Long-Winded Buffalo Review (very long winded!)

[MWheeler]

This is going to be a VERY LONG review! (probably WAY too long!) I'm going to write it with as much detail as I can in an effort to give those of you who could not attend the concert an "inside look"... almost as if you were there. I apologize if it gets too long winded or boring.

THE DRIVE TO BUFFALO: My friend and I had a two hour drive from Erie, PA to get to Asbury Hall. It rained the entire way there and the fog was incredibly thick at points. Traffic was going a bit slower than I would have liked due to the conditions... I hoped we would make it on time. As we drove into the city and were making our way down Delaware Ave. we could see a large brick church with a very tall steeple. It was almost a mile ahead, but was so tall that it stood out very plainly. We wondered if that was the church that we were looking for... it was! YAY - (I thought to myself as we drove up to the church) LIBERA is actually inside there!!!

THE PARKING: There were a couple of parking lots near Asbury Hall. I think they used to be the lots owned by the church. We opted for one just behind the hall and across the street since there was an attendant there. The fee to park was $10 which seemed a bit steep, but, it was very close and after all... we were going to see Libera, so what's a measly ten dollars, right? The spaces in the lot were VERY narrow and difficult to navigate in and out of. I guess they wanted to pack in as many cars as possible.

THE VENUE: Asbury Hall was formerly a church. They have taken out all of the pews and had set up folding chairs for the concert. (more on THAT later) There is a beautiful wooden "choir loft" type balcony in the shape of a "U" that runs along the complete length of both sides of the church and across the back. It's all connected, so you could walk around the perimeter of the church... pretty cool! I didn't think that they had sold any "balcony seating" so I was kind of wondering if some of the folks up there might have been parents or others who traveled with Libera. The lighting set up consisted of two huge scaffoldings full of lights hanging from the ceiling... one up front directly above the stage and another further back. There were a few red spot lights on before the concert which cast a cool hue over the stage area that was elevated about three feet from the floor. There was also a fog machine on the left hand side of the stage that ran almost throughout the entire show, before the concert and during intermission or "interval" as it was described in the program. Te stage itself was not huge... probably about 20 feet across and 12 feet deep. It was carpeted and had around 6 (or so) mic. stands set up. The mics. were set up to be taller than the boys and the stands were in the shape of a cane, with the mics. at the top, pointing down. There was also one mic. set up about 18 inches above floor level on the left side. The sound engineer and mixing guy are geniuses!!! Ill fill you in more on that in a bit!

THE EVIL CHAIRS: Good Gravy! I realize that the concert promoters were out to make money and wanted to squeeze as many people in as they could but the chair set up that they used gives a new meaning to the phrase "packed in like sardines"! Folding chairs were used which would have been fine, other than the fact that they were slightly small to begin with and were held together with zip ties! (like the kind that you would use to bundle computer cords together) That meant that there was NO room between chairs at all! They were completely side by side. My friend and I sat practically on top of each other in an effort not to infringe on our neighbors personal space. Fortunately, during intermission, I realized that the chairs were connected only in groups of two, so, we slid the chairs next to ours down a few inches into the aisle which gave us and our neighbors a tad bit more space.

THE LAST FEW MINUTES BEFORE THE CONCERT: I saw the stage manager (?) (guy with headphones) crack open the door near the front of the stage on the left hand side... I CAN SEE WHITE ROBES... YAY!!!!!!! An announcement came over the PA system that the use of audio & video recording devices was prohibited as well as any photography. I had hoped to get a few photos during the concert (with the flash turned off), but knew that I must respect the request. =(

THE CONCERT!: I'll do my best to describe the ins and outs of each song as best as I can.

