Libera to tour USA - Summer 2017

Talks and reviews about Libera concerts or public appearances

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kinda_k00l
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by kinda_k00l »

Thank you LiberaFanICT for your review! I've somehow expected the concert in Tulsa would be a bomb, since I first saw the venue and heard about the lighting projectors - moreover, it's free, and first impression is always important. 8)

Anyway, I love that you mentioned that there were no vocal backing tracks, I agree that Libera has always been on a high level already - still waiting for the day I can go check with my own eyes. Glad to hear that the sound balance is good this time (since there were some reviews of previous concerts pointed this issue out), and even more glad to hear about all of the standing ovations. I've seen the video Yuki posted on Twitter about the standing ovation at the end, even I felt fantastic, let alone the boys. Just like Padmachou, I got goosebumps just by reading your review about it.
LiberaFanICT wrote: <span title="Mon Aug 07, 2017 4:23 pm">6 years ago</span> As a side note, I took my 8 year old to the concert to try to get him inspired to sing. His review of the concert was that it was "epic"; and he wants to find a "team" (choir) to join. Parental goal accomplished. :)
We have something in common - I also use these guys as an example and they inspired the kids my local children choir A LOT. :wink:


About Padmachou's idea about the lighting system
Padmachou wrote: <span title="Mon Aug 07, 2017 4:42 pm">6 years ago</span> So, the light effects seem to have been efficient. I wondered about it, I'm not a hundred pourcent sure I would appreciate it... Isn't it a been distractive or intrusive ?
In my opinion, the lights can also help emphasize the boys as it emphasizes the mood of the song. I have seen my other favorite artist tried it and I'm sure it won't be distracting if it is in the right hand - it may even make the boys more 'sparkling' (if you know what I mean). But still, since this time I cannot see it with my own eyes, I'll leave the judgment for those who have been there. Please, somebody write more about the lights :oops:
Last edited by kinda_k00l on Tue Aug 08, 2017 6:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Surpinto »

Great review, LiberaFanITC, and welcome to Libera Dreams!! :D You are now a lurker no more!

So the atmosphere in Tulsa was quite electric! It sounds like an amazing concert. Your descriptions of the lighting make it sound like this concert had some extras that you were fortunate enough to enjoy. And you were able to get your own son interested in singing as a result of this show? Nicely done! :D

Oh and one more thing: Please do not make your post a one off and disappear on us. Please stay and continue discussing the group with fellow fans, the more the merrier.
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john45
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by john45 »

Thanks LiberaFanICT for your review and very interesting observations.

So glad you enjoyed your first concert. I believe that what put Tulsa on the tour itinerary was the Sean Groombridge connection. As you may know he is the current musical director at Asbury Church – but in 2011 was the main organiser of the Canadian tour and has always been a good friend to Libera. Many thanks Sean.

I have often suggested that Libera might attract bigger audiences in the smaller cities and towns that are not used to regular visits from A-list performers . For example, in New York, out of a population of 10 Million or so, less than 500 came to Libera’s last concert there. Perhaps not so surprising considering the surfeit of choices. Tulsa’s remarkable support and warm welcome I think proves my point.

I loved the lighting. Certainly an enhancement rather than a distraction – and very appropriate especially the celestial map, the seascapes, the landscapes - and also the US flag for “America the Beautiful” – I cannot imagine how moving this must have been for Americans. My neighbour had to nudge me to stand and join the patriotic audience who stood with hands on hearts (a first) for the amazing Libera rendition of this anthem.

What a delight to know that your eight-year old has been inspired to join a “team”. I wish him well. He will learn so much. Not only about music, but also about teamwork, companionship, responsibility, and dedication – as demonstrated by the Libera boys, in spades.
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danieb88
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by danieb88 »

Ohhhh I am so gutted I missed the live stream of the church performance they did-In Christ Alone is one of my favourite songs ever, it would be a dream to hear Libera perform it!

