Libera California-bound (USA concerts, April 2009)

libera36 · Post by **libera36** » 15 years ago

Oooo... could you tell us more about the solos?? Was Stefan's voice strong on the "Salva" notes?? And were Freddie and James quite adorable when they sang "Prayer"??

dani · Post by **dani** » 15 years ago

How was Liam on sancte and did he sing the opening to the song as Tom is not on tour? also on stay with me who sung what Did Liam do the high notes and Daniel did the rest ?

poor kavana does not sound like much of a holiday if he has been sick for most of it .

libera36 · Post by **libera36** » 15 years ago

Hopefully Kavana will feel better soon... He's been sick for quite a while though. Hopefully its not anything more serious than a cold. On "Always With You" did Alex sing the words and Kavana sing the high notes??

Jude Andrew · Post by **Jude Andrew** » 15 years ago

tom413 wrote:St Margaret's set list was identical to Japan

* Adoramus
* Gloria
* Far Away
* Love and Mercy
* Sancte
* Secret
* Salva Me
* Sanctus
* Always with You
* I Am the Day
Intermission
* Sakura, Sakura
* May the Road Rise Up
* Hymn to Beauty
* Prayer
* You Were There
* Orinoco Flow
* Mysterium
* Sacris Solemnis
* Stay with Me
* Going Home
* Libera

except that there was no encore.

I would expect the show on Sunday to be the same.
St Margaret's was packed, both at floor level and the balcony
I expect everyone was pleased with the turnout.

There were seven introductions delivered.
Josh did the hello, Sam discussed the California connection to Love and Mercy, Kavanna discussed spacing and being in the right place for their performances. Liam talked about the boys getting to celebrate Easter twice (because they crossed the international date line), Ben had two bits: one about the pressures of performing and the other discussing those robes of theirs and Freddie did the closing introduction.

New (to me anyway) solos were performed by Ben (Far Away), Stefan (high notes on Salva Me), Alex & Kavanna (Always with You), Flynn (May the Road Rise Up), Freddie & James (opening in Prayer), Josh (You Were There), Ed (Mysterium) and Daniel (Stay With Me).

Without breaking down each performance I will just say that I thought Flynn did the best job of all of those stepping into the spotlight. His performance of May The Road was truly wonderful.

Kavanna was still under the weather (coughing and sneezing). Hopefully his cold clears up before Sunday (being in the desert should be good for this, no?).

Opportunities existed after the concert to meet some of the boys and get autographs, pictures or a word. Unfortunately I didn't spot Zack in attendance so I couldn't pass on those birthday wishes....

Thanks for the run down Tom, much appreciated. Was this the first time you have seen Libera live? what were your overall impressions? did they meet your expectations?

tom413 · Post by **tom413** » 15 years ago

So much to reply to!

But I lucked out and scored another hotel with internet access today so here goes......

Stefan sounded fine on Salva but was buried behind the group so I couldn't focus on his role as I couldn't see him. I did miss Joe - though that was more of a personal preference.

Freddie & James surprised me with their performance in Prayer, it was much better than I expected. They must have worked very hard to get it right. Euro concertgoers will not be disappointed if they are able to duplicate the quality of this performance back home.

Liam was great in Sancte. This has become one of my favorite New Dawn songs and I was pleased to see it performed live. Having heard the podcast of the interview Liam gave the southern California radio station, it is clear that his speaking voice is getting awfully low, but he still carried off Sancte and indeed all of his high bits (Libera, Stay With Me) very well.
Tom's part of Sancte was replaced by committee, I believe I counted 6 boys singing the opening piece together. Stay with Me was performed as you describe, with Liam adopting the same physical position Stefan was in for Salva way behind the group (but visible to me as he is considerably taller than Stefan) and covering the high notes only leaving the rest to Daniel.

I wouldn't worry that Kavana is seriously ill; he sounded fine in his introduction to the audience it's probably just a lingering cold. Still, coughing and sneezing is not fun when you're performing. The division of labor on Always with You was Alex for the lyrics and Kavana soldiering out the high part.

This was my 4th appearance (pretty good for a Yank

) at a Libera concert and the furthest I've travelled to see them (though Sunday's performance will be further from home as the crow flies).
This performance was the most interesting because of all of the changes in duties necessitated by Tom's absence (which is school related according to the folks I talked with), but did not match the quality of the Hartford and Albany performances which were darn near perfect in my book. The other concert I've seen was the Riverside church event.
The venue was great (extremely scenic church with mountain views from most seats), the people at the church were genuinely happy to have hosted Libera and their fanbase. I felt far more welcome and appreciated at their church than at the Riverside, my only other church concert experience. I suspect Libera did as well. The accoustics of the church favored the individual voices moreso than the rousing choruses in my view....i.e. Sam and Josh were great in I am the Day, but the chorus didn't inspire the same sort of emotion that it did for me in the Hartford or Albany venues (or on my car's CD player).

