UK concert serie announced! - Autumn 2010

dani · Post by **dani** » 13 years ago

I also forgot to mention that i personally dont think Matthew has a strong enough voice for Stay with Me and last night in the " Ah's" part and in the second verse he was 98% drowned out by the other's voice and the last note he didnt even hit the note.

I just find it interesting that in Ireland Daniel was taken off Stay with Me due to a few bad performances and i still have yet to see Matthew do a good job on it yet Robert still persists with him. There are boys that would im sure do a better job and yet he has never changed it. I find it quite intriguing.

Also i forgot to add Carlos was good in Ave Verum. I didnt remember the perfromance in Bristol but last night another young boy really performed when asked. Its nice to see the young crowd growing in confidence.

carina_gino20 · Post by **carina_gino20** » 13 years ago

dani wrote:I also forgot to mention that i personally dont think Matthew has a strong enough voice for Stay with Me and last night in the " Ah's" part and in the second verse he was 98% drowned out by the other's voice and the last note he didnt even hit the note.

I just find it interesting that in Ireland Daniel was taken off Stay with Me due to a few bad performances and i still have yet to see Matthew do a good job on it yet Robert still persists with him. There are boys that would im sure do a better job and yet he has never changed it. I find it quite intriguing.

Could it be the acoustics? His performance last year in the Philippines was amazing.

dani · Post by **dani** » 13 years ago

carina_gino20 wrote:
Could it be the acoustics? His performance last year in the Philippines was amazing.

Maybe it is that .

No reviews yet from tonight on here or the French forum/.

Yorkie · Post by **Yorkie** » 13 years ago

I'm back.

OK, a few notes from tonight, no changes to the songs or soloists (to the best of my knowledge but I don't focus too hard on that stuff 'coz I'm there to hear singing).

No photo shoot. Good crowd and pretty full church, I would estimate 300+ (and would down size Chester to 150 - 200). Mr Philipp said Beverley held as many as Arundel and it looked pretty full.

Sound was better tonight but perhaps not as well lit as last nights concert. Managed to bag the front row again but this time on the right. Initially tried the left but the lid was up on the piano and would have been hard to see round so swapped to the right and had to watch RP conduct all night.

None of the younger boys appeared on stage (which was tiny, smaller than St George's) and we had a mystery injury to Matthew Janson who survived one song before going off with some sort of eye problem and received comfort from Barbara.

Mysterium reverted to the Bristol version - Ralph and Stefan stood up on by the organist above the quire screen. Not as good as the version where Ralph is on stage and Stefan walks down the centre aisle - one singing the question and the other singing the answer.

Some general observations: the roadie crew was on the go until 3.00 am last night packing up the stuff and driving up North to Rotherham (about an hour from Beverley) so they could get an early start. The boys were staying in Beverley tonight.

Ralph was still struggling with a cough all night and at one point in the second half (what song???) after the song finished, Ben who had been singing with him had a quick smile and a word which I'm sure was along the lines of 'phew, we just managed to get away with that'!

Also in the second half RP and Daniel had a lengthy exchange (through looks and gestures) - RP giving out instructions. Mentioning RP I nearly killed him. Twice. The front row piled up coats and bags at the foot of RP's booth. When he swapped to the piano he tripped over them in the dark. At the interval I adjusted the pile but must have accidentally knocked the wall of his booth out of place. When he resumed his place in act two he stumbled over the out of place wall! watching RP directing I noticed that just prior to Exultate he gestured to the boys by holding his arms out and wiggling his fingers (casting an accidental shadow puppet over the walls) to tell them that he wanted energy and sparkle for the song.

Bit of gossip. It was reported that the mention on the Epsom poster of 'prior to US tour' might be a mistake made by the venue - apparently this was a surprise to Libera. Also dani apparently Roberts angry look back over his shoulder at the George's concert was not because of a comment made by a fan but because of the whooping by a family member when Josh mentioned James and Freddie in his speech.

