Celtic Women

Raise your hand if a night out listening to singing women wearing fru-fru dresses sounds like fun. Raise your hand if you enjoy bagpipes, Celtic dance, and a drowsy crowd of middle-aged adults. How come your hand isn't up? Raise your hand if you would enjoy all of this for free. Kind of changes things, huh?

Between you and me, my husband is a fan of Celtic Women. No really, he is. I can't tell you how many times I've walked into the living room and caught him sprawled on the couch watching Celtic Women on PBS. It's true: they have amazing voices, beautiful faces, and more talent than I'll ever have in my left pinky. 

But if I'm being honest, after five minutes of watching them sweetly sing to the tune of a flute with a hazy mist of smoke floating up in the background, I'm in a zone and ready to sleep. Not because they aren't good and not because they aren't talented, but because their music just has that mesmerizing and calming affect on me. 

When I heard they were coming to town for a one-night concert, I knew Grady would jump at the chance to go. When I discovered the show was on a Tuesday evening and that tickets were $80, I was fairly certain he'd decide that the show as just as good at home on PBS. 

Enter our friend from, Ryan, a man with connections. He actually works at the agency responsible for booking the US tour for the Celtic Women. With stealth-like communication behind Grady's back, Ryan arranged for me to have four free tickets to the show. Suddenly I was excited and couldn't wait to see and hear the put-me-to-sleep Celtic voices in person. 

I made sure Grady was actually in town the evening of the show, found a sitter for the kids, and found two friends that were eager to go with us. When the evening of the show came, I asked Grady if I could blindfold him and drive him to our surprise destination, but he mumbled something about messing up his hair and bothering his glasses. Pfsh. 

When we pulled into the parking lot of the theater, Grady let out a whoop and a holler. I realized I was the odd one out when he started talking about the girls on a first name basis and mentioned that his "favorite singer wouldn't be here tonight because she's on maternity leave." Oh.My.Word. He really was a fan.

Once inside, surprise number two awaited Grady: our friends Bryan and Juli were there to enjoy the show with us. When I called to ask if they wanted to see the show with us, I put the precursor out there that "you may not have heard of the Celtic Women before, but they are coming to Charlotte and I have tickets..." and then I was interrupted to discover that Bryan and Juli were Celtic Women fans, too. Yet again, I was the odd one out.

Bryan, being ever-so-thoughtful, opened his pocket and handed me an energy boost in the event I began to feel drowsy. Although I debated slugging it down, I opted to pass and hold off for the I'm-about-to-drift-into-neverland moment I thought would surely come later in the show.

Confession #1: I never needed the energy boost. Confession #2: I enjoyed every song and dance and steam-filled moment of the show. Confession #3: I'd be willing to see the show again and actually pay for a ticket. Yes, the Celtic Women were that good! I think watching the show and hearing the power and emotion of the music in person made all the difference.

While I'm not ready to blast a CD or cozy up on the couch to watch them regularly on TV, I do have to hand it to my husband for convincing me that the style and culture in the Celtic Women music is pretty darn good. Fantastic, actually.

A huge thank you to Ryan for getting us free tickets. A huge thank you to Bryan and Juli for helping make a weeknight date extra fun. A huge thank you to Elizabeth for jumping in to watch my kids last minute on a school night. And, for what it's worth, I'm pretty proud of myself for pulling this off without Grady knowing about it!