New Philippines tour announced

Talks and reviews about Libera concerts or public appearances

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Yorkie
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Yorkie »

Lauren & Lexi have posted a blog entry which identifies who's who on the Philippines tour:

Ahh, so that one is.....
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dani
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by dani »

Yorkie wrote:
dani wrote:Is this because I am on my phone or are the videos not working ?
Seem to be working on my netbook so I assume it is a phone issue.

thank you , also the who who is nice as i have no idea who some of the new boys are now. The in and out's of the group seems to go by faster at the moment.
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tom413
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

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There'll be a quiz administered in the queue at St. George's....be ready Dani! :mrgreen:
dani
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by dani »

tom413 wrote:There'll be a quiz administered in the queue at St. George's....be ready Dani! :mrgreen:

haha - for the first time i think i may struggle :mrgreen:
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by alynn »

No songlist yet? So quiet in here.
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by dani »

Very happy to see "I am dreaming of home" is back .. So its not a total Xmas concert and some regular songs are back which is nice :)
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by dani »

Via twitter

Isaac had a new song/solo - Hymn to Mary
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john45
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by john45 »

Old men forget, so here are a few scribbles before the neurons die.
Just back from a hectic meet and greet and a wonderful concert at the PICC. Not a full house but not very far off it. Very enthusiastic audience.
Opening remarks by Roberto de Ocampo, OBE, emphasising the value of friendship between Britain and the Philippines and thanking Libera for their concert which is in aid of underprivileged children and especially remembering victims of the recent earthquake. He fittingly described Libera as "Ambassadors of Goodwill".

Usual start with Dies Irae segueing into Gloria. Usual high standard. High notes in Gloria from Tom.
"Hello" from Nano-Ben and Cassius with Ben saying a few words in Tagalog much to the audience’s delight. Cassius then introduced "Angels we have heard...." saying “The next song is about angels – like us”
Next, the Wexford Carol. Beautiful solo verse in Gaelic from Isaac standing to the side bathed in green light. Second verse solo by Sam in English. Beautifully done. A very pleasing voice. Next was Sanctus, Dylan and Tom doing their signature descant/counterpoint and final Sanctus from Matthew J. I would love to hear a full solo from Dylan. His voice has such a pleasant tone.
Next song was “I’m Dreaming of Home”. Glad to see this one back with Tom’s amazing solo contribution. Followed by "Voca Me" – and another virtuoso performance from Tom. Next was “Away in a Manger” featuring Nano-Ben’s gentle, heart warming solo.
Speeches followed from the two eight year-olds, Alex G and Gabriel. Unbelievably confident and flawless speeches from ones so young. They talked about British kindergarten kids learning “Away in a Manger” for the school Nativity play. They joked about snow in England and the Philippines and about hunting for Christmas trees in August when they were in Ireland.
Then came a surprise addition to the program “Hymn to Mary” sung solo in it’s entirety by Isaac with a very nice piano accompaniment (Josh perhaps? – I couldn’t see) and soft strings. Beautifully sung by Isaac but I am not at all familiar with this hymn and will have to hear it a few more times to fully appreciate it. First half then finished with a lively performance of “In Dulci Jubilo” – same as CD.
Second half opened with a spirited performance of “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen’ followed by the crowd favourite “Orinoco Flow”. Next was “Joy to the World”, nicely done, followed by a delightful rendition of “What Child is This” with beautiful harmonies from Jude and Isaac. “Carol of the Bells” seemed a little rushed compared to the Armagh version. No introduction and hardly a pause before Cassius’s “That is our song” line. A welcome return of “The Moon ….” Which was instantly recognised and cheered by the audience. “Gaudete” followed with exquisite solo parts by Matthew J. “Silent Night” again featuring superstar Tom. Nano-Ben then introduced the “final” song of the night “Exultate” (solo yet again from the very versatile Tom). Ben spoke in Tagalog again. I have no idea what he said but the audience loved it. He is such a charmer and proving to be quite the linguist. Of course, “Exultate” was not the final song and in response to rapturous applause there were encores of “HYAMLC” featuring a lovely solo from Ciaran and then “Bayan Ko” (no soloist this time) which, as expected, brought the house down. I cannot remember exactly where they occurred in the program but there were also speeches from Sam, Ciaran and Alessandro explaining about their robes, the moose, their travel adventures (including going straight from school to the airport -with no time to change out of school uniform) and their practice routines - with demonstrations. All brilliantly performed and confidently delivered.
1255 AM here.
Time for bed.
Next stop Cebu.
Last edited by john45 on Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:22 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Yorkie
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Yorkie »

Thanks John, that certainly sets the scene for St George's. Glad to hear that the Philippines are still cheeering on the boys in huge numbers, no wonder they all seem to love going there.
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Horticult2000
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Horticult2000 »

Thanks very much John. I am so looking forward to London, meanwhile it is very nice reading about the adventures of the boys in the east. Indeed not really a Christmas programme only. I hope they do the Philippine songs in London too.
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Yorkie
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Yorkie »

Lauren and Lexi have updated their Mini-Angels blog with lots of photos from the Philippines
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dani
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by dani »

Yorkie wrote:Lauren and Lexi have updated their Mini-Angels blog with lots of photos from the Philippines

It is nice to see what a welcome they are getting and they are clearly having a blast.. It is such a long journey for them to spend less than a week out there at least all that effort is paying off for them and the team.
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Choirfan »

Good to hear all the updates.

