Concert in Arundel - 15 May 2010

[phlibera]

Dani- Interesting note on "Time". In the Philippines, Alex and Ralph sang the verses together with Josh. How about Arundel? Was it a complete solo?

As far as im aware it sounded like just Josh. As i said this is not me trying to make up lies. Others in my row and behind all said there was something totally off with it. There was also a part where the sound went funny on Josh's part. Like the volume or something went sky high. It just had a very fake feel i felt.

Okay. I guess the song was setup differently there. I was seated in Row D (matinee) and Row C (gala) at the Philippine concerts and Alex and Ralph joined Josh at the center to sing the verses. In the South East Asian Tour thread there are 2 pictures there of the stage setup for "Time".

Too bad in the Sanctus as you described. I thought it was perfect here in the Philippines down to Stefan's closing verse.

Last Thursday night I watched the DVD concert at the office conference room with a projector and a large screen after an event (that needed a DVD player) and the "Libera" song there remind me of the one in the Philippine shows in terms of voices. I thought Stefan's voice was close to Liam's voice in the DVD version of "Libera". How about there in Arundel. How was the first 2 songs?

[phlibera]

By the way, the closest thing that I felt like how you felt in "Time" was in "Love and Mercy" at the Philippine shows. In the last line of the song, "mercy and love," Mini James didn't open his mouth big or wide but the volume was very audible. I was a bit surprised at this so I was trying to look at the other boys, trying to figure out who was singing it. But it never felt like it was mimed at all. I was seated close enough to see a raised eyebrow from the boys. I just thought they turned up the volume of his microphone for that part. And looking back, it made sense because there's no other way to sing the last line "mercy and love". I'm trying it now as I'm writing this and it's hard to open your mouth too wide or too big for "mercy and love." Maybe if I sing it like a Cathedral choir, it's possible. But we know Libera has a different sound from a cathedral choir.

[Murkskis]

Hi, everyone !

This was quite a long day ! Got used to Orange
I really enjoyed the concert. Many others did as well. The concert ended with standing ovations. I was later told it was quite as usual

The overall atmosphere was great. While queuing for about 4 and a half hours I had a chance to meet Yorkie, fan de LOK, dani and others.

About quality issue- something happened with the sound in the middle of the "Time"- the sound was turned louder or some sound was added. But I definitely disagree that the whole song was mimed !!! I was lucky to sit close (2nd row)- the choir was singing for real.
Anyway, lets wait for more opinions to appear.

It turned out in the end that it's not so easy to decide which song was liked the most
And the speeches between the songs made the audience smile widely

P.S. That it for this time- the night is getting a bit late.

[chix]

Hello everyone! Thank you for your reviews.

Wow 37 kids! That's a lot. I somehow want to see the news kids. hahaha I'm wondering if Adoramus-Libera had the same arrangement as they did on the Japan-Korea-Philippine Tour. If so, I wish they could record it. hehehe

Hmm.. about "Time". I remember during the Matinée show in Philippines they had a technical difficulty in one song. (I think it was during "Time). They were adjusting the mic volume of the lead soloist at that time and his voice went loud at some point. That was adjusted though, as it didn't happen on the Gala show.

Anyhoo, could anyone tell us about Ben's speech regarding their European tour?

Ps. I'm really glad they sung Bayan Ko!

[xsakurax]

Wow, pretty surprised that there's 37 boys this time! Probably good chance to give the newbies and younger ones some good exposure since transport to Arundel is not much of an issue. However, quite shocking to hear about the quality issue. I suppose there's a possibility of technical error issues, especially so since they do use various synthesizers and other audio equipments. Trust me, with technology products sometimes things do still go wrong eg. faulty speakers or mics.

Thanks for the reviews!

[phlibera]

Some of my other thoughts...

Interesting stuff (thanks to Google Translate) over at the French forum. They dropped "Secret" in favor of "Bayan Ko". I bet nobody clapped in the middle of the song. I bet they recorded it for use in future video collections. I see this as a sign Ben will stop singing treble soon. I wonder who will sing the solos to these songs after Ben stops singing treble. Ben has an instantly recognizable voice (like Tom).

36 members! I bet that's the most number of members performing at a concert. Congratulations for the first-time concert performers.

No mention of either Tom or Ed. I guess they're gone for good. Here's to them... Thanks for sharing your voices as Libera. And good luck to the new members.

EDIT: Hmm... I used bet a lot in this post and I don't even gamble.

[danieb88]