And one last thing; Eternal Light. Stefan and Ralph sing the first two verses together but so closely that it sounds like one voice. Stefan sings the third (rainbow) verse alone.

dani · Post by **dani** » 13 years ago

Yorkie wrote:I'm back.

Ralph was still struggling with a cough all night and at one point in the second half (what song???) after the song finished, Ben who had been singing with him had a quick smile and a word which I'm sure was along the lines of 'phew, we just managed to get away with that'!

Also in the second half RP and Daniel had a lengthy exchange (through looks and gestures) - RP giving out instructions. Mentioning RP I nearly killed him. Twice. The front row piled up coats and bags at the foot of RP's booth. When he swapped to the piano he tripped over them in the dark. At the interval I adjusted the pile but must have accidentally knocked the wall of his booth out of place. When he resumed his place in act two he stumbled over the out of place wall! watching RP directing I noticed that just prior to Exultate he gestured to the boys by holding his arms out and wiggling his fingers (casting an accidental shadow puppet over the walls) to tell them that he wanted energy and sparkle for the song.

Bit of gossip. It was reported that the mention on the Epsom poster of 'prior to US tour' might be a mistake made by the venue - apparently this was a surprise to Libera. Also dani apparently Roberts angry look back over his shoulder at the George's concert was not because of a comment made by a fan but because of the whooping by a family member when Josh mentioned James and Freddie in his speech.

And one last thing; Eternal Light. Stefan and Ralph sing the first two verses together but so closely that it sounds like one voice. Stefan sings the third (rainbow) verse alone.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. See Eternal light to me sounds like Stefan alone. With Ralph doing the higher notes.

dani · Post by **dani** » 13 years ago

And i wonder if Photo shoots have now been stopped.

Yorkie · Post by **Yorkie** » 13 years ago

dani wrote:And i wonder if Photo shoots have now been stopped.

Some people grabbed Mr Philipp at the end and questioned him on it. I missed most of what was said but just caught the end where he claimed the boys tiredness was the reason..........

Re Eternal Light - I watched closely at St George's and again at Beverley. Ralph definitely sings the words but for the last verse it is just Stefan. It explains why both get the credit.

tom413 · Post by **tom413** » 13 years ago

Yorkie wrote:Managed to bag the front row again but this time on the right.

What did you think of the view from the right?

Circumstances forced me to be on the right side for one of the US concerts and I wasn't thrilled about it. Too far away from Kavana's stage presence which is always a highlight of any live Libera performance for me.

JimmyRiddle · Post by **JimmyRiddle** » 13 years ago

I’ve been keeping my head down lately, and before I resume my hibernation I would like to express some of my thoughts on tonight’s concert.

The turnout for a start was fantastic. It was nearly full to capacity. I noticed some people were sitting on seats at the side but this may have been their choice, because seats with a centre viewpoint were full almost going to the back. There were VIP’s in the audience tonight. The mayor and lady mayor decked in their gold bling were sitting a few rows in front of me with the minister. From what I could see they appeared to be very impressed by the youngsters from South London.

The community word obviously did a good job getting more locals into Beverley Minster than what we saw at Chester. When I turned up there was already a decent queue forming alongside the railings. The weather wasn't the best either. They let us in at 7pm and the crowd just kept coming in. It was probably 85% full by the time the lights went down. It’s nice they (libera) can turn out a decent gathering ‘up north’. The ‘southerners’ were just about to claim all rights to them lol

The singing was exceptional I thought tonight. It was right up there as one of the best I’ve attended. The dictation and maybe it was down to the speaker setup, seemed on the button. Some parts of Chester sounded a little soft and not of the same clarity. Tonight was near perfection so maybe that’s a big cheer to the sound technicians!

I won’t go into detail on every song, but the overall concert was performed without too many glitches and off key notes. I couldn’t really detect any to be honest. I think Mathew missed one of his ‘aah-aahs’ on Stay with me (the bit we saw Liam do on Leiden DVD) because I could see Robert pick up on it and he made a point of catching his attention the next time.