Great reviews and pics guys, thank you
Danie :D
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Surpinto »

So I am still amazed by the wonderful experience that I had in Saint Louis. Meeting fellow fans from this forum was tremendous fun; especially to hear, in person, the impressions others had of songs, recordings, and other concerts on this tour was most enjoyable. It is certainly true that being a Libera fan practically requires one to be a nice person (usually lol) because everyone I met was super kind and lots of fun. It is my theory that the type of beautiful music that Libera delivers is not the sort that caters to the cold-hearted. But I am getting off topic now. :) The point I am underscoring here is just how much meeting other fans, many of whom I have been reading here for years, meant to me personally and how much fun I had with you all! Those of you who I met and got to spend some time with either at dinner or at the show: Thank you, you were all so great to talk to! And a special apology to Libera Snow. I did not hear you properly when you told me your nickname on Libera Dreams, but I certainly know who you are and enjoy your posts. Thank you so much for the fun conversation in the autograph line :)

Although this tour has been heavily reviewed I wish to add my own commentary about the concert. Many other reviews have described how fabulous Taichi, with his amazing stage presence, was; or Alex on his solos (I was totally unprepared for how well he performed his solo and other lead parts); or Camden on “Angel”. All of this is true and all of these were well performed and I loved every minute, but I am unable to add anything that was not already said about those songs or performances aside from acknowledging that they did great. Of course I do not mean to focus exclusively on the soloists as the choir as a whole put in a great effort into all of the songs.

So I will instead focus on personal, and maybe surprising, highlights which for me were “Angele Dei” and “Exultate” neither of which I expected to blow me away the way that they did. “Angele Dei” was performed very well and Rocco’s voice on the solo parts had a power behind it that was absolutely amazing. We were all impressed by his solo on “Salve Regina” from the album; well, I can tell you that our impressions were not overestimated. He is fantastic as a soloist and that song performed live blew me away. He was incredible on “Amazing Grace” too although I personally like that song less than “Angele Dei”. The song itself requires a good soloist and the choir as a whole in tip-top shape to sound just so; and they absolutely did!

As for the concert as a whole, there were definitely some rather technical issues with microphone volume and crackling microphones in the first half of the concert. Much of those seemed to be resolved in the second half, but in some cases the errant microphone was rather jarring. Having said that the boys powered through it very well. In fact, Robert, while in the middle of conducting the group, and in the middle of “From A Distance”, actually stood up from his chair and walked up to Merlin so as to redirect him to an on-stage microphone so that his solo parts would be picked up properly. He was a real trooper through it all not getting thrown off the way that someone would be expected to in a similar situation. You can tell how well trained they are to make do in such situations because he even leaned down a bit to make sure his voice was going into the microphone – understanding without being told that they were remediating a technical issue. This situation was minimally disruptive and was due entirely to the errant equipment. Merlin’s solo on that was beautiful by the way which brings me to his other solo “Exultate”.

Now, I know that many people don’t like “Exultate” and, while I always have, I never for one second thought it would be my #1 for this concert. It has never been a top favorite for me and I personally thought that one of the other songs that I adored from the more recent recordings would affect me. But I was so so very wrong. Merlin’s voice is so very pure and he sang with great poise the entire time with no issues. I cannot emphasize enough how well he sang that song and how much I loved his voice on both solo parts he had in the concert. I knew I enjoyed his solos from "Venite Adoremus" and was looking forward to hearing him live....and wow, I was not disappointed! As I walked out of the concert that song was playing in my head over and over again. Just to be clear, that almost never ever happens to me unless I am struck in a concert by a brand new song (or arrangement) - I felt this way about "Joyful Joyful" after the 2014 Washington concert which was the first time I heard Libera sing this piece and which is now one of my top favorites. Well, this song was not new and I had heard it countless times before on recordings so something else about the performance affected me.

I do not know what it was but this was in the second half of the concert with the technical glitches forgotten and the choir sounding their best. Maybe it was the power with which they delivered it too? Because the choir as a whole sounded great on it. Anyway, I am not sure why I enjoyed it so much, but Merlin’s solo was definitely a major part of it. I was able to express that to him in the autograph line afterwards in far fewer words than I have written here though :D.

Worth mentioning was that the show ended with a bang on “America” which was absolutely flawless too and certainly noteworthy because it was so well done.

In summary:
  • I loved meeting my fellow fans and that alone was worth the trip.
  • I enjoyed my second ever concert.
:D
Last edited by Surpinto on Thu Aug 10, 2017 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
dani
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by dani »

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking Cruises® today announced it has expanded its portfolio of partnerships with premier cultural institutions, with a summer season of events around the country. Viking has signed on to sponsor the United States tour of the acclaimed English boys choir, Libera.