Sad to hear of Michael's leaving, he was really coming into his own and was such a character. A little bit like when James Mordaunt left a couple years back. Oh well unto bigger and better things for him no doubt, and I'd like to thank him and his family and the Libera team for allowing us the pleasure of his talents over the past couple years.

It seems like i may be able to get my hands on the good tickets for the London show after all :wink: So I better get on with travel arrangements
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Rach
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Rach »

Woke up with a splitting headache, probably from too much excitement and high emotions from last night's concert. It was truly an amazing, fantastic and wonderful one. It was my 4th Libera concert and I think this is the one I enjoyed the most. It was an enthusiastic crowd (probably always is, in the Pines :D ) last night at the PICC and I felt the high energies in the air (both coming from the crowd and the boys).

Here are my other thoughts/experiences on last night's concert:

> Not really sure but Gloria sounded different to me last night as compared to when I heard it sung in Singapore and Taiwan. I caught my friend, Milet, who was seated right next to me smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign to Isaac here. He smiled back at her. :)

> I've forgotten the Tagalog words spoken by Nano Ben after they sung Gloria but I know I liked it and was delighted with what he said. I probably had a funny looking reaction to that coz I saw Matthew RA chuckling and looking at me (we were seated on the third row from the stage where the boys have a clear view of us).

> At the start of Wexford Carol, Isaac was standing to the right side of the stage illuminated by a green light. He looked ethereal to me here, both on the stage and on the widescreen.

> Sanctus - Beautiful violin accompaniment. First time to hear Dylan's voice standout. Loved it.

> I'm Dreaming of Home - a new song to me but felt it so much that it brought tears to my eyes. I can't share my reason why but it truly hit my heart. Tom's solo all the more moved me. Love you, Tom :)

> The two little ones, Gabe and Alex G. - Alex moves a lot when he sings. Hehe. So cute. Uber cute Gabe. I don't know if he doesn't memorize all the lyrics of all the songs they sing, but sometimes I would catch him singing or mouthing some words different from the rest of the choir. LOl. Sooo cute. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong on this or my eyes are just playing tricks on me.

> Isaac was yawning a lot last night during the first set. Not sure if he was sleepy or just bored. Hehe. They were already about to sing " Away" and he was still yawning and had his hands to his mouth. Saw Ciaran, who was right next to him, look at him and he looked as if he was telling Isaac, "What are you doing?" :D Isaac probably was just psyching and prepping himself for their next song. Actually, HIS next song.

> Hymn to Mary - A beautiful full solo by Isaac. It's a new song and debuted in the Philippines. Yay! All the boys were kneeling here. Had to ask Isaac at the autograph signing what the title of this song was.

> In Dulci Jubilo - Love, love the background Celtic sound in this song. My sister and I were actually swaying on our seats. Hehe. Anthony Blake saw us here and was all smiles. Probably happy to see us enjoying it. ;)

> Intro music to Orinoco Flow was instantly recognized by the audience and was applauded. Obviously one of the favourites. Sang with them on this line " From Peru to Cebu" :p

> What Child Is This - First time to distinctly hear Jude's voice. I like the sound of it. :)

> The Moon - Good song choice by Libera to include in their repertoire. Was much appreciated by the Filipino-Chinese in the audience. So nice to hear it again after hearing it first in Taiwan in April.

> Nano Ben said goodbye on behalf of the choir. Cannot remember his exact words but I think this is what he said " Maraming salamat po. Mahal na mahal namin ang Pilipinas" translated to " Thank you. We love the Philippines so much", in English. His tongue got twisted on this but that endeared him more to the crowd. Thank you, Libera, for trying to learn and speak our language. We feel like you truly belong. :)

> Have Yourself... - Felt a pinch to my heart when this was sung. It was Michael UR's solo in the CD and I was really missing him, but sweet Ciaran did a great job here.

> Bayan Ko - I've heard this numerous times on YouTube and in the New Dawn CD, but it still gave me goosebumps. It's really quite an experience hearing it live. Of course I had to scream my appreciation afterwards. Hehe. Didn't even care that we were at the PICC. Lol.

> Lighting & background effects were nice but not as dramatic as in the DVD.

> When a soloing boy is illuminated and projected on screen, he always looked ethereal. One exception for me is Isaac in Wexford. He looked ethereal both on stage and on screen. :)

> Not sure but Moose looked much smaller than their previous tours. Probably the "old" one has retired.

> Meet and greet afterwards was fun. The boys were all smiles and looked to be really enjoying themselves. They didn't look tired at all. Even Lucas who seem to have had jet lag last Sunday was already smiling and looking a lot better.

> There was no limit as to the number of fans that were allowed for autographs. Those who bought DVDs and CDs were prioritized. Both DVDs and CDs were sold out. Yeah!

> The M&Gs here are more relaxed than in SG and Taiwan. Fans were allowed to have pictures with the boys. Of course the boys still had to be seated and there was a table between the fan and the boys.

> Caught Carlos making a funny face for a fan's photo.

> Cassius was jumping as they made their way out after the M&G.

What a great night it was :D
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Yorkie
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Re: New Philippines tour announced

Post by Yorkie »

Thanks for the update Rach, they're always appreciated by those of us who can't be there.
Last edited by Yorkie on Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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