Deep Peace was my favourite tonight in terms of the whole choir nailing it. Stefan’s solo was exceptional and the harmonies were interwoven as one. It was pretty much a flawless execution.

Even Far Away (which in my opinion is a song that takes no prisoners, and leaves little margin for error) was performed very well. Ralph did a lot of work during the first half with quite a few solo’s and assisted solos. I detected a little nerve during Fountain, but now it’s been mentioned he was not feeling very well, it’s all the more admirable that he sung the way he did.

I think they could have brightened the spotlight more on Stefan during his solo on Mysterium. I didn’t see him standing up near were the organ was until the second verse. I noticed other people in the audience were wondering were the sound was coming from too. I think his microphone cut out a little on his first ‘aaah-haaa’ and this caused Mr Prizeman a little concern when his magic wand conducting wasn’t getting the usual response. Things were quickly sorted out and Stefan was strong, loud and clear on the last part of the song. There was lengthy instrumental link into Gloria too, as they had to wait for them to return from above to join the other boys on stage. This was the one song which I appreciated more at Chester because of Stefan walking down the centre aisle and being called to by the boys.

Carlos came across confident and with more clarity for his solo on Ave Verum compared to Chester. Stefan and Jacob combined well with How Shall I Sing That Majesty. This and Exsultate were obvious crowd pleasers down to their rousing finale. A little nod in Josh’s direction too. He’s now down to one solo for Time and despite being 16 and having solo assistance from Ralph & Sammy (I think) you could still hear him clearly in his trademark voice. It’s lower no doubt, but it’s still uniquely him. Congrats to him for still being able to sing solo in a treble dominated setup.

The Speeches were very good once again, all the boys got applauded. Cassius got a few laughs when he said he finds being in Libera ‘really amazing’ giving the audience two thumbs up and a big cheeky smile.

So that’s it! I’ve had my fill of concerts over the past few years and it’s finished with a good ‘un. I will pop in now and again and keep myself updated, and share anything I find that’s libera related.

I’ll leave you with one of the new pictures from the program tonight…

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Rebecca (: · Post by **Rebecca (:** » 13 years ago

I'm so glad the concert went well!
With what you said reguarding Josh, I completly agree, his voice is lower, but I still here that 'Josh' sound in it (:

Yorkie · Post by **Yorkie** » 13 years ago

tom413 wrote:
Yorkie wrote:Managed to bag the front row again but this time on the right.
What did you think of the view from the right?

Circumstances forced me to be on the right side for one of the US concerts and I wasn't thrilled about it. Too far away from Kavana's stage presence which is always a highlight of any live Libera performance for me.

I prefer the left hand side too. At St Georges the piano lid was down but with it raised here I felt it was just going to block out too much. Unfortunately we had some problems with queue jumping Japanese fans so the best seats on the left were gone

Yorkie · Post by **Yorkie** » 13 years ago

JimmyRiddle wrote:I’ve been keeping my head down lately, and before I resume my hibernation I would like to express some of my thoughts on tonight’s concert.

Not leaving us I hope Jimmy?

JimmyRiddle wrote:The turnout for a start was fantastic. It was nearly full to capacity. I noticed some people were sitting on seats at the side but this may have been their choice, because seats with a centre viewpoint were full almost going to the back.

The community word obviously did a good job getting more locals into Beverley Minster than what we saw at Chester. When I turned up there was already a decent queue forming alongside the railings. The weather wasn't the best either. They let us in at 7pm and the crowd just kept coming in. It was probably 85% full by the time the lights went down. It’s nice they (libera) can turn out a decent gathering ‘up north’. The ‘southerners’ were just about to claim all rights to them lol

Ah, the weather. It was a true Yorkshire welcome. It was throwing it down at about 14.30. I'd had lunch with FDL, Viabuona and John who had flown in from Canada. They headed off to queue and I went to buy an umbrella. I returned to the Minster with a rather natty pink number covered in ladybirds (ladybugs iirc in the States). I thought FDL would die of laughing.

