Yesterday was a very long day indeed. It started at 03:30 and finished 21 and half hours later…. I managed to finish my meetings in Reading roughly on schedule but was still undecided as to whether I would go to Torquay or not. I had no ticket and it was a long way away but in the end decided ‘what the hey’ and heading off in a hire car at 15:15 armed with a couple of Libera CD’s and Sat Nav for the 187 mile journey. 3 hours later I arrived in Torquay, or the ‘English Riviera’ as it calls’s itself. The weather didn’t live up to the bill though and it was overcast and showery whilst being sort of humid.
St. John’s church is situated up a couple of winding terraces perched on the side of cliff face with panoramic views of Torquay and the bay below. Nice setting. I had time for a quick plate of Cannelloni at a nearby Italian then walked up the hill to the church where I bought my ticket at the door. There was a sign on the desk notifying everyone that the concert was being filmed by the BBC for a ‘Songs of Praise’ special on Libera to be aired in January 09. Needless to say there was far more technical equipment then you would expect at a concert of this type. I have to say that St. John’s is a beautiful little church, wonderful architecture. You can see the bedrock of the cliff face coming through the wall in the corridor (It looks like sandstone). The church was practically full, which was nice and I would estimate that there was maybe 300 people there. The concert was first muted back in January by Robert Prizeman who is a friend of the musical director in St. John’s. Robert offered to bring the boys down for a concert and the rest was just sorting out the logistics. As it happens Libera are on summer holidays in Devon; a sort of ‘Choir Camp’, for the week and have a couple of engagements; the Torquay concert being the only publicized event. Anyway; The Concert. The programme had two changes from the QEH concert. After ‘Orinoco Flow’ the boy’s sang ‘Mysterium’ and the ‘Prayer’ but left out ‘I vow to thee my country’. I have to say that I was delighted about ‘Prayer’ as it is my favourite song and I would have driven the 187 miles just to hear that song alone!
The line up of songs was thus:
Glory to thee my God this night, Gloria in excelsi Deo, Far Away, Lacrymosa, Love and Mercy, Sacris Solemnis, Adoramus, Always with you, Sanctus, Ave Maria, Libera
20 minute Interval
Orinoco Flow, Mysterium, Prayer, Hymn to Beauty, Rest in Peace, When a knight won his spurs, Salva Me, Stay with me, Going Home, I am the Day
The boy’s started in a similar manner to the QEH with Ed singing ‘Glory to thee’. I do have to say that I thought the stage was too small and the boys were a little cramped. They included a few new faces; 6 in total (Freddie Ingles, James Mordaunt, Samuel Moriarity, Carlos Rodriguez, Alfie Smart and Thomas Stuttard). In fact there was a very nice moment at the start of the concert when Sam introduced young Freddie who’s 8th birthday it was that day; he got a nice round of applause. So, all in all there were 26 boys on stage at the start ! Once the concert got under way it became obvious to me the differences in this concert and the QEH concert. The sound quality and the acoustics in St. John’s were far superior to the QEH; which is a purpose built music hall. The boy’s voices came across a lot clearer and with more power which made for better sound quality and over all a better concert. This was really noticeable on songs like ‘Sanctus’, ‘Libera’ and ‘Prayer’. For me the stand out performances were ‘Prayer’ (I would say that though
) and ‘Mysterium’. It’s the first time I have heard ‘Prayer’ live and I found myself holding my breath during the song. It was wonderful and expertly delivered by Tom and Ed. ‘Mysterium’ was a new one to me; I had not heard it before and I was blown away with it. It is such a soulful, soothing, emotional song and with the lights setting down at a low blue and the boy’s hoods up; it sent shivers down my spine. Very powerful piece indeed. There was quite a long delay between a couple of the songs as it looked like one of the boys (Liam, I think) was having problems with his head mic/earpice which had the sound engineer and big Ben running around a bit ! Unfortunately it had to end though and again the boy’s finished with the powerful ‘I am the day’ which was treated to a standing ovation followed by an encore of ‘Libera’. It was an excellent concert, better than QEH, in my humble opinion, because of the sound quality that comes with a church setting but also because it is a smaller setting and that little bit cosier than a vast open music hall. After about 15 mins 10 or so of the boys came out to sign programmes and CD’s. However, it was badly set up and ended up with 2 groups of people going in opposite directions ending up in each others way and ultimately coming a stand still. The net result being that a lot of people didn’t/couldn’t get in to meet the boys and get an autograph; a pity but it didn’t detract from what was a wonderful night in a wonderful setting. Unfortunately I had to leave shortly after for my 187 mile trip back up the Reading. I eventually got to my hotel, very tired at about 1am.
These boys continue to amaze me. There level of professionalism and attention to detail is remarkable considering there ages and they deserve all of the plaudits they get.
Well done boys for yet another high quality delivery and I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer holidays.