GLORY TO THEE MY GOD THIS NIGHT: The song began with a dimly lit stage and a solo by Edward Day which started during the applause. As he walked onto the stage, you could tell that the audience wanted to applaud to recognize the fact that LIBERA was actually coming onto the stage, but they also knew that the song was about to start. To clap, or not to clap??? A few people started to applaud at the same time Edward started to sing, so his first few notes were difficult to hear. My first thoughts were... "I can't believe I'm here and am only about 10 feet away from an actual Libera member!" As more boys entered the stage, they joined in the song. The harmonies began to swirl... more lights came up. OH MY GOSH... THERE'S TOM, AND JOSH, AND LIAM, AND BEN, AND EVERYONE ELSE!!!! I'm actuall seeing them live!!! The experience was surreal! It was mesmerizing to be only feet away from the choir members and to be seeing them perform, in person, the songs that I knew by heart and had seen so many times on video. Many of the boys wore headset mics. as they normally do, some with earpieces in and others with them out. Tom opted not to use his ear piece and had it dangling beside his ear... Josh wore his. The great thing about these mics. is that they are extremely close to the mouth and therefore, the boys never have to over-sing to be heard. The sound was mixed in a way that added just the right amount of reveb... The audio was mixed to sound EXACTLY like their CD's! I couldn't believe that they were able to produce such a COMPLETELY blended sound in a live performance setting. A majority of the 19 boys did not wear misc. but their voices were picked up by the floor mics. which added a wonderful depth to the overall sound. My hat is off to the "sound guys"!!! The entire concert was mic.'d and mixed quite literally to perfection. Paul Moss, The lighting guy, also did a wonderful job setting the mood of each song. Although not as elaborate as in the DVD, the lighting was very well done and added a great deal to each of the songs. It often changed with the dynamics, phrasing and emotion of the music. Libera's white robes seemed to glow as they were bathed with each new color. The dark blues and vivid yellows were my favorites! There were also a couple of yellowish gold spot lights that occasionally lit up the walls on both sides of the stage with beautiful patterns. The choreography for all of the songs was very much like that on the DVD. They did a wonderful job of moving between and sometimes during songs. The stage set up (placement of singers) was interesting and fresh for each song!

BOYS WILL BE BOYS: As the first song progressed, I occasionally caught the eye of random libera members. You could tell that they very badly wanted to sneak a peek at the audience. After all... If it were MY first performance of a tour in a different country, I'd want to see who my audience was too! After the first song, and a few stolen glances, they seemed to settle in a bit and gain more focus. Not to say that they had a lack of focus in any way, just that they were looking about! For the rest of their performance, their eyes were ALL focused toward the back of the hall as they sung. It was obvious that they were instructed and WELL TRAINED on how to do this! It was GREAT to see the playful (and sometimes sneaky) interactions of the boys throughout the concert. A few of the things I noticed were - at one point, while standing very close to each other, Tom reached out and flicked Ben's hand for no reason which generated a quick glance and smile from each of them. During another song, some of the boys had their hoods over their heads and were facing each other while others were singing. From my vantage point in the front row, being a lot lower than the stage and looking up, I could see their faces beneath the hoods and that they were making faces at each other and snickering. I doubt that they knew that anyone could see them. It was really comical... typical young teens at their best! It was also fun to see Robert Prizeman become VERY animated when getting the boys into the mood of an upcoming, up tempo song by sticking out his tongue, putting his thumbs in his ears and flapping his hands and making faces. He did this three or four times throughout the night and got some great reactions from the boys prior to starting the next song.

JOSH'S INTRO: I don't remember specifically before which song Josh spoke, but he did the "typical Josh intro". It was well done and charming as ever! It was interesting to see that RP had him convert to english measurements like describing things in terms of miles rather than kilometers when talking about the distance from places that they lived in London. He (or maybe it was Ben?) also related their age levels to our "grade schools, and junior highs". It was nice that they made the extra effort!

