Libera Dreams

Hello all,

Sorry I've been absent but there was no wifi in the room of my Jersey hotel, I couldn't be bothered to type anything on my phone and I didn't want to drag my netbook to the hotel lobby to type anything up in the small wee hours of the morning.

Now made the switch to Guernsey but I have wifi in my room (I'm writing this whilst enjoying a cup of tea looking out over the hotel pool and gardens) so I'll try to post something about the Guernsey concerts later this week. I will try and blag some photo's as well which I'll post on the forum rather than Twitter so that our forum gets some exclusives first - well, we need some recognition for all the hard work of the admins!

I'm, going to hit the streets of St peter Port as I suspect Patrick is already staking out the concert venue!

See you later

I arrived today, Saturday, in Guernsey. No sign of anything about Libera. I handed out flyers to the passengers of the plane in the departure lounge before leaving Rotterdam, most accepted, some not. Arriving at the hotel I left some at the reception and the rest I put on a counter in the Tourist informmation in town, as they had nothing yet about Libera. I do not know where Libera is at present, have not seen anybody yet. Any of the fans here yet??
Johan

Horticult2000 wrote:I arrived today, Saturday, in Guernsey. No sign of anything about Libera. I handed out flyers to the passengers of the plane in the departure lounge before leaving Rotterdam, most accepted, some not. Arriving at the hotel I left some at the reception and the rest I put on a counter in the Tourist informmation in town, as they had nothing yet about Libera. I do not know where Libera is at present, have not seen anybody yet. Any of the fans here yet??
Johan

I do not think Libera will have left Jersey yet . From what i have heard there is a lot less to do on Guernsey than Jersey . So it makes sense to stay on Jeresy until Monday .

Horticult2000 wrote:I arrived today, Saturday, in Guernsey. No sign of anything about Libera

You should have taken a bus

Viktar wrote:

Horticult2000 wrote:I arrived today, Saturday, in Guernsey. No sign of anything about Libera

You should have taken a bus

The roads are much too narrow here for busses. I am glad I did not come by car even.

Johan

dani wrote:I am home from Jersey

Great comments, Dani!

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip (and the company )


Since I'm not carrying an internet enabled device with me, this is the first chance
I've had to add my two pence. I'm not up for a full recounting of Jersey so I'll just expand with some random comments of
things that I noticed during the week that I don't think have been mentioned.

Jubilate/Libera: Matthew RA continues on as Jakob's replacement in the high opening. Thomas DL has taken over
Ralph's job of the soaring Libera Aeterna.

Isaac London: Continues to grow in confidence and quality of delivery. It's amazing the ground he has covered in the
last year! Song of Life is not an easy solo to deliver and he covered it well. At 9ish years old, we will be discussing this
guy for years to come.

Matthew Jansen: His role continues to grow and grow. I paid particular attention to his performance of The Fountain
on Thursday (to help sort out the discussion Dani referred to) and he was spectacular in every way. If it's been awhile since you've seen the boys perform, you will be very pleasantly surprised when you see your next MJ performance. Wow!

Thomas Delgado-Little: Like Isaac, one of the newbies of last summer's tour. From this point forward, all fans will know
him by name. He covered solos and key parts in quite a lot of songs and did so very well.

Faithful Heart: Now I can say I've been fortunate enough to see Josh perform all of his signature songs live. While I was pleased to have seen The Secret performed live back in the day, it pales by comparison to the effect that Faithful Heart had on me. Some of that is because Josh was able to climb up the ladder in the first verse and deliver a sound similar to the recorded version, the rest being the happiness of being able to watch him continue his run as a Libera soloist one last time. I know we've been saying that second bit since Time was performed in the summer of 2010, but this has got to be the end of the line for him as a soloist. I hope he can find a way to expand his role as a musician going forward.

Eoghan: Still demonstrating superior poise and vocal control. He may be the best technical singer performing with Libