[tour poster]    

Loreena McKennitt - A Trio Performance
Tour in Oct. 2015 & March 2016 & Oct.-Nov. 2016 & Spring 2017

 
In April 2015 Loreena announced a series of concerts, entitles A Trio Performance, for October 2015. In November tour dates for March 2016 were added, and later on dates for Oct.-Nov. 2016 and Spring 2017.

Tour dates were at one time listed on the official website, but they are removed there once the date is passed; see this list at my site for a full overview.

 

Concert set list

I attended the concert on 6 April 2017 in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), the last one in the Spring 2017 leg of the tour.

Unfortunately, the "concert booklet" did not have the list of songs played. Then here I found the set list of the concert in Frankfurt on 20 March 2017. My guess is that the other concerts of the series had the same list of songs, but I'm not sure as I did not take notes.
[Links lead to song pages with lyrics and info.]

Set 1

  1. Samain Night
  2. All Souls Night
  3. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
    (Played as interlude to "allow" the audience to take
    some pictures and to refrain from it later on
    )
  4. Annachie Gordon
  5. Between the Shadows  --  instrumental
  6. Bonny Portmore
  7. Morrison's Jig  --  lyrics not available
  8. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
  9. Down by the Sally Gardens
  10. The Emigration Tunes  --  instrumental
  11. The Lark in the Clear Air  --  instrumental
  12. The Mummers' Dance
Set 2
  1. On a Bright May Morning
  2. Stolen Child
  3. The Dark Night of the Soul
  4. In France  --  lyrics not available
    (Outtake from former recording sessions, will be
    released in 2018 on a new "Outtake" album
    )
  5. The Bonny Swans
  6. The Lady of Shalott  --  short version
  7. The Old Ways
  8. Dante's Prayer
Encore
  1. Tango to Evora  --  instrumental
  2. Full Circle
 


 

Texts of tour announcements

The announcement from April 2015 said this about the tour:
Heeding her fans' calls for more live concerts - and particularly performances in the United States - Loreena is preparing to bring a rare and personal concert series to intimate venues in select American and Canadian cities this fall.

She'll be joined by two of her long-time musical collaborators, guitarist Brian Hughes and cellist Caroline Lavelle. This magical concert series will feature music and stories inspired by Loreena's exotic travels in pursuit of the history of the Celts - from the Sufis in Istanbul to the Berbers in Morocco, while interlacing the mystical Irish poems of Yeats and such classical writers as Shakespeare and Tennyson.

"It was such a pleasure to take the trio configuration into Quebec and Ontario in October 2014," says Loreena. "Now we're delighted to bring our performances to the more eastern parts of Canada, as well as into the United States, where we have not been able to tour for nearly eight years."

Updated description of the tour dated 10 Nov. 2015:

Trio Tour Comes to the West

Celebrated world artist continues rare and personal concert series following highly acclaimed fall dates, brings trio performance to intimate venues in select cities in the U.S. this March.

Celebrating three decades as Canada's foremost, groundbreaking independent artist and following a much lauded North American fall tour, Loreena McKennitt will continue her rare and intimate series of performances in select venues across the western U.S. next spring. Traditionally performing with her band in large concert halls around the world, this unique series will feature McKennitt in the trio formation that garnered her a 2012 Grammy nomination for Troubadours on the Rhine.

"It has been great to get back to touring in the United States this fall and has been wonderful to meet so many people along the way," says Mckennitt. "Because one of the key variables of this kind of tour is performing in locations about three hours drive from each other, it has been great to see more of the country by ground rather than by air and encounter some of the regional specialties and characteristics. I only wish we could do this by bicycle!!!"

Joined by two of her long-time musical collaborators, guitarist Brian Hughes and cellist Caroline Lavelle, this atmospheric evening features music and stories inspired by Loreena's exotic travels in pursuit of the history of the Celts -- from China and Mongolia to central Turkey and Ireland, while interlacing the mystical Irish poems of Yeats and such classical writers as Shakespeare and Tennyson. The performances will also feature a small component on Irish history from the time of the famine (1840s) to the present, she brings historical events to a contemporary relevance.

McKennitt's eclectic Celtic blend of pop, folk and world music has sold over 14 million albums worldwide. Her recordings have achieved gold, platinum and multi-platinum status in 15 countries on four continents. She has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award and has won two Junos, as well as a Billboard International Achievement Award.

McKennitt has performed in some of the world's most-respected and historic concert venues, from Carnegie Hall to the famous Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain and for dignitaries including Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and numerous heads of state.

In addition to her musical career, McKennitt has been recognized for a number of noteworthy philanthropic initiatives. In 1998, she founded the Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety, and she was instrumental in the transformation of a 1929 neo-Gothic school into the Falstaff Family Centre, a charitable organization focused on families and children.

McKennitt is a Member of the Order of Manitoba (2003) and the Order of Canada (2004), and in 2013 she was appointed Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters of the Republic of France. As a privacy advocate, she won a landmark privacy case in the UK. She has also been awarded four honorary degrees for her non-musical endeavours.

In 2006, McKennitt was appointed as the Royal Canadian Air Force Honorary Colonel of 435 Transport & Rescue Squadron (Winnipeg), and in September 2014 was appointed as the Honorary Colonel of the RCAF.

Description in the announcement of 17 May 2016:

A Trio Performance takes the road again this fall...

The third chapter of Loreena's intimate concert series will take her to 22 select venues in the South and Midwest U.S. and to three Canadian cities this fall.

"Open-hearted, intelligent and unafraid" The Los Angeles Times Review of Books, March 2016

A Trio Performance, which received extensive critical acclaim this spring and last fall, features Loreena and two of her long-time musical collaborators, guitarist Brian Hughes and cellist Caroline Lavelle.

The third chapter of this intimate concert series will also feature music and stories inspired by McKennitt's exotic travels in pursuit of the history of the Celts, from China and Mongolia to central Turkey and Ireland, while interlacing the mystical Irish poems of Yeats and such classical writers as Shakespeare and Tennyson.

"Autumn is such a lovely time to tour," says McKennitt, "and it's been nine years since we've been to these parts of the United States so we're looking forward to reconnecting with people and places in a very personal way."
Description in the announcement in Sept. 2016:
A Trio Performance comes to Europe, spring 2017!

After three highly-successful runs in Canada and the U.S., Loreena is taking A Trio Performance tour to 20 cities in Europe this March, marking her first concerts there in five years.

These critically-acclaimed performances feature music and stories inspired by Loreena's exotic travels in pursuit of the history of the Celts - from China and Mongolia to central Turkey and Ireland. Enriched with the interlacing of mystical Irish poems by Yeats and such classical writers as Shakespeare and Tennyson, the concerts also include material from Loreena's 2012 Grammy-nominated recording Troubadours on the Rhine, recorded in Mainz, Germany in 2011.

Joining her are two of her long-time musical collaborators, guitarist Brian Hughes and cellist Caroline Lavelle.

Although Loreena has traditionally performed with her band in large concert halls around the world, A Trio Performance takes a more intimate approach and is entwined with personal and inspiring stories that directly connect with the audience.

"It's hard to believe it's been five years since we last performed in Europe - and for us that feels like a long time," says Loreena. "We've always enjoyed performing abroad, particularly in the spring. I'm personally - looking forward to sharing this trio performance and in particular its inherent intimacy. And of course it's always a pleasure meeting new people - and reconnecting with those we've met during previous tours."

 


<=== A Trio Performance Tour 2015-2017:   tour page  /  tour dates

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created: 24 April 2015
last modified: 30 March 2019