Post by garthmoe on Feb 19, 2007 10:08:50 GMT -5
I attended the first-ever concert by The MacKenzie Project at SUNY Geneseo on Saturday Feb. 17 2007. All things considered it was a good debut. Things started off a bit rocky. When the band was introduced, no one came on stage and it was about a minute later that the band appeared. My first disappointment was that Jimmy was not there. (I asked Roseanne after how he was and she replied that he was fine. I couldn't get another question in because there were many people waiting for autographs.) The group consisted of Roseanne (fiddle), Kimberley Fraser (keyboards / fiddle), Donogh Henessey (guitar) and Pauline Scanlon (vocals). Kimberley is from Cape Breton; Donogh and Pauline are from Ireland; Donogh is Pauline's touring partner, producer and arranger. There were many miscues, probably because of first night jitters and the fact that this quartet hadn't practiced much. Roseanne made a comment that they didn't have an album yet, after only one week. As usual, Rosie's fiddling was superb and the fiddling duets with Kimberley were very well done. Donogh played very well on guitar. The music was a blend of Celtic and more modern fare and some of the fiddling was music heard on the Cottars' albums. Pauline sang some traditional Irish songs, some more modern tunes and her final song was The Parting Glass which can be found on The Cottars' On Fire.
My major disappointment (and my wife's, too) was Pauline. Perhaps it was due to our location 3 rows from the stage and right under the overhead speakers and in an old (1932) hall whose acoustics are not the best. We also felt that she was too much in a "rock 'n roll" mode.
We just didn't feel any great emotion when she sang. Again,we may have been thinking about Fiona's singing. Although Fiona's voice is still maturing, she always conveys the emotion of the song and you can really feel it. But Roseanne's fiddling was just awesome and was by far the brightest part of the show. I get the feeling that there will be interchangeable parts with this band and that it would help if they could stay together and perhaps get a musical director. (I don't think they have one, but I could be mistaken.)
I have a few photos I took during the concert and if you would like to see them (there are only 5 good enough to post) please send me an email : garthmoe@yahoo.com and I'll send you one back giving you access to them.
Garth
My major disappointment (and my wife's, too) was Pauline. Perhaps it was due to our location 3 rows from the stage and right under the overhead speakers and in an old (1932) hall whose acoustics are not the best. We also felt that she was too much in a "rock 'n roll" mode.
We just didn't feel any great emotion when she sang. Again,we may have been thinking about Fiona's singing. Although Fiona's voice is still maturing, she always conveys the emotion of the song and you can really feel it. But Roseanne's fiddling was just awesome and was by far the brightest part of the show. I get the feeling that there will be interchangeable parts with this band and that it would help if they could stay together and perhaps get a musical director. (I don't think they have one, but I could be mistaken.)
I have a few photos I took during the concert and if you would like to see them (there are only 5 good enough to post) please send me an email : garthmoe@yahoo.com and I'll send you one back giving you access to them.
Garth
