” – I did not. I have since then and bought quite a few of her albums.
To think she started as a busker on the streets…
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Dale happy you are a fan, and you’ve been one for a long time. Her music is ancient and magical to me. I’ve got the Night at the Alhambra CD and DVD and love them. The guitarist, the cellist, and the fiddler have been with her for quite awhile it looks like. She talked about busking, including a funny story about it. Doesn’t surprise me she started out that way.
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Oh yes, I have the following albums: The Visit, the Mask and the Mirror, Elemental, Parallel Dreams and To Drive the Cold Winter Away. And now I am going to have to go dig them up! I would love to see her live. She came a few years ago but I found out too late and it was sold out.
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<3
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I bet the acoustics were great at that place…it looks like it would fit her music well…quality.
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They were. The sound was excellent. They had a very weird setup with the bathrooms though. Two sets of 2 bathrooms, one on either side of the theater, but instead of having one men’s room and one women’s room on each side they had 2 men’s rooms side by side and 2 women’s rooms side by side. Guess which side our seats were right by? We had to go through a maze-like way to get to the bathrooms. Good thing I hadn’t drank much earlier! I’ll remember this if I ever go there again and buy tix on other side.
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That is odd! Why not make one of each on each side?
It looks like a place…like the Ryman where the acoustics would be perfect.
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I hope to visit the Ryman at some point. Are you talking about the original building? I would love to go there.
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Oh yes the original… I saw Van, Ringo, and Bob there and Elvis Costello. The place is great and you can feel the history.
BTW…I think I might take a break soon…maybe Monday to the 17th…I’m thinking about it…just for a short rest.
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I should get on the Ryman’s mailing list. Take a break if you need or want one. Just rest if you do, instead of just working on more posts!
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You would like it….but it does have some bad seats because of a support beam but other than that…it’s great.
Yes mam!
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Good to know. Where are the bad seats, just in case I go to buy tickets??
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I found it! Here you go Lisa…they even give you the seat and section.
https://aviewfrommyseat.com/venue/Ryman+Auditorium/MF-4/U/
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THANK YOU.
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p.s. I had no idea such a website existed! Have copied the link and the pic into a doc and saved for future reference.
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Me either! I just remembered those support poles but I never sat there.
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p.s. I’m going to be taking it real easy with posts in November and maybe December also.
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Yea I don’t blame ya. I love it but I need a little space I believe. I have posts lined up for this weekend so Monday I’ll probably do one of my “I’ll be back soon” posts lol. Lisa…I don’t need to do any more posts…I have until mid January done.
I need a little rest to recharge.
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I hear you. These POPO posts have helped me take it easy for the month of Oct.
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p.s. now that the “roof snow has melted” my internet is back.
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I was there and as a music enthusiast to the level of addiction, I thought the performance bordered on magical. The reaction of the audience rendering tears of some heavenly bliss made it so plain that this was a once in a lifetime witnessing. A glimpse of the divine.😌💖
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Happy you were there and an excellent description of the experience as “A glimpse of the divine” that was felt as a tingle through my body and spirit <3
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