BEN'S TURN TO TALK: Ben spoke at a couple of points during the concert... I don't remember specifically when they occurred, so I'll just tell you about them now. He spoke very clearly and deliberately and interjected some humor about how they sometimes put their hoods on too far over their heads and walk around bumping into things. The audience really enjoyed him! He also spoke about how some boys sing really high and that Liam sings the highest note of the concert at the end of the song "Libera". He mentioned that it was either a D or D flat... I can't remember which he said. During his second speaking segment, he described how all of the singers had different ranges and how each of their sounds come together to form the unique sound of Libera. He called a few boys out by name and they stepped forward and began to sing their own note of a chord. Some would enter on a high pitch, others low. others in the middle. As some of the singers entered, they stepped forward quickly and in an obvious manner as if to say, "look what I can do... this is MY part... listen to ME"! It was cute! The chord (about 20 seconds of singing) ended in a huge crescendo with BEN conducting a quick cut off with his arms ending completely outstretched to each side. It was an entertaining way to demonstrate how they all act together to create Libera's sound!

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO: Again, such a WONDERFULLY BLENDED sound!!! All involved with this tour, choir members, RP, Steven G. Fiona (violinist), sound and lighting people are truly masters at what they do! It was literally like I was watching the DVD version or listening to a CD... The performance quality was ASTOUNDING!!! In addition to RP & Steven on keyboards and Fiona on violin, they also used a prerecorded soundtrack, so all of the songs sounded exactly like the CD versions right down to the smallest tambourine shake, suspended cymbal roll and bass drum impact. Can you tell that I'm a percussionist? =) I greatly enjoyed hearing them sing with the soundtrack because it matched the song exactly the way that I knew it. My friend who was new to Libera, told me during intermission that he wished they wouldn't use the "muzac" (elevator music) accompaniment. Don't get me wrong... he GREATLY enjoyed the performance... I just thought that was an interesting perspective as he was hearing all of the songs for the first time.

FAR AWAY: OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!! What can I say... it was breathtaking! This is one of my favorite songs to begin with. I never thought it was possible to sing it with more emotion than the recordings that I have heard... I was wrong! The boys poured their hearts and souls into this piece. If I recall correctly, Tom sang the solo. (?) There were so many soloists throughout the night, that I could be mistaken. The lighting was BEAUTIFUL and greatly enhanced the song as the shades and colors changed and washed over the group. Again, the balance between soloist, harmonies, ooh's and aahh's was flawless! WELL DONE!!!

LACRYMOSA: I want to say that Ben did this solo... again... I could be mistaken. The song was hauntingly beautiful and the choir was bathed in blue light for this selection. The accompaniment was particularly effective and portrayed to "the T" the rippling of water of "Aquarium" from the original piece "The Carnival of the Animals" by Camille Saint-Saens. By the way, the ever busy fog machine was still producing large amounts of "ambiance". =) So much so, that Edward D., at one point, caught a lung full and started to cough.

LOVE AND MERCY: Libera (I'm sure RP) has done a small bit of "tweaking" on this tune, even since the CD. Nothing major, or probably even noticeable to most. One tiny change with the harmony in one section and a couple spots where the articulations seemed to be a bit more pronounced and shortened. it's nice to see that Libera continues to evolve and fine tune as they go! I actually got a bit "teary eyed" during the bridge of this song. I LOVE the chord changes in the arrangement! They are so moving and spiritual. The audience reaction after ALL of the songs was fantastic! There were a few "Woo-hoo's" and whistles coming from the front, but mostly just thunderous, admiring applause that only stopped when the lights came up for the next song. It was nice to see such a warm reception and appropriate show of appreciation from the audience... way to go USA!!! =)

SACRIS SOLEMNIS: Very nice job with this song. Solemn beginning (go figure) which built to wonderfully soaring harmonies and a powerful conclusion. Glad to hear the shaker part included in the soundtrack!

ADORAMUS: Wonderful piece... another of my favorites. This was a great showcase for some of the lower voices, especially near the end of the song. Intonation was impeccable as it was throughout the concert!