So it must of been a huge success to get such a big sponser. Well done to the Group :D
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by andmar »

Thank you Surpinto for your concert review. I enjoyed every word of it. You were so fast! You must have written the review in the middle of the night just after the concert :D .

It's amazing, how the choir can deal even with technical issues you mentioned. This really shows how good they are.

Surpinto wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:21 am">6 years ago</span> Meeting fellow fans from this forum was tremendous fun; especially to hear, in person, the impressions others had of songs, recordings, and other concerts on this tour was most enjoyable. It is certainly true that being a Libera fan practically requires one to be a nice person (usually lol) because everyone I met was super kind and lots of fun. It is my theory that the type of beautiful music that Libera delivers is not the sort that caters to the cold-hearted
Yes, meeting other fans is a wonderful bonus to a Libera concert. I experienced it only once, but definitely agree with you. I can't imagine either, that a Libera fan might be not a kind and friendly person. This would simply not fit to the music.
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john45
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by john45 »

Thanks for the review Surpinto. A pleasure to read and a pleasure to meet you.
kinda_k00l
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by kinda_k00l »

Surpinto wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:21 am">6 years ago</span> It is certainly true that being a Libera fan practically requires one to be a nice person (usually lol) because everyone I met was super kind and lots of fun. It is my theory that the type of beautiful music that Libera delivers is not the sort that caters to the cold-hearted.
Indeed! *Well, you can't imagine how rude I can be in real life; but when it comes to Libera, I feel the urge to have appropriate language and manners and I think that is a good thing* Still waiting for the day I can meet everyone :roll:


About Angele Dei, I think it's a song that requires a 'thick' voice of the soloist, and from the only sentence in 'Salva Regina' I knew that his voice has that characteristic. Still wondering about the way he sang 'Amazing Grace' - still with that voice, or he had an ability to 'adjust' his voice? If so, he's definitely in the top class already!! 8) Totally agree with you on the 'tip-top shape' part.

I've always liked 'Exultate' too (it sounds like the music of the Troubadours in the Medieval period to me), and from my perspective, the solo lines of 'Exultate' are among the most difficult ones to sing properly among Libera songs (not because they're full of high notes, but because they're too fast to sing every note with the necessary carefulness) - I've seen some fancams of that song and there were flats every time. That's why I nearly jumped out of my chair when I read about how Merlin was doing it super fine - congrats, Merlin! :wink:

Surpinto wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:21 am">6 years ago</span> I loved meeting my fellow fans and that alone was worth the trip.
I'm hoping that I'll get to see you one day, too :D
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Yorkie
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Yorkie »

Thank you LiberaFanICT & Surpinto for your reviews, I enjoyed reading them.

I'm interested in you comments for Angele Dei Surpinto. I must admit that I was slightly surprised that it was a song that was often over looked on the Hope CD. When we heard it live at St George's and again at Ely it was a stand out song whether by Alex M or Rocco so it's nice to hear some love for it. With regards to Exultate I'm not sure it's true to say many people dislike it, it's mainly me :lol: (although I don't hate it I'm just tired of it and would appreciate something new in its place)

Who were all these nice people you met? Dani and I were back here in the UK! :wink: Glad you enjoyed it and it was very interesting that Merlin didn't falter despite the mic issue - how good is that? I think many adult pro-singers would crumble under that distraction. In all seriousness though I have made some good friends over the years following this group and I look forward to meeting them at the concerts as much as the concert itself.

Glad you enjoyed the concert and that it was worth travelling for.
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Surpinto »

andmar wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:24 pm">6 years ago</span> Thank you Surpinto for your concert review. I enjoyed every word of it. You were so fast! You must have written the review in the middle of the night just after the concert :D .

