Libera in Taiwan April 2013

[Max]

Hello every one!! This is my first post.

I went to the concert at Taipei on April 2, 2013, which was my second time to go to Libera’s concert, after by the concert at Tokyo in 2010. Compared with the concert at Tokyo in 2010, there were more speeches this time and I like this arrangement very much!! It makes the concert especially sincere to the audiences, which is definitely the most precious highlight of the live concert. So touching by how much effort the little angels spent on speaking Chinese!! They actually pronounce very well!! The introduce of the vocal practices was gorgeous as well; very simple but the pure, harmonic heavenly sound is definitely one of the most beautiful sound that I have ever heard on the entire world!!
Glad to see that Josh still performs with Libera!! Josh seems to smile more often when singing, while being more concentrated and barely smile when playing the instrument… hopefully he still enjoys being on the stage as much. Well… I still like the smiling Josh better.
Special applause for Marc Alvares!! Though he is the youngest boy on the stage according the speech, he did an absolutely fantastic job!! So calm on the stage, high quality performance, just as well as all the other bigger boys!! Absolutely superb!! (If anyone has any kind of sources that can reach Marc, PLEASE pass him the above message! It doesn’t have to be under my name and is nothing to do with any attempt to contact any single boy; just a pure general message. I think this will be quite meaningful, SERIOUSLY!!! )

Besides, despite that I really enjoyed the concert and had such a wonderful night, I was not happy about the concert – not for the concert itself but because probably one third to half of the tickets are not sold out!! Not only the two concerts at Taipei but literally all of the 5 concerts in Taiwan!! Absolutely ridicules and I got really mad!! As I live in Taiwan, unfortunately, I am not really surprised by the result… Personally, I think the main reason is that sometimes… actually quite a lot of times, it is fame, marketing and those kind of commercial stuffs rather than the real quality that attracts people’s attention here; not only the case of concerts but also other products, restaurants… and so on. (The economy now in Taiwan may also be part of the reason.) Another two well known choirs, the obviously famous “Vienna Boys' Choir” and “Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc” famous for the movie “Les Choristes,” were much more successful at their concerts in Taiwan, and I really don’t think it is the style or the quality of performance that really matter. 5 concerts here in Taiwan for the very first time is even more than events in some other countries which Libera has visited several times, but is probably the less successful event in recent years. I don’t care about if the promoter can make profits this way, including selling those posters, mugs… What really matter is that how do the boys feel when they get on to the stage, ready for bringing the audiences a wonderful performance, but seeing those empty seats?? Not even to mention the effort they spent on speaking Chinese (they actually speak quite a lot) and singing Chinese song!! The boys are not singing for their own profits, they are just a group of boys who have passion and love singing!! It makes me so sad when I think of this. I know I am a bit emotional now, but this is definitely not the best result, not even close to good. Truly ridicules!! Well… at least most of the audiences are super loyal Libera fans including those who come far from other countries and give Libera sincere reaction during the concerts, which is probably the only good news. Hopefully they still enjoy their time in Taiwan because that is the most important thing!!

[Yorkie]

Hi Max,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for taking the time to post - it's great to read the thoughts of a local about how well they performed.

I wouldn't get too upset about the empty seats - the truth is that they have had this before in many places. What matters is how much the people in the audience enjoy the show and by all accounts those fans that were there were very appreciate and generous with their applause - especially for the Moon song!

I think it was Robert Prizeman who once said that they get as much pleasure from performing in a small church with just a few people watching as they do from big concerts. They take great joy in the chance to perform and I'm sure the boys love travelling to new countries and experiencing things that very few of their school mates get the chance to see.

So, it wasn't a sell out this time but every great journey begins with single step (is that a Chinese saying?) and who knows, next time they visit the venues might be full following word of mouth from this trip.

Take care,


Yorkie

[Max]

Hi Yorkie,
Thank you very much for your warm greetings!

