My Adventure Seeing #Outlander In Concert, Echoes Through The Highlands
Howdy #Outlander peeps!
It has indeed been a while since I've posted, but this week my husband (who builds my memes) and I traveled to Cleveland to see #OutlanderInConcert Echoes Through The Highlands.
For months the ads had been coming down my social media feed and I had been mulling whether or not I wanted to drive an hour to see it, #ImAnOldGranny when I received a text from Mari Black. If you don't know of Mari, she is an absolutely brilliant fiddle player who among other accolades was the 2014 Glenfiddich Fiddle Champion of Scotland and a two-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion (2013, 2014). She has her Master of Music from Yale and her Doctor of Education degree from Columbia. In addition, Mari is as fun a person you could ever know and has energy and enthusiasm for days. My husband and I are part of her 'road family.' That means, if she performs where we are, Mari and her band stay with us and even sometimes rehearse in our living room with all the furniture shoved back against the walls and our cat running between their legs causing chaos all around which is a total blast! Learn more about Mari here: http://mariblack.com/
Just so you know Mari may be highly educated, but when we met, she didn't know 'Black' Jack about #Outlander. I believe in continuing education, so years ago, I filled her in on the books and series only stopping when I saw her eyes rolling back in her head from the mental exhaustion of listening to my non stop yammering. I remember telling her she needed to learn some of the #Outlander score and I can confirm she now knows every note. Mari's the Solo Fiddle Player in the concert and she is beyond entertaining! Here we are in Cleveland with cardboard Jamie Fraser who I won in a trivia contest years ago. Don't look too closely, cuz that thing has traveled from Austin Texas to Connecticut, New York City and now Cleveland Ohio and it's beat all to hell!
Back to Outlander In Concert! It is a 2-hour show conducted by the very talented and enthusiastic Heidi Joosten featuring 15 very talented musicians who play Bear McCreary's score while scenes from #Outlander play on the huge screen behind them. The musicians are in costume (not Terry Dresbach costumes by any means) but costume-y enough where you get the point as the lead musicians interact with one another as they perform. The on-stage shenanigans are fun and reflect the action on screen. The night we were there, many audience members were cos-playing or at the very least proudly wearing their plaid. I even saw a few men wearing kilts!
The lead female vocalist, Hannah Faith Marshall has a stunning, clear voice and stage presence that transports you all the way back to Lallybroch.
The male vocalist and guitar player Steven Czajkowski, has a deep Celtic sound that could easily motivate the Highlanders into battle and it doesn't hurt that he's a Hunk 'O Burnin love and as a feminist, I say that with respect and awe. I did hear some female audience members squealing and howling at one point while he was singing and I can't say I blame them.
The action on screen begins with the first season and ends with the final one. The second half of the show has a section that features 'bad guys' and it was so funny to hear the audience booing at the screen like you see in old timey black and white movies when the villain appears. In fact, the audience interacts quite a bit which only adds to the fun!
The encore featured music from Blood Of My Blood #BOMB with accompanying action on the screen which was a real treat!
All of this is to say, if you haven't bought your tickets yet, what the heck are you waiting for?? The North American portion continues through December 12 with the final performance in Clearwater, FL. It starts again in the new year in February in the UK. Visit their website for more info and no I'm not affiliated in any way, I just want everyone to have a great time! www.OutlanderInConcert.com
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