ALWAYS WITH YOU: Very haunting song! They used the same choreography as on the DVD with the lines of singers slowly opening and closing. One of the new boys bumped into the microphone stand (but recovered nicely) as he was walking backward into position at the end of the some. WOW - I guess they are human after all! =p

SANCTUS: HOLY MOSES, was Sanctus BEAUTIFUL tonight!!! SOOO much emotion! I've never heard it sung so beautifully! I really think that the two youngest members of Libera are going to ones to keep an eye on over the next several years. They are not afraid to sing out and both have wonderful stage presence. They were both "giving their all" last night and were practically singing with their entire bodies! For Sanctus, the stage and boy's robes were lit in a wonderfully bright yet warming deep yellow color. The rafters were ringing with the glorious sounds of this hymn of adoration! I think this was an audience favorite!

AVE MARIA: Although not on my personal top ten list of favorite songs, they did an outstanding job as always!

LIBERA: I believe it was Ben that introduced this song and explained that it was their "theme song" and the first song that they sang as Libera. Come to think of it, I don't think that Tom spoke at all last night! This was a nice way to end the first half of the show... a very up beat and energetic rendition.

INTERMISSION: We, along with most people, stood the whole time... just trying to get some of the feeling back into our legs and backsides from the torture devices... errr... I mean chairs. The fog machine went into overdrive and filled not only the stage area but the entire hall with thick fog! I never saw anyone adjusting the machine... maybe it was on a remote control. If that machine had settings from 1-10... someone cranked it up to 12! The intermission was 15 min. long. I didn't time it, but I think it may have been closer to 20 min. The first half of the concert was 55 min. long and the second half (not counting intermission) was 45 min. Over an hour and a half of singing... an incredible amount of memory work... especially for the youngest 8 year old member!

ORINOCO FLOW: Light, "popsy", fun, well balanced! Josh turned on his trademark smile during the "turn it up, turn it up" section. =) He's so much fun to watch sing. Very uplifting and incredible diction from the entire group! A great start to the second half! Now I know what all of the fog was for! They used it for lighting effects with bright beams of light shining through toward the audience as the choir once again took the stage walking through the beams of light and fog. That effect alone was beautiful. The last few singers arrived in their spots right on cue as they began to sing the "ahhh's" at the beginning of the song. What a fun piece!

I VOW TO THEE MY COUNTRY: Another of my favorites! The lyrics to this song are so strong and meaningful. The boys seemed to deeplyly identify with and intensely communicate the message of this song. Tom seemed to be particularly "into" this piece and had a very "stately" and determined look on his face. It was a joy to watch each of the boys bring their own unique qualities, expressions and identities to each of the songs!!!

STAGE LIGHTS & HEAT: By this point in the show, the hall was rather warm and I'm sure the boys were getting hot under the bright lights. A few of them were noticeably perspiring and the longer hair on some of the members like Sam and Edward was becoming a bit wet and "matted down" to their foreheads. I felt sorry for them, as I've been in that position, but I must say that it didn't seem to bother them much if at all. They continued to perform brilliantly!

HYMN TO BEAUTY & REST IN PEACE: I don't remember many specifics about this piece or the next other than that they were both beautifully done.

WHEN A KNIGHT WON HIS SPURS: A very nice change of pace at this point in the concert... lots of strong unison singing as well as rich harmonies. I love the "medieval" sound of this piece. As I mentioned before, Libera did a great job of changing where they stood for each song... sometimes in small groups... sometimes in lines... many transitions of boys on and off the stage as different combinations of singers were needed for each tune. All of the transitions were in the dark between songs. It was also nice that some of the more prominent singers occasionally took a back seat and let some of the other boys have some exposure. This was particularly noticeable during the encore at the end of the show... lot's of younger faces up front!

SALVA ME: YAY - ANOTHER GREAT PIECE!!! (like there are any that AREN'T great!) Nice Choreography along with contrasting lighting that got brighter as the boys would raise their arms and then dim down as they would lower them. I think this was the song in which Tom flicked Ben's hand. =) This piece was sung to perfection - The boys seemed to particularly enjoy singing this song. Sam was standing very close to me which allowed me to hear his part a bit more clearly. He has such a gentle tone quality as well as a gentle, pleasant look about him while he sings. He was rock solid on all of his parts... very confident and provided some excellent lower harmonies last night that wonderfully supported the boys singing in the upper register! GO SAM!!!