Hi everyone thought I'd give my review of last night!
Firstly 2 apologies though-im on a phone so sorry if my spellings awful and also,sorry to all the members I didn't catch up with last night- I arrived about 6pm to the cathedral and there was already quite a crowd! I was there (in my orange t shirt) but my shyness got the better of me so sorry!
Anyway-ill do a run down of each song so I'm less likely to forget something!
The show started with steffan on stage singing parts of libera (eg are you the door are you the key) but much slower-the other boys walked up the sides of the cathedral to join him on stage. It was a brilliant way to introduce them! Then they went into adoramus which was good as usual!
They went straight into libera from there though I didn't think it was as seamless as adoramus to gloria but still very good-steffan and alfie were singing the solos and unfort steffan missed the top note in the penultimate aeterna but it was still impressive!
Time- I have to say I disagree that it was mimed-josh was joined by alex and ralph for his parts and you could clearly hear all 3 of them. Josh looked like he was struggling tbh but you couldn't hear it and it was still one of my favs of the night!
Sanctus- this time I do agree with danis review-they were pretty shaky at the start but it did improve as the song went on,no beg or ending solo tho
Sanctissima- solo by mini ben- brilliantly done mini bens voice was great and the harmonies were perfect!
Ave Verum- solo by Flynn, high notes by Matthew, very well done, I think its a shame Flynn doesn't have more solos as he has a brilliant voice!
Far Away-solo by Ralph and Mini Ben, high parts by kavanna- I really enjoyed this song and prefered ralphs parts to mini bens
Salva Me-solo by steffan, another of my favs, steffans salvas were amazing!
Agnus Dei-solo by Alex, alex was great in this he's improved massively since doing always with you last year!
How shall we sing- solo by Jakob and Steffan, I was watching steff at first and got very confused when he didn't start singing! Jakob was great I'm glad he got a solo after lead kindly light!
Interval
Mysterium- all the boys were on stage except steffan who walked up the middle of the cathedral singing the high parts brilliantly!
Orinoco Flow- not bad but not the best performance I've seen-the harmonies were abit out again at the beginning unfort
The Fountain- the song I was most looking forward to! Ralph was brilliant and his control was great getting each high note effortlessly!
How can I keep from singing-solo by sammy m, a surprise to have sammy sing the solo-he was really very good I was pleasantly surprised!
When a knight-solo by Ralph, I had heard steffan did this solo so was surprised when ralph started singing but he was brill! Steven g also played the pipes for this which was a nice compliment
Love and Mercy-solo by mini james and ?freddie I couldn't see well so couldn't see freddie sing but mini james sounded great-very similar to josh actually!
Bayan Ko- solo by mini ben-absolutely flawless, the harmonies were fantastic and they were completely in time throughout-really well done
Stay with me-solos by daniel with a few others and matthew- I think daniel was struggling with this, I've heard him sing it far better. Matthew was great although his mike was abit quiet!
Deep peace-solo by steffan, fantastic I think this was steffans best song!
Exultate- solo by mini ben- a brilliant end to the show very well done throughout
Encore-Libera again, this time steffan hit that high aeterna!

Overall a very good show-the 2nd half was much better than the first as they had quite a few sound issues to begin with!
It was great to see the new boys however, I look forward to hearing them in the future! And I wonder whether matthew madine will be similar to josh!

Anyway sorry about the very long post-enjoy!

[phlibera]

Thanks for the report, Dannieb88. Where are your photos?

It's a bit unfortunate that these Matthew solos weren't part of the Philippine mini-concerts. This is one of the few things I look forward to if and when they come back to visit us again in our country.

RE: Stefan on "Libera". I think the same thing happened at the gala show (matinee show's was perfect) in Manila. He was brilliant, though. His voice reminds me of Liam's voice in the Leiden concert DVD.

RE: Sanctus. It must be different from the Asian tour then. They had an ending solo by Stefan.

Who won the foot race between Yorkie and Fan_de_LoK?

[carina_gino20]

The pictures are in! http://libera-passion.exprimetoi.net/co ... 5.htm#4543

I believe Matthew Madine is the one behind Jakob and yes! he is a dead ringer for Josh. Has to be a brother.

The new boys are so cute and adorable. I hope we get more pictures including those new boys at the back.

[dani]

Agnus Dei was one of my favorite songs of the night as they pulled back the over produced backing and it was just about Alex singing and Steven on pipe. Really amazing to hear live on the night.


I have been thinking about last night and i will continue to go there concerts as i adore the group its just for me personally at the moment they are struggling.

You look back you had Tom, Josh, Ed, Joe, Liam and Ben. Now you look at the concert set up and you have Stefan, with Ralph showing a lot of promise. I think thats why they are suddenly breaking up songs and using more than one soloest hence Far Away which simply does not work as a duet.


Forgot to add

It was really nice to see you Murkskis and Yorkie - Yorkie is just a really nice guy. Dont know what i was expecting after all he posted he had very questionable looks so i expecting half human/half monster but he was pretty normal and really friendly and funny. Also thanks for the drink

Forgot to add Patrick was really friendly and nice as well

[phlibera]

Thanks Carina. He looked like Josh alright.


This one looked like the unnamed member in the Peace booklet picture:


And one that looked like Mini Ben (at least from this distance):

[libera36]

Thanks Carina. He looked like Josh alright.

I vote we call him Mini-Madine!

[JimmyRiddle]

Quite uncanny isn'it it. He could almost be Josh five years ago!

Alas, I will try to refrain from always associating him with with his big brother, as he will be his own person.

Thanks for the reviews, some might say they are quite critical, but they are your own thoughts, you were there. You have the mandate to say how you saw it. Lots of positives there though, and let's face it, some big hitters have either left or are in the process of leaving. So it's a time for rebuilding. I trust in Mr R Prizeman and co.

I'm thinking next stop might be stateside.

[Syafiqah]

Thanks Carina. He looked like Josh alright.

I vote we call him Mini-Madine!

I saw the picture of Matthew standing at the back and for a second I thought he was Josh. And then my eyes went to the first row and I'm like, "JOSH AGAIN?!" The resemblance is huge! Yeah, he must be Josh's brother!

[JoelinMkt]

Well, seeing as there are now two Matthews on the roster, I wonder if one gets the "Mini" tag and if so which one... or will it be like the case of the Michaels who were Michael V and Michael H...