Entertainment Features

Loreena McKinnett

Loreena McKinnett

Photo's  - Article: Canadian Actor Cedric Smith  Landing Page: Loreena McKinnett and Caroline Lavelle

By GoBe Weekly Guest Reviewer, Connie Stefanson

A church is a revered place of worship,  and regardless of religion, a rather apt place for the faithful to come lift their spirits. For faithful fans of Loreena McKennitt, her recent stop at Hamilton’s 154-year old New Vision Church this past Friday seemed like the perfect place to sing her praises.  In one of McKennitt’s delightful story-telling bits – which she delivered with equal parts of authenticity, eloquence, history and humour – audience members learned that the tour in support of her double disc Under the Winter's Monn was purposefully booked primarily in acoustically-superior churches, and seeing these spectacular architectural works of art re-purposed hits all the right notes for her.

And hit the right notes she and her ensemble did in abundance. Opening with a recorded narration (by Tom Jackson) of the indigenous Sky Woman story, the entire show wove stories – both in spoken word and in song – paying homage to traditional Christian, pagan and indigenous carols. McKennitt included the history of the hauntingly beautiful Huron Carol, teaching us that the lyrics were anglicized and Christianized in 1926 from the Wendat language.  A quick Google search later, I discovered that they are certainly two entirely different sets of lyrics with very, very different stories to tell. Audience members were then treated to McKennitt solos, duos (with the formidably talented Caroline Lavelle, whose vocal range effortlessly went from rich alto to angelic soprano throughout the show), and full band pieces.  McKennitt’s reflections on her musical experiences and journeys - both the early days of her career to today – always left us feeling just a little bit closer to her, with a hefty dose of “tell us more” until the next piece began.

Backing up McKennitt from the splendid altar – a stunning backdrop - was a handful of members of the Stratford Celtic “Bookends” band as well, storyteller and flutist Jeffrey “Red” George and Canadian actor Cedric Smith, who provided a rousing reading of Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales, creating a movie in attendees’ minds’ eyes with words only. Talented percussionist Graham Hargrove accented every piece with perfect texture and timing, albeit one instrument that I personally would remove from the collection…that being what I thought was a theremin, but appeared to be and sounded like an electronic violin bow, but which produced a sound that was jarringly techno; I felt it didn’t fit in with the medieval, tribal accents.

A standing ovation brought the ensemble back to the stage for two more songs, and a second standing ovation brought the musicians back to the stage for an a cappella carol, and then…the show ended much the way in which it began, with a most gorgeous rendition of Silent Night featuring the duo of McKennitt and Lavelle, at which point I doubt there was a dry eye in the church.

The cherry on top is the portion of proceeds from this show going to Tom Jackson’s HuronCarole.ca, a national project raising awareness and funds for social service agencies including food banks, recovery centres counselling service and resource centres across the country.

The sold-out show was a cornucopia of talent and audio and visual treats, but throughout the evening the star was McKennitt’s voice, easily one of the most beautiful in today’s music industry. You could tune a piano with her voice. McKennitt’s gracious, inspirational and often clever introductions and background stories to music performed greatly defined this performance.  

From the visual splendour of one of Hamilton’s finest and oldest churches, to the soul-stirring less-is-more lighting, to the sonic desserts that Loreena and company dished out, taking in this delightful concert of traditions, stories, rituals and music was not only one of the highlights of this reviewer’s 2022, but a gift.

Loreena will be performing in the following cities .........

December 15 (Thursday)
Peterborough, Ontario
Showplace Performance Theatre

December 16 (Friday)
Kingston, Ontario
Isabel Bader Centre