Knowing the truth about the empty seats and what Robert Prizeman once said, I do feel much better now. Although I think the selling of tickets still more or less affect their feeling as they once mentioned in their blog (http://www.libera.org.uk/blog/joyful_japan) that “…we were told the tickets for both our concerts were COMPLETELY sold out. That got us in a perfect mood to perform.” the case seems to be not such a very big deal than I originally thought- what a huge relief!! I do understand it is profit that maybe the most important thing to the sponsor, but personally I think first thing first is to offer the performers, especially the cases like the boys in Libera, a very enjoyable time as well. Performing and traveling with Libera is not a career or a way of making profit for the boys themselves so it makes no sense to benefit anyone while letting the boys being unhappy, and this is the reason I always feel annoyed when the “profit stuffs” seems getting over the aim at the boys’ own happiness.

Some audiences are truly enthusiasm Libera fans for sure!! I could manage to buy the seat right at the middle of the first line easily several times when Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc visit Taiwan while the tickets were actually sold better, but failed when I bought the ticket for Libera concert this time ; I only got seat #13 in the first line after being a little bit lazy to get off the bed just for only a couples of minutes late!! lol

Here are some further reviews on the concert.

Background music is always being an important part of Libera’s music, however I thought it would be even better with a slightly lower volume of the background music. I felt the background music was a little bit overwhelmed the vocal voices and the outcome music sound a bit like a bunch of different sound mixing all together rather than clear in depth. Not sure if this feeling was causing by seating in the first line or the set-up of the playback system… Maybe the music mix better at the seats with some more distance to the stage, but I will still prefer the seats as front as possible. Nothing is better than watching these little angles close enough to see every single reaction from different boys, right? I'll just leave the perfect mixing for the CDs. I did enjoy sitting in the first line but, to be honest, it was quite challenging rather than relaxing for me; too many things to focus at the same time - listening to the heavenly music, watching those cool lighting and form-changing, looking at every single boys, trying hard to understand the speech… etc, while the field of vision from a place very close to the stage makes it even more challenging! However, it definitely worth to pay that much attention!!

At the autograph signing after the concert, the sponsor prohibits the audiences from taking picture in the line for speeding up the process. I totally understand since the boys must be tired enough while still had hundreds of signing to do. I actually felt a little bit guilty to let the boys signing for me. So, basically it was like entering the room, passing what you would like to be signed to the staff, the staff then passes the item to a group of super busy head-down boys, getting back your item and then… done. Hum… it was a neither long nor short period of time and I didn’t expect too much interaction with the boys. All of a sudden, after Bertramo Smart signing right on his face and murmuring his face looks like that (lol), Kavana Crossley head-up and greets me; also Eoghan McCarthy said “Thank you for coming tonight!” It was way too kind of them to do so!! After being surprised and touched by these cute warm angles, it was the worst feeling of the day – the end of the beautiful night, right from the heaven back to the real world…

[tom413]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Max!

It's nice to read news about how things are going on tour from people who are there.
I am away from home so I got to read both of your comments at the same time.
I completely understand your frustration when not enough of your fellow citizens
share your good taste (Yorkie has given me the same talk as well ) , but all you
can really control is making sure they know you were happy with their performance.
With the concert lights the boys can only see the first few rows at best while performing;
if those people are enthusiastic and interested, the boys will respond to that while performing.

I'm glad you got the opportunity to interact with some of the boys as well, that is a privilege
that is not available at every (or even most, lately) concerts. Hope you had a good time
and are looking into flights to Korea at the end of the week.

[Max]

Hello Tom,
Thank you very much for you appreciation!!

Well... actually the both comments are for the same concert on April 2. In fact I am quite a home-body and have not much interest in social activates, and that is the reason why I registered long time ago but have never posted... It was exactly the frustration that pushed me to do the first post. lol My English is not very good and I was a bit shocked by how many details of the concert that other people reviewed so I was shy to write too much at first. Then since it is so kind of you and Yorkie, I think maybe I can add a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

I actually didn't expect to interact with the boys, though I really did want to if I had a chance, because I walked into the signing section with none of the boys is head-up - they were just super busy. Therefore I was really surprised by Kavana and Eoghan, and I wish I could respond them even more supportively and positively if I could speak better English. Since the lack of proficiency, my response ended up to be "(Did you enjoy the concert?) Sure!! A-b-solutely fantastic!!" and "(Thank you for coming tonight!) Thank you very much! Fan-Con#$%!... Fantastic concert!!" That's suck... Anyways, I did say it really sincerely, from deep in the heart, so hopefully they could still feel it.

