TXColStNov06 - Page: 1 of 1

We arrived at the Rudder auditorium more than thirty minutes before
the doors were opened. As we were waiting in the lobby, Sean Casey,
Finbar, Karl, and Anthony walked by in front of us. We chatted with
a lady and her daughter who were also waiting. She said she had
recently ordered tickets for another A & M concert two weeks in
advance and gotten excellent seats. But for the Irish Tenors concert,
she ordered her tickets six weeks in advance, and all she could get
was balcony seats! To us, it looked as though the auditorium was
almost completely filled (Dub estimated that it seated at least a
thousand). The weather was unusually cold and windy, but apparently
the fans were not deterred by such a minor occurrence. It was mostly
an older audience, some even older than we are! I didn’t see a single
child. We thought our seats were closer than they were. We couldn’t
see really well, but we had no trouble distinguishing Finbar, Anthony,
Karl, and Arnie.

After Arnie Roth came out and took his bow, the first number on the
program was the “Brian Boru” march by the orchestra, a rousing
beginning. Then the Tenors came out. Finbar introduced each of
them and Arnie, saying they brought their own conductor, and they
even brought their own weather! Anthony made a remark about the
Texas Aggies’ big win over the University of Texas in last week’s
football game, drawing cheers and applause. They opened their
part of the concert with “The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Hall,”
followed by “Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears.” Finbar explained the origin
of “Isle of Innisfree” before he sang it. That was a crowd-pleaser,
especially when he mentioned John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara.
Karl’s solo was next. He began by saying that he had lived in Texas
for two years of his life (although he didn’t remember any of it), and
that he had lived in enough places to understand what it meant to
miss home. Then he sang, “Song for Ireland.” Anthony next sang
“Love Thee Dearest,” although the program said “Boolavogue.” I
didn’t complain; I like both songs, but “Love Thee Dearest” is
one of my favorites.

Next all three came back out and sang “Be Thou My Vision,” from
their “Sacred” CD. “Lord of the Dance” I had never heard them sing;
if it was on that CD, I didn’t remember it. After that was another
orchestra piece, “Carolan’s Concerto”/”Fanny Power.” The “Concerto”
was somewhat familiar to me, but I don’t remember hearing “Fanny
Power” before, or at least I didn’t know what it was.

Anthony performed “If I Can Help Somebody,” which I feel suits him so
well. Finbar then sang “Shelter Me,” after which Anthony and Karl sang
“Panis Angelicus.” The group finished the first segment of the concert
with “Amazing Grace.”

INTERMISSION

First thing on the second half of the program was the “Christmas Overture,”
a sort of medley of “Fairytale of New York,” “Little Drummer Boy,”
“What Child Is This?” “The Christmas Song,” and “We Three Kings,”
by Arnie Roth and the orchestra. The Tenors came back and sang
“We Three Kings” and “My Forever Friend.” Karl was next with “I’ll Be
Home for Christmas.” Finbar sang “How Great Thou Art,” and Anthony
“The Lord’s Prayer” rather than “Angels Guard Thee” which was on the
printed program. The three then sang “Oh Holy Night.” Anthony sang
his solo verse in French, I believe. Here I am a little fuzzy. I think Karl
and Finbar sang their verses in English, but I can’t remember for certain.

Arnie and the orchestra next performed “Three Irish Folk Songs,” which
were familiar but not quite enough that I could identify them. Then the
tenors came out again and sang the “Dublin Medley” (“Dublin Saunter”
and “Rocky Road to Dublin”), “Silent Night” (if I understood correctly,
Finbar sang his solo verse in Spanish, then Karl sang his solo verse
in German, and Anthony finished with the English version), “Fairytale
of New York,” and one I had not heard before, “Amigos Para Siempre,”
which I liked very much. After that they left the stage to the
accompaniment of thunderous applause, which intensified as the
entire crowd got to their feet. The group came back and sang “Santa
Claus Is Coming to Town,” “Christmas Medley” (“Winter Wonderland”/
“White Christmas”/”Jingle Bells”), and finally, “Danny Boy,” always guaranteed
to get a rise out of a crowd. They received a standing ovation after each
of these last three songs. We reluctantly let them go. I know they must
have been exhausted. If the stage was as hot as the seating area of the
auditorium (and I’m sure it was even hotter), they were wrung out from
the heat as well.

When they got to the verse of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” that says,
“With curly haired dolls,” Karl pointed to his very curly hair. When they
sang the part about knowing who’s “naughty,” he pointed to Anthony and
Finbar. When they sang “nice,” he pointed to himself. Let’s hope Santa
will take notice. The audience chuckled appreciatively.