The size of the audience was very good and I think everybody thought it a successful evening. Just remembered that afterwards Mr Philipp was talking about doing more UK concerts but spread out in all four corners of the country to get the word out. The bad news is he seemed to suggest that there would be no Arundel next year, the thinking being that they had been there three times and they needed to go to new places.

JimmyRiddle wrote:The singing was exceptional I thought tonight. It was right up there as one of the best I’ve attended. The dictation and maybe it was down to the speaker setup, seemed on the button. Some parts of Chester sounded a little soft and not of the same clarity. Tonight was near perfection so maybe that’s a big cheer to the sound technicians!

There were a few problems at St George's with the sound balance but it was good in Beverley. They work really hard those guys to set up the show and those people who haven't seen a live show would not believe the amount of gear they have to set up. The show couldn't happen with out those 'roadies'.

JimmyRiddle wrote:Even Far Away (which in my opinion is a song that takes no prisoners, and leaves little margin for error) was performed very well. Ralph did a lot of work during the first half with quite a few solo’s and assisted solos. I detected a little nerve during Fountain, but now it’s been mentioned he was not feeling very well, it’s all the more admirable that he sung the way he did.

Another fan thought Ralph sounded nervous as well but he definitely has a cold. I could see/hear him cough ans swallow a lot. In rehearsal at Chester I thought the poor lad was going to cough up a lung.

JimmyRiddle wrote:I think they could have brightened the spotlight more on Stefan during his solo on Mysterium. I didn’t see him standing up near were the organ was until the second verse. I noticed other people in the audience were wondering were the sound was coming from too. I think his microphone cut out a little on his first ‘aaah-haaa’ and this caused Mr Prizeman a little concern when his magic wand conducting wasn’t getting the usual response. Things were quickly sorted out and Stefan was strong, loud and clear on the last part of the song. There was lengthy instrumental link into Gloria too, as they had to wait for them to return from above to join the other boys on stage. This was the one song which I appreciated more at Chester because of Stefan walking down the centre aisle and being called to by the boys.

Glad you noticed that Jimmy because I though exactly the same. Chester wins hands down for Mysterium and is now up there with the legend that is Ed Day 2009. Chester had the organ doing the Gloria link as well and I much preferred it (not that the strings were bad I hasten to add but the organ was so powerful it made your guts hum along)

JimmyRiddle wrote:The Speeches were very good once again, all the boys got applauded. Cassius got a few laughs when he said he finds being in Libera ‘really amazing’ giving the audience two thumbs up and a big cheeky smile.

Yes, very warm applause and a very long standing ovation at the end (did we start it too soon as another fan suggested?). It went on so long that as RP gave the signal for the boys to bow one of the fiddlers thought it was a cue to start the exultate reprise and started to play too soon!

JimmyRiddle wrote:So that’s it! I’ve had my fill of concerts over the past few years and it’s finished with a good ‘un. I will pop in now and again and keep myself updated, and share anything I find that’s libera related.

Wouldn't be the same without you

Murkskis · Post by **Murkskis** » 13 years ago

Good to hear that the concert was well attended.
Maybe, thats because Jimmy turned up

Nice reviews again, thank you Yorkie and Jimmy.

I also remember that cough, so Ralph performed very well despite the circumstances

I like to read that his voice and Stephan's voice are so similar that only a concert can reveal us the fact they both sing the solo on Eternal Light

Quite a sign of a well done job.

phlibera · Post by **phlibera** » 13 years ago

Re: Eternal Light. It seems from everything I've read so far, that the Japanese composer and Libera combo is 3 for 3 so far (with Far Away and You Were There) in creating a memorable song.

Re: more UK concerts. I guess it's about time that Libera takes their own country.

When they become more popular in the UK, there's more chance of them becoming more popular everywhere else.

Yorkie · Post by **Yorkie** » 13 years ago

Never tried this before but I've uploaded some photo's from Chester in to Photobucket and formed a slide show. Unfortunately they are not in the order I would choose but can't figure out how to re-order the sequence.

Let's give it a go:

http://s716.photobucket.com/albums/ww16 ... =slideshow