For my fellow citizens, hum... I still barely see other people review on their blogs, only one or two short ones so far, which is way less than the "Vienna Boys' Choir" and "Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc" events by another sponsor with, however, nearly no special promotions except for the brief news on TV and news papers. That's what I meant about the "fame stuffs" in my first post. What a huge pity!! Besides, for the price of the tickets that you mentioned in the earlier post, the price for the Libera events this time is about 25% higher than the "Vienna Boys' Choir" and "Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc" events recent year, so imagine how much more promotions need to do for accommodating the price, especially under the economy in Taiwan now. Tokyo is known for one of the most expensive cities to live, however recent years, I find there are more and more products here in Taiwan priced the same or even higher than Tokyo, especially those imported products, while the average income of Japan is about two to three times of here in Taiwan. Big big problem!! I think this makes going to concert quite a luxury ( though it is luxury to be able to go to Libera's concert by no means ), and definitely step back some of those not-so-enthusiasm audiences. Also, I did have a perfect time at Libera's concert but I am not be able to go to more than one concert, because I am only 23 and haven't been economic independent or I'll definitely give them even more support.

Best regards.

[john45]

Taichung 9th April

Well, that was the last of the Taiwan concerts. Another brilliant performance. The venues may not have been filled, but they are large and the audiences were very appreciative and enthusiastic. From Libera's point of view it was undoubtedly a success having brought their music to several thousand fans, many of them new, on their first visit here. CD sales appeared to be going very well. From a fans perspective everything was very well organized. I just hope it was also a commercial success for the sponsors who worked so hard to make it happen. By all accounts, in spite of some inclement weather, the boys themselves had a great time.

Some of my favourite moments (in no particular order) were:

Dylan's descants.

Michael's beaming smile when the audience erupts at the end of "The Moon Represents My Heart ".

The "shining like a rainbow" crescendo

Tom's final note in Grateful Heart - how can he hold it for so long so effortlessly?

Matthew J's huge gear shift from low to high in "The Fountain"

The top D in Voca Me

Ciaran on vocal gymnastics

The Ave Verum "V"

Glory to Thee "Amen" (well, the whole hymn really)

Nano-Ben speaking in Mandarin.

Many more.

At the signing sessions several of the boys would ask "Which was your favourite song". There seemed to be some sort of competition going on.
Whether this was like a horse race and each had tried to pick a winner or they were rooting for their own solo, I don't know. After some deliberation, I picked "Grateful Heart" as the photo-finish winner between it and "The Moon Represents my Heart".
This was greeted with a "Yesssss!!!" from Tom but with a sigh of disappointment from Michael U-R, which leaves me no wiser as they share the honours for "Grateful Heart".

I found the Taiwanese people to be most friendly, courteous and helpful wherever I went. I felt completely safe walking late at night. Traveling within and between the cities on the excellent and spotless subway and high speed rail systems was a breeze. Taxis are cheap and the drivers honest.

Next stop, Seoul.

[Yorkie]

Thanks for the update John, enjoy Korea.

[TullyBascombe]

There's something I dont' understand. Due to copyright conflicts Libera won't be able to publish the video they made of the song, yet they were allowed to sing it in concert. What's the differnce between singing a song in concert and publishing a video of it? Furthermore it's accepted that the song itself was written anonymously. Teresa Teng sang her own particular arrangement. I've listened to her version on Youtube. Comparing hers to Libera's I'd say there are significant differences. If the words can't be claimed by whomever owns the copyright to her works and the arrangement is different, then how can they claim the right to suppress Libera's version?

