Celtic Classic, Show 4

Well, it's over. The summer touring season has come to a close - and what a close it was!!!!! Show #4 - Fabulous as always. Brother was set to play a 4:00 show, so we arrived to eat lunch in the tent around 2:30. There was NO way we were not going to end up in the front for this show.

As we were walking to the tent, we noticed a large white van followed by a Ryder truck coming up the access road. As we walked up the road, a large jovial man in a kilt was directing the driver, and he told the driver "you can just turn and get through here (which was into a dumpster), oh, wait I lied, try that way", all while laughing. We looked over at the driver and there was Brian! The boys waved hello to us and we scooted out of their way. We entered the tent, and met up with some of the Yahoo group. I turned around about 5 minutes later, and there were the four boys right behind me in the tent.

We watched as they brought in stuff and began to set up. Then we were just waiting, and waiting. There was a fiddle competition going on in the tent, but we weren't paying attention. We were having a little Yahoo gathering discussing the past couple of days and all the photos that have been taken. I went back out to look at the merchandise table, and Teri told me that they had sold out of the black shirts, which I was going to buy, and also had sold out of the new navy blue shirts on the first night! Glad I bought one!!!

We were still waiting...... Standing off to the side, we noticed Brian coming from the merch table with a huge handful of panties in his hands - quite an interesting sight..... The fiddle competition was still going on, but we started to notice that people were beginning to move and were sitting down on the dance floor. We quickly moved to the dance floor and C, J, Steve and I grabbed some prime spots one person back from the stage, close to the middle but still closer to Angus' side. C & J had stopped at Walmart on the way into town this AM, and had bought a 24 pack of bubbles. We handed them out to fellow fans and explained about Crazy while we waited.

The fiddle competition continued (some were very good), while we checked camera disk space and battery life. The tent was enclosed, but had those big plastic windows so you could still see out. We soon learned that there was a tent right behind the stage that served as a dressing area, as we watched the guys walk back and forth while setting up and getting ready. The fiddle competition finally ended, and they began to set up. As Jim brought out Hamish's pipes, we noticed that they were much more colorful than the day before - apparently the panties had gone to good use! Steve has now renamed them the "panty pipes".

Again..... we were still waiting...... About 4:15, Jim came out, and yelled a semi introduction for Brother and motioned for us all to stand up - which we really needed no prompting for. Up we popped and squished all together towards the front. Brother entered the side of the tent, and Celtic Classic did their usual standard introduction, but none of us were listening (too busy screaming) and Brother then just jumped on the stage. Ok, time for the clothes description:

Hamish - The long sarong type green thing, with the very green shirt.
Rick - Hamish's kilt from the night before, the black with red plaid, and a black shirt. He also began with his hair pulled back with sticks.
Roel - Black shirt, which he took off soon into the show, and the patent leather kilt.
Angus - Same shirt as last night (Gaelic Storm), turned inside out, and the black leather kilt.

Hamish started the show holding his pennywhistle. He said that they wanted to start off with a song that they had written "a couple of Tuesdays ago". Rick began, playing the churchlike chords Angus mentioned in his diary entry. Hamish joined in on the whistle, Angus on bass and Roel with very light drums. Now, I just have to state here, about some not so pleasant people in this tent tonight. Ok, I said Hamish said this was something they did a few Tuesdays ago - we all know why. It was a very quiet and calm tune. Everyone in the crowd in the front was being respectful, but during the song, people in the back we shouting "Sit Down!!!!" and "Down in Front!!!!" You could hardly hear the song, and it irked many of us in front.

The song was very wonderful and appropriate, and the boys handled the random "sit down" screams very well. After the song, Hamish was talking about being on tour for 7 months and responded to the yelling of "sit down", with "now, you all behave back there". They yelled, "sit down" again, and he said "well, you stand up!" We cheered!! C and I think that we have worked out the set list, as there was no written one for this show.

The pennywhistle song I mentioned was first (which we now know as 911), and then:
Name
More
All
Louie
Crazy
Bitch
Romp
and Grace!!! Again!

This was great show!!! Steve said to me "Nahh, I'm not going to take pictures, I'm just gonna have a good time". There were so many photo opportunities that he was snapping away left and right. I'm loving the new songs Name and More - great words, and loving the harmonies - these guys are really fabulous musicians.