It's amazing, how the choir can deal even with technical issues you mentioned. This really shows how good they are.
I could not sleep. The music was going through my head again and again. Who can sleep with so much noise beautiful music playing? :lol: :D And, yes, meeting fans was tremendous fun.
john45 wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 3:36 pm">6 years ago</span> Thanks for the review Surpinto. A pleasure to read and a pleasure to meet you.
It was so nice to have finally met you, John. Thank you, a real pleasure.
Yorkie wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:40 pm">6 years ago</span> I'm interested in you comments for Angele Dei Surpinto. I must admit that I was slightly surprised that it was a song that was often over looked on the Hope CD. When we heard it live at St George's and again at Ely it was a stand out song whether by Alex M or Rocco so it's nice to hear some love for it.
Yes, I think now having seen it performed live I think that being introduced to the song via the recording is disadvantageous as compared to being exposed to it live. Even when I wrote my "Hope" review I stated that I liked it but it that it seemed to never have the sort of musical "resolution" that it makes you feel that it ought to have. But in thinking about this and in contrasting it with my concert experience, I think it works better live because it's part of a larger performance in which that song is immediately followed by another giving it that sort of continuity and resolution.
Yorkie wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:40 pm">6 years ago</span> With regards to Exultate I'm not sure it's true to say many people dislike it, it's mainly me :lol: (although I don't hate it I'm just tired of it and would appreciate something new in its place)
:lol: As long as Merlin does that solo they better not dare remove it. :wink:
Yorkie wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:40 pm">6 years ago</span>Who were all these nice people you met? Dani and I were back here in the UK! :wink: Glad you enjoyed it and it was very interesting that Merlin didn't falter despite the mic issue - how good is that? I think many adult pro-singers would crumble under that distraction. In all seriousness though I have made some good friends over the years following this group and I look forward to meeting them at the concerts as much as the concert itself.

Glad you enjoyed the concert and that it was worth travelling for.
Haha, yeah, who could they be? Lots of nice folks who all seem to know you for some reason, Yorkie. :wink:

Anyway, Merlin's ability to recover from that was as amazing as you say. He actually sort of smiled about it at one point because he realized it was a bit silly that he was hunching over the mic a bit. :D What a good sport.
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by bachmahlerfan »

Surpinto wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 9:21 am">6 years ago</span> As for the concert as a whole, there were definitely some rather technical issues with microphone volume and crackling microphones in the first half of the concert. Much of those seemed to be resolved in the second half, but in some cases the errant microphone was rather jarring. Having said that the boys powered through it very well.
So, are you saying that the crackling in the microphones was also much less in the second half? I understood in other reviews that they fixed things in terms of balance between the orchestra and choir for the second half of the concerts on this tour, but I'm wondering how the other issues would have been resolved. I wonder if the issue with crackling microphones suddenly popped up on this tour, or if some of it was occurring already in recent months. If there are any components that need to be replaced or repaired, then I hope they have the financial means to do so. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your perspective on the concert.
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by frankstuart »

Can someone who attended the St. Louis performance give us an idea of how many people were in attendance or how full the venue was? From what I have read in the review (as well as my attendance at the Houston concert) The attendance at the two California concerts was "OK", and Houston and Tulsa were "Very Good". Just wondering and hoping that the boys had a great send off on their final performance!
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Surpinto
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Surpinto »

bachmahlerfan wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 8:57 pm">6 years ago</span> So, are you saying that the crackling in the microphones was also much less in the second half? I understood in other reviews that they fixed things in terms of balance between the orchestra and choir for the second half of the concerts on this tour, but I'm wondering how the other issues would have been resolved. I wonder if the issue with crackling microphones suddenly popped up on this tour, or if some of it was occurring already in recent months. If there are any components that need to be replaced or repaired, then I hope they have the financial means to do so. Anyways, I enjoyed reading your perspective on the concert.
Better in 2nd half, yes. I am not sure about all of that regarding the tour because I only attended this one show.
frankstuart wrote: <span title="Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:35 pm">6 years ago</span> Can someone who attended the St. Louis performance give us an idea of how many people were in attendance or how full the venue was? From what I have read in the review (as well as my attendance at the Houston concert) The attendance at the two California concerts was "OK", and Houston and Tulsa were "Very Good". Just wondering and hoping that the boys had a great send off on their final performance!
At least 600 seats sold prior to the show. The Cathedral was not packed but there were a lot of people there (large venue). I did not pay much attention to the attendance as I was too excited about the concert. Perhaps someone else can fill in that gap.
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Re: Libera to tour USA

Post by Jay_S »

I'm not sure I will be able to follow the last 2 reviews by LiberaFanICT and Surpinto. Those were both very enjoyable reads. I'm not posting my review now but I will post just a few images.
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