(If this post belongs elsewhere, please feel free to move it.)

[Max]

I just replied some information I got from the Internet here http://www.libera-dreams.com/forum/view ... 950#p42950

[Choirfan]

Next stop, Seoul.

Watch out for that guy Kim Jong Un over there!

[Bullehynka]

Thank you very much Libera (Singapore) for reporting this link on FB: : Photos (101 photos !!)
They visited the Choir of the Pingtung County Tai Wu Elementary School. It's fun to see the boys of Libera be signing albums.

[Choirfan]

Great to hear all the reports and thanks bully for Linking those FB pics, so nice to see!

Maybe i shouldn't have (please take note all you 'shouldn't of/ would of' people, the word you are looking for is 'HAVE') gone to Mexico and opted for SE Asia instead

[fan_de_LoK]

Back to the hotel after the last concert of the tour, at the Sejong Arts Center.

I had the great luck to ear and see 7 times "The Moon Represents My Heart", for my taste the most beautiful song of each concert. It fits so perfectly the beautiful harmonies Libera is able to produce, the arrangement made by Robert Prizeman creates different steps going crescendo, and ending by the so sweet solo of Michael U-R.
Based on what I read here on Libera dreams, there's possibly a dispute about the rights on the songs, that could prevent Libera to use it on a CD. This would be a real shame and I hope they can record it officially like they did with Bayan Ko.

They sung the "The Moon" in Korea despite being in mandarin. Maybe because the song is known also here in Korea, but it let hope that they will sing it in Guildford too, it's just in one month.



Another highlight of tonight concert was for sure the "Danny Boy" sung by Isaac.
You have to imagine the deepest and largest possible stage. The boys are set in an big wide arc, we are during the encore, just after "The Moon". The light is just doing down for the boys to move for the "Libera" encore, but not tonight.
Tonight we saw a small silhouette quitting the arc and walk forward right to the central microphones, passed it, and walked till the edge of the stage. There was a white light locate right above him illuminated Isaac.

All the others remained in the arc, in the dark, several meters behind.

Total silence in the hall. 2500 persons were staring right to this 10 years old boy standing on the edge of the stage, hands clasped behind his back.
And then Isaac started to sing, by himself. No Robert to guide, no other singers around him, no noting. Just a little boy in the light in front of a crowd of 2500 persons.
Isaac sung "Danny Boy" a capella, all along the song, no music, no instruments, no chorus from the others.

Everyone in the public was stunned, so surprising, so cute, so moving....
Quickly my neighbour started to cry and I too got my eyes wet.
At the end of the song the public burst into very long yells, clapping, enthusiastic shouts !

What an incredible surprise and dense moment we had tonight, what a luck to have been there to live this

[madine_lover]

Tonight we saw a small silhouette quitting the arc and walk forward right to the central microphones, passed it, and walked till the edge of the stage. There was a white light locate right above him illuminated Isaac.

All the others remained in the arc, in the dark, several meters behind.

Total silence in the hall. 2500 persons were staring right to this 10 years old boy standing on the edge of the stage, hands clasped behind his back.
And then Isaac started to sing, by himself. No Robert to guide, no other singers around him, no noting. Just a little boy in the light in front of a crowd of 2500 persons.
Isaac sung "Danny Boy" a capella, all along the song, no music, no instruments, no chorus from the others.

Everyone in the public was stunned, so surprising, so cute, so moving....
Quickly my neighbour started to cry and I too got my eyes wet.
At the end of the song the public burst into very long yells, clapping, enthusiastic shouts !

Just by reading your brief review and imagining it, somehow I could feel the atmosphere and the emotion at the time, and well...got teary-eyed as well. :*) You described it so well, Patrick. Ahh I so wish I was there.

[Yorkie]

Wow, thanks for the update FDL. Danny Boy by Isaac. I wonder at the story behind that - something personal to Isaac? It sounds wonderful.


By the way, I'm sure I saw a post from John earlier, where did it go?