Andrea Corr is Finally Coming Back to the Philippines this October!!!!!!

Yeah, excited much thus the profusion of exclamation points in this blog post's title. See, I've been a huge fan of THE CORRS for years. I just deeply regret it that I discovered their wonderful music AFTER they visited the Philippines way back in the late '90s. 

Still, I made time to catch up and initially bought a cassette tape of The Best of the Corrs (CDs were  still exorbitantly expensive back then). It was "love at first hear". It's either I must have been Irish in a past life (if there's such a thing) or I have a Celtic ancestor because everything -- and I mean everything -- the Corrs siblings play or sing, I liked!

I even met kindred souls online who love the Corrs' music as much as I did. In fact, I've become really close friends with some of them over the years. I remember how we used to share both common and rare digital files (mp3s, videos, and sheet music) that only hard-Corr fans are tenacious enough to dig up. 

 

a cute sketch I found online years ago

My fascination with the Corrs' music was such that I even asked a cousin to buy several Irish penny whistles/tin whistles for me when they were due to visit from the U.S. sometime in 2005. When I got my first whistles, I immediately tried to learn the easiest tunes like the whistle parts of Forgiven Not Forgotten, Dreams, Only When I Sleep, Little Wing, I Never Loved You Anyway, etc. Pretty soon, I found that I could also play along with several of the Corrs' full-length instrumental pieces like Rebel Heart, Lough Erin Shore, Minstrel Boy, Silver Strand, Joy of Life, and Haste to the Wedding among others.

My collection of tin whistles have grown in recent years. And as far as priceless possessions go, these are mine:

Oh, and did I mention I bought a violin too and asked a friend to teach me how to play Corrs songs on it? Good thing we already have a piano and a couple of guitars at home or else ... haha! I'd love to own a bodhran though but the recent chance to have this instrument didn't pan out so I figure there must be a perfect time somewhere in the future to acquire one.

Anyway, when the Corrs' fifth album, Home, came out, I found myself singing in Gaelic! Honestly, I've memorized the lyrics to Brid Og Ni Mhaille and Buachaill on Eirne as some of my fellow Corrs fanatics also had. I guess that shows just how much we love the band.

It felt like the end of an era a few years ago when the siblings decided to rest from the music scene and concentrate on their personal passions and families for the meantime. The news that Andrea Corr was coming up with a solo album in 2007 was met with enthusiasm. Ten Feet High contains a lot of beautiful songs with melodies and lyrics that sounded different, and yet nice, from what we were used to hearing from the Corrs. I particularly liked the upbeat cynicism of Champagne from a Straw, the sweetness of This Is What It's All About, and the sadness of Ideal World. It's odd though that the wonderful song entitled Amazing was only included in the Japanese release because it is really one of the best tracks from the album.

Now that Andrea's second album, Lifelines, has been launched last May, it was such a welcome surprise to find out that she's having a concert tour and that the Philippines is one of her stops! Finally, I'll be able to hear her sing live! Here's hoping that Sharon Corr would follow suit and also do a concert tour to promote her own album entitled Dream of You which also has a lot of nice tracks.

But, at the moment, hard-Corr fans are simply ecstatically happy at the news that one of the gorgeous and talented Corr girls is coming over to share with her Filipino fans the gift of her music. I just hope Andrea sings Amazing during the concert. I really, really love that song.