By popular demand, Canada's first family of Celtic music will visit Nanaimo for the first time since 2010 to begin their coast-to-coast tour of seasonal magic.
This concert is a musical potpourri of traditional MacNeil family favourites gleaned from Christmas ceilidhs, midnight masses and general down-home festive frolic. Steeped in Cape Breton tradition with strong Celtic roots and musical artistry, this diversely talented family group of six siblings sells out shows worldwide. Their captivating vocals, harmonies and extraordinary musicianship are famously featured in their Christmas TV specials, perennially broadcast on CMT and PBS TV stations.
The Barra MacNeils East Coast Christmas injects new life and energy into the sights and sounds of Christmas, prompting the Globe & Mail to call the recording on which is based “one of the best five Christmas albums of all time”.
The five MacNeil siblings—Lucy, Boyd, Stewart, Kyle and Sheumas—combine a vast array of instruments including accordion, guitar, piano, fiddle, bodhran, mandolin, banjo, Celtic harp, tin whistles, flute, and voices—all underpinned by the nimble-fingered Jamie Gatti on bass. The result is unmistakably the Barra MacNeils: one moment a rousing chorus, then a hauntingly beautiful Gaelic ballad, the next a flurry of foot-stomping tunes that turns into step-dancing revelry.
Don’t miss the magic too get you into the festive mood! The Barra MacNeils' Christmas is a perfect ringing out of the 17th year of CeltFest Vancouver Island events and a ringing in of the season.
