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I hadn’t seen the Irish Tenors in concert since their last trip out west a couple of years ago and I was very curious to see how the changed lineup would work. The men came on with usual The Harp That Once and then followed with Isle of Hope. They seemed a little subdued to begin with so that I not only missed the sound of Ronan’s voice in the mix but the energy he brings to his performance. But as they progressed into Karl’s solo, I could better appreciate what velvet like and expressive voice he brings to the mix. He appears to be a very likeable young man and certainly is an asset to any performance. All three were in very
good voice with Finbar seeming to stand out more during the first half of the show. By the second half of the show, all three seemed more relaxed and started injecting more commentary and humor into their performance. The funniest moments for me were when Anthony came out to sing his second solo and someone from the backstage area gave a wolf whistle! He got a startled look on his face and stopped dead in his tracks for second before grinning and proceeding to the microphone
and commenting “I think that’s a compliment. And here I am about to sing a prayer next!” He then introduced the Lord’s Prayer and stopped everyone in their tracks with his rendition of the hymn. He and Karl also had some humorous moments during Fairytale of New York when Anthony turned to Karl and put his hand on his shoulder as he sang about he “dreamed of you, babe” Karl at first assumed a startled expression but when Anthony responded to the audience laughter by shrugging and commenting, “Hey, it was prison”, I swear that Karl was
not only laughing but blushing a little too! Needless to say, Anthony kept it going by continuing to play up to Karl during the rest of the song. As the show drew to a close, I was thoroughly enjoying the sound of these voices joined together in Oh Holy Night. And of course the audience didn’t want to let them go after they signed off with Amigos Para Siempre
and stood and applauded till they returned for and encore of a medley of Christmas songs followed by the requisite Danny Boy. Even then it was hard to let them go and end the evening’s enchantment and the applause was prolonged and enthusiastic.