During the first couple of songs, some very little girls in full Celtic dance costumes (masses of curly hair and all) were peeking in the window right behind Roel. He noticed them and while still playing, he turned around and waved to them. It was so cute. All I know was once again really great. Hamish announced it again as "something off our album Black Stone Tramp. We've been glad to have this song on tour with us this summer." Hamish has got the rock star look down, and the bridges while he picks up the pipes are excellent.

Louie rocked the house once again, we think it was introduced with "now it's time for Rick to kick our asses.... Are you ready for a hoe down? Down under?" Crazy and Bitch.... There was much motion on the stage, Angus prowling around, pretend sparring with Rick back and forth, locking eyes with Hamish with heads almost touching. Angus and Rick stood back to back and locked their legs together at one point - I think the boys were having a lot of fun - and we certainly were having fun watching and listening.

At one point, during Crazy, Hamish came over right in front of C, and locked eyes. She was singing along, knowing most of the words, and there was this unspoken "I'm gonna keep watching you to see if you know the words" from Hamish, a "you keep watching me and I'm gonna mess up cause this a new song" from C. She pelted him with bubbles and he certainly showed his approval.

About halfway through the show, we noticed another visitor looking through one of the windows at the back of the tent. It was Rick's mom!! Took him a while, but he did notice her there. Romp was an all out circus!!! Again, we were worried about them going over time, but we didn't care!!! Brian joined them on stage, kilted again. There had been some panties thrown on stage and Rick picked them up and hung them from an overhead wire at the front of the stage. Brian followed his action and flipped the bra that was also thrown onto the wire. Lots of audience/band screaming back and forth, before the actual participation we've all become accustomed to.

I'm always impressed at how these songs never become commonplace, there are always new elements that make them exciting After Romp, Rick tossed his picks and Roel tossed his sticks. J and Steve caught one together behind me, and decided they'd split it. I turned back around, and there was the band, on stage, all together in a group hug. Sigh.... great way to end a tour....

The Celtic fest officials came back out and said "one last hand for Brother!" Well, I guess we cheered enough, cause Hamish appeared on stage. He picked up his pipes, and began to play Amazing Grace. Roel and Rick soon joined, and Angus grabbed his pipes and hopped back up. We were so happy, Celtic Fest was letting them go on every though it was way after 5. Great rendition of the song - very full of emotion and everyone in the audience was singing along and swaying.

At some point, either Hamish or Brian announced that there should be a new CD coming soon, by Christmas, I think, and also told people to be sure to check out Brotherrock.com for future dates. The crowd thinned out slowly, and there was a rather large gathering by the merchandise table. I stopped by and decided to complete my CD collection by getting the first CD and some Brotherrock decals. Talked for bit with Teri, who was great. She was sad it was ending, but also wanted to return home to her own bed. She is definitely looking forward to next year! I waited for a while in the CD line, got mine signed, didn't say much, as usual, but told Rick to be sure to come back soon.

We then wandered back to my place and bid farewell to J and his parents. C and I went back down to the fest to grab a bite to eat, and Brother was still hanging around. We ran into someone C knew and were talking on the side of the tent where the dressing tent was, and Roel came around the corner. He talked for a bit with the crowd of Celtic dancers (all in full dress, with big curly hair. We wandered back around the tent, and got some photo sneak previews - there are some rockin' shots from all the shows!!!

As we were standing talking, someone, looked over towards the crowd by the food tents and said "oh, there's Angus, just walking along like "I'm just some regular guy." It was so fitting. We said our goodbyes to the Yahoo clan that was there and wandered back to the festival. The band was still hanging around, talking to a few fans that were still around. This is something I really like about these guys. End of a 7 month tour, I'm sure they are so tired and just itching to get home, yet they took time to do another long CD signing, talk individually with people and even wait to finish packing up, so that they could speak to people. Just genuine nice guys.

It was a great tour, the band has grown musically and I love the new material. Everyone I met was so nice, dedicated to the band and excited to see another Brother show and meet one another!!! The Brother crew is equally as nice and dedicated, and I think this is part of their long success. They are fabulous musicians and inventive songwriters, with a supportive crew and great fans. Thanks for a great summer guys! Counting the days till the next show!!!