STAY WITH ME: Edward sang the solo with a hooded Liam off to the left hand side of the stage facing toward the choir singing the stratospheric "ah-ah-ah-ah" part. Liam's Mic. was not turned up enough to hear the first section of "ah's" . This was one of the few very MINOR sound problems of the evening. The others being the three times that low end feedback began to develop in the monitors. The sound guy was SUPER quick to fix all of these things. Again... GO SOUND GUY!!! (one of the unsung heros! of the night) This song also contained the only mistake of the night (that I caught) which was made by any of the boys. Edward accidentally came in with the 3rd verse of the song (the "You're on my side..." part) at the start of a "Venite angeli" chorus section. Again, it was barely noticeable at all. Edward smiled at his slip-up as did Josh and a few others. They glossed over it like pros though! So many songs... so much to remember... they are AMAZING to be able to do this!!!

GOING HOME: A BEAUTIFUL solo by Josh! His tone quality is so pure and he has such a pleasant sound and pleasant look while he sings. If possible, this rendition seemed even more peaceful and soothing than usual. The entire song was smooth as silk! Tom added his marvelous voice in the duet section... simply stunning. No words to describe their sound together!!! I know I've mentions the "CD quality" thing already, but I found it truly astonishing that their pitch and blend was so PERFECT!!! In any live performance, one would expect to hear little pitch problems or small volume/balance issues. All in all, there were none present in this performance with the single exception of one soloist, who did have have some slight issues with pitch. Of all of the concerts that I've attended in my life, this was the closest to the quality of a studio recording that I've ever heard! BRAVO!!! SO much talent!

I AM THE DAY: The song started with Sam and Josh kneeling to sing the beginning. Sam's "whisper part" throughout was incredibly chilling and complimentary to Josh's voice. It was almost as if the two of them were producing one sound which, I'm sure, is probably the goal! =) Once again, the accompaniment was note for note the same as the version we're all used to. What a wonderful way to end the concert! There was an immediate standing ovation which lasted (fortunately) long enough that the boys were directed to once again take the stage. They did the second half of "Libera" as their encore selection. It was wonderful!

AFTER THE SHOW: The audience was told that those wishing to meet & greet some of the boys should stay in their seats and that once the boys were ready, the audience would be told where to go. Unfortunately, by the end of the concert, my friend was feeling a little ill, so we opted not to stay. Maybe the heat got to him or possibly inhaling too much fog! =) I'm hoping to get to stay for the meet & greet in Pittsburgh if they have one, although Two of the three of us going to that concert are teachers and have to get up early the next morning for school. We'll have a long drive ahead of us as it is. I guess I'll see what the consensus is after the concert.

A BUNCH OF MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS: Fiona the violinist was fantastic although she did get a bit "soloistic" during some of the songs which I though detracted slightly from the singing. Steven G., Fiona and RP had GREAT non-verbal communication with each other throughout the concert. You can tell that they've worked together a lot! Poor Ben seemed to have a very "twitchy" eye during the entire concert... I wonder if it was nerves??? He's such a trooper! The tape used to secure the headset mics. to the boys cheeks looked very uncomfortable. I wonder if it was??? The level of professionalism displayed by the boys was astounding!!! After the encore, the boys got off the stage pretty darn fast... I think they were ready to be done. It must have been an exhausting night for them! Prior to tonight I had never noticed the shoes that the boys wore with their concert attire. They are pure white and look like they are made of soft leather and have rather pointy toes. =) I also never realized how much RP looks like the actor Gene Wilder! =p

FINAL THOUGHT: A truly amazing performance by truly amazing young men! CONGRATULATIONS to ALL involved with LIBERA! I am very fortunate and honored to have been able to witness such an incredible display of talent and beauty!