Hope this answers everyone's questions. If I missed one it wasn't intentional, if there's anything else about the performance you think I might know that you're curious about, message back as I should be able to check back before I head to a different hotel for the next leg of my trip.

dani · Post by **dani** » 15 years ago

Thanks for such a long reply . Sounds totally amazing

.. What boys did you meet at the autograph thing ? Oh and what boys was at the back ? I am guessing JB .

libera36 · Post by **libera36** » 15 years ago

Thanks so much for the answers! It sounds like it was great, although due to all the little boys singing solos, was probably more of a concert to give some of the boys more experience. Just two more questions: how was Ed on Mysterium, and did Mini-Ben do a good Far Away?? Also, who did the high notes on Far Away?? Did Ben do those too??

JimmyRiddle · Post by **JimmyRiddle** » 15 years ago

Thanks for your thoughts tom - very interesting

Sounds like Libera are going through a transitional stage, there are some very young boys in there, some of them experiencing their first series of live concerts, never mind actual tours. Was that James Threadgale or James Mordaunt doing solo with Freddie on Prayer? Either way, it must have melted the coldest of hearts lol

Hopefully we'll see Tom back in business during the UK concerts

I wonder why an encore wasn't sung? Quite unusual for Libera. Did you not clap loud enough at the end lol

dani · Post by **dani** » 15 years ago

JimmyRiddle wrote:Thanks for your thoughts tom - very interesting

Sounds like Libera are going through a transitional stage, there are some very young boys in there, some of them experiencing their first series of live concerts, never mind actual tours. Was that James Threadgale or James Mordaunt doing solo with Freddie on Prayer? Either way, it must have melted the coldest of hearts lol

Hopefully we'll see Tom back in business during the UK concerts

I wonder why an encore wasn't sung? Quite unusual for Libera. Did you not clap loud enough at the end lol

To be honest i would not mind a few Tom songs but if his voice has not changed its gonna change so i think that the young kids should now step up instead of waiting for Tom's change. The new set up sounds amazing and is clearly working without Tom and the time is coming when Tom will no longer be there so i think it would be hurtful if Tom suddenly takes over again when they get back to the u,k and all the little boys suddenly lose there solo's .

JimmyRiddle · Post by **JimmyRiddle** » 15 years ago

back in business as in, just being in attendence at the Arundel concert, in whatever capacity that may be

tom413 · Post by **tom413** » 15 years ago

My pleasure to provide what info I can. This site has been very good to me and it's always good to give back.

It was James Mordaunt singing the lead with Freddie Ingles in Prayer.

Only a small number of boys were at the table signing (from memory Alex, Sam, Liam, Ben, Josh, Jakob, Stefan, Daniel and Ed - apologies if I missed someone). Another group was taking up a collection for our favorite British non-profit organization to help defray expenses. A final group made no appearance that I noticed (Kavana, Flynn and Zack among them).

I'm sorry that I wasn't paying more attention to who was singing the deep parts; JB, Michael and Oliver for sure though.

Ed was very solid in Mysterium, I was surprised he didn't get more featured work on this tour, he is a really talented singer. Ben lead all of Far Away without assistance that I remember. I don't think the song is flattering to his talent (gosh, I feel like Simon Cowell here).

I'm not sure about the encore; as I said the place was packed and enthusiastic. I suspect it may have been in the interests of time as someone from St Margaret's had said the boys had to get back to LA and wouldn't likely be sticking around after the show and instead there was a good opportunity to mix about with many of the Libera members.
I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings as I would like to hear How Can I Keep from Singing.......

dani · Post by **dani** » 15 years ago

I am glad to know about Mike V being back row as i was pretty certain his voice had broken in Jan.

You are so lucky you get to see them again on Sunday.

JimmyRiddle · Post by **JimmyRiddle** » 15 years ago

Thanks Tom, yours is the only report we have back from St Margarets up to now, so we appreciate your thoughts.

Young Freddie and James M solo dueting Prayer together, I bet lots of mum's had tears in there eyes at that. Maybe if they had all 23 boys signing autographs, they would still be signing now lol

libera36 · Post by **libera36** » 15 years ago

Yeah, thanks!! Tom, are you going to be going to their Chrystal Cathedral concert too??

RiseInGlory · Post by **RiseInGlory** » 15 years ago

hi,

Does anyone know if Libera's performances at the Crystal Cathedral at the 9.30am and 11am services will be broadcast online?