Re: Summer 2012 Concerts - Jersey and Guernsey
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:26 pm
Pictures from a Facebook fan page! Some of them credited by YukiBOL and dani 
When the tour was announced I was, like so many others, excited. Was I going to go? Of course I was; no question. But after bookings were made I began to have doubts. Can I really afford it? Isn’t it sad to spend two weeks of my holiday following a boys group around? Isn’t seeing the same concert four times in a row a waste? Won’t people think it’s a ridiculous thing to do? As the day drew nearer I have to say my doubts grew but the dice was cast – to the Channel Islands I was going regardless of the rest.
I don’t think a review at this point would be meaningful as you already know the who, what and how so I’ll take the same path as Tom and offer up some observation based mainly on the two Guernsey shows. Some of what follows is fact and some of it merely a guess – I still have problems recognising faces so I may inadvertently name the wrong boy or miss out somebody who performed a vital role; mea culpa.
First point of note: Fantastic lighting – best lighting I’ve seen at any libera concert with truly great use of red, purple, gold, and shimmering pure white light that made the robes appear to have a phosphorescent glow. Salva Me had a beautiful use of two rotating purple spot lights that panned across the dome and then lowered to cast two perfect silhouettes of a cowled ‘ghostley’ figure on to the side walls (MRA’s shadow). MRA was picked out in an almost pinky/purple as the rest of the group were awash in a shining white light. Ave Verum had beautiful red lighting on the V formation. Shows like this underline the importance of the visual aspect of the concerts and why Libera are unique at what they do. All the guys involved in setting up the sound and lighting should be very satisfied at a job well done.
There was a slightly unusual staging of the musicians in Guernsey. The piano and Steven far right off to the side of the stage, strings, percussion and Ian behind the boys, RP front left and again just conducting. First two rows of seats removed to provide room for speakers and lights (and RP). The stage was low and we now have use of a smoke machine which enhanced the lighting affect but was never overpowering. The smoke just lent a light haze for the lights to refract through, it wasn’t like a London street scene in a Jack the Ripper movie!
The songs on the current set list all work well in a concert setting. We all have our own favourite Libera songs and soloists and I’m sure that when we see the set lists there are some groans about songs they have included that we wish they’d drop and put our favourites in instead. But by the end of lasts nights show I had been won over by all the songs. The arrangements were well suited to the boys chosen to sing them and I can see RP’s reasons for including each song.
I’ll pick out a few highlights now; there were many great performances but these are just a few that come to mind (I may well add to this as things come to mind over the next few days):
Far Away – the song that brought me to Libera. Love the way Issac delivers it. Quite, serious but delicate. Isaac seems to have such a serious game face on when he performs that he is always one that you can’t help but watch. He took to the stage in Jersey with a piece of sticky tape stuck to his robe (the type they use to keep their ear pieces in and mic’s in place I think) – I’m pleased to say that by the time we got to Guernsey it was gone! A few comments have been made about this song but I enjoyed each and every one of Isaac’s performances and it was it was a perfect final performance in G2, sung with such tenderness, almost delicate but confident and deliberate on a par with, and quite possibly better than, the Arundel performance. I will be looking forward to seeing how Isaac develops in his Libera career.
Faithful Heart - Gives me a problem this one as on one side my head says that Josh, wonderful and faithful servant to Libera though he has been, at 17 shouldn’t be singing solo’s in a group that has developed to showcase the treble voices. But my heart says that we have witnessed something special and unique on this tour. Josh’s voice still seems to retain a high range so perhaps he is another Steven G in the making? This is one of those songs that Libera need to record to share with the legions of Josh fans. The way that Matthew J blended his voice with Josh was superb & Thomas supplied a nice little linking solo part – there was one other contributor and I want to say #Dylan# as he seemed to be involved in so many songs and was a big contributor to so many songs?
Exultate - Thomas D-L has such a great voice, great phrasing and great delivery that it’s now official; Exultate isn’t bad at all I even found myself humming along (quietly I hope). Maybe seeing four shows in a row has affected my mind?
The Fountain – very moving the song that came closest to drawing a tear to me eye (at least it might if I didn’t have a heart of stone). Superb in every way. Matt J, who really shone at Arundel, has progressed further and delivered some perfect performances with real confidence and skill. Still looks way over the audience much of the night (which is no bad thing as there was such beauty sitting in the front row that it would have been off putting all but the most hardened performer). We did get some eye contact from him though as he stole the odd glance at the audience when he wasn’t soloing. Thomas was of course spectacular.
Michael U-R & Thomas on Grateful Heart – very moving performance by those two that made this song beautiful and worthy of inclusion in the programme. The balance between each boy’s part was excellent. Thomas has got a lot of praise (quite rightly) for his role in the concerts and Michael also deserves some praise in what I believe is his breakout song. A sweet, young voice but he really pulled off his part successfully. Well done Michael and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
Attende Domine – proof (not that we need it) that these guys can sing classical songs with the skill of more ‘traditional’ choirs. Eoghan performs possibly my favourite piece in the concerts. The classical reviewers seem to sneer at Libera because they dare to move away from the traditional choral arrangements and use mics and backing tracks. Well, Eoghan destroys those prejudices by clearly demonstrating that every Libera boy can sing as well as their cathedral/collegiate Treble counterparts. Fantastic work Eoghan.
Dies Irae – My kind of Libera song with a strong medieval resonance provided by Steven on the recorder. Another well lit number and good staging with the boys facing away from the audience and then at certain points turning sharply to look at us. Two well delivered solos from Ciaran and Matthew J. Great singing and a lovely performance to watch.
Glory to Thee – Perhaps not my favourite staging of this song (loved the moody church version if that was the televised service that Jimmy recorded and Arundel seemed more dynamic) but the song is just so beautiful and moving. Eoghan’s final verse and the group Amen is enough to get event the most miserable atheist to question their beliefs. Eoghan’s voice is just so on the money it is a delight to listen to and of course all the other boys provide some perfect harmonies and counter melodies.
General observations/notes:
The perfect Bieber hair cut of one of the boys – never a hair out of place in four concerts. I can only assume that Libera now travel with their own hair stylist.
Jonathan doing a great job of stage managing the performances from the side.
Cassius on stay with me, still has that great personality and really delivers on this song. Wish I had a better view of Matthew R-A for his expertly delivered high flurishes.
Anthony always smiling, shows real joy to be performing and will be an audience favourite.
Cassius had jam or some stain on robe at start of second half in G2 – just as they did the speech about keeping robes spotless from orange squash!
Moose only attends the first half of the concert, being picked up by Luke at the interval of the G2 show and retiring with the boys for some well earned orange squash.
Spot the missing signature game, much to Eleanor’s amusement, checking how many signatures each programme had and then trying to identify whose was missing! Poor FDL seemed to miss out on every programme he bought. LOL.
Oh, and just in case you wondered, Josh’s piano playing on Ave Verum was excellent!
So, was it worth attending after all my doubts? Emphatic yes. Seeing multiple shows close together helps you to appreciate the differences that occur at each live show. I finally started to put names to faces and of course I got to hang around with my Libera friends and discuss things which could never be posted! Thanks to FDL, John45, Tom413, Dani for great company and forbearance of my ‘special’ personality traits and to the wider Libera family of fans including Yuki and her mummy, Martin, Johan and Viktor and the many other fans from around the globe who are too many to mention.
I took many none Libera photos, some tweeted but most not – I might stick them in an album and post them if anybody is interested. We certainly got to see some lovely views as the islands are stunning. Don’t think I would ever have come here if not for the tour but I suspect I’ll be back.
Finally, my apologies to all those who had to sit behind me (and there were some complaints)!
and I'd like to thank everyone for the great reports. You all helps to enlarge the fan base for Libera but also for this forum.