(I wonder if anyone is still reading this!?!)

[Quinnsome]

Wow!
I envy you.
I eagerly read through the whole thing and it sounds amazing... I'm glad you had such a great time!
I am disappointed at not being able to go to any concerts, but I'm so grateful that I can hear from people who are attending. Thank you so much for sharing!

(I was wondering who hit that high, high D! I didn't know it was Liam! My word, boy! Go Liam!)

[JimmyRiddle]

Thanks for telling us your review MWheeler, it gave an impression of a wonderful evening. There's no need to appologise for the long review, any Libera fan worth their salt, would be eager to read every single word of it. It's was very nicely done, and went some way in allowing those who couldn't make it, almost feel like they were actually there.

To clap, or not to clap??? A few people started to applaud at the same time Edward started to sing, so his first few notes were difficult to hear.

I guess you can forgive the fans for clapping when Ed came on to do his opening solo for Glory to Thee... It was a new experience for them aswell as Libera, and they couldn't have been familiar to the usual opening of a Libera concert.

It was also fun to see Robert Prizeman become VERY animated when getting the boys into the mood of an upcoming, up tempo song by sticking out his tongue, putting his thumbs in his ears and flapping his hands and making faces.

That's a new one on me but thanks for sharing.

It was interesting to see that RP had him convert to english measurements like describing things in terms of miles rather than kilometers when talking about the distance from places that they lived in London. It was nice that they made the extra effort!

Alot of us Brits, still swear by imperial instead of metric. MPH and Pints here, no matter how much the European beaurocrats beg to differ.

SANCTUS: HOLY MOSES, was Sanctus BEAUTIFUL tonight!!! SOOO much emotion! I've never heard it sung so beautifully! The rafters were ringing with the glorious sounds of this hymn of adoration! I think this was an audience favorite!

Sanctus has been around along time now, and can sometimes get overlooked with the new songs, but having also heard Libera sing this live, I concur with your thoughts. It is a truly stunning song, that really does demonstrate all their vocal harmonies very well. You would think if there's one song that they might struggle with, it would be this, but they always seem to be great at it. Was it similiar to the DVD, i.e. did Tom and Ed duet at the start?

(I wonder if anyone is still reading this!?!)

What you mean you've finished?

[Anonymous]

Fantastic review, glad you enjoyed every bit of the concert, except maybe of course the seating. I was told that there was a photo opportunity or an autograph session after the concert, were you able to attend and take a few snapshots or anything?

[Jude Andrew]

OMG!!!! what a fantastic review. Many thanks for taking the time and effort to do that; you really captured the spirit of the event and I could visualise the things you were decribing. JimmyRiddle hit the nail on the head ANY Libera fans would have lapped up every word of your review. Many thanks for sharing it with those of us not fortunate enough to go. I hope you enjoy the show in Pittsburg as much and eagerly await your review of that (now that you have set a benchmark )

[KP]

Oh wow!
Thanks so much for writing that long review!
I was really hoping for one that went into great detail.
There were some songs I didn't recognize- how did they sound?
(I'm talking about Glory to God..., and Hymn to Beauty)
I hope some time they'll come so I can see them!

[Elendil]

That truly was an excellent and breathtaking review! Perfect!
And tonight, Libera must have pulled off another amazing show, obviously. I'm just quite envious of the hundreds of people who just watched them a few hours earlier.

[xsakurax]

Gosh. A thousand, and million thanks for writing this review. It's really detailed and I practically read from top to bottom a few times.

Unbelievable. It feels as though I was there listening live there too.

Fantastic review. I'll definitely love to attend their concerts in the near future.

[Atrineas]

A great review, thank you. You made me jealous for not being there and beside the high price for parking and the seating it sounded like it was a great evening.

[Rich]

Yes, a long winded review - and well worth it! (Am reading it over and over again!)

Thanks again,
Rich