Quick notes on the Loreena McKennitt concert last night:

A huge thank you to ADZO and his lovely wife for gifting us with tickets to this concert as a gift for HRH’s birthday and Jen’s birthday, too. We had a wonderful time with them.

The best line I uttered during the concert: “LUTE SOLO!” And I meant it with great enthusiasm, too.

Ironic that the live version of Bonny Swans rocks hard (nothing like two electric guitar solos!) while the version Random Colour is doing is the quietest folksy-est song of our set. (ADZO — I remembered on the way home that I did try listening to the live recording on the Live From Paris & Toronto recording, and it was useless because it was in a different key. No wonder I’d blocked that particular irritation from my mind.)

I had the good fortune to not be disturbed any any of the audience members around me. That’s rare. Usually there’s at least one person who persists in ruing the experience for me, either by singing off-key or talking through it all or jiggling the seat. Everyone was well-behaved and made the experience that much more pleasant.

It was daring to open with what was essentially a harp solo of She Moved Through The Fair, before launching into the first song from her new album.

FOUR percussionists. I counted. They were all excellent.

Yes, there was a cello, there is always a cello, and she was set up at the front on stage left so I could see everything. But there were also electric guitars and bass and an oud and accordion aside from the piano and harp. It was a crowded stage, in a good way.

An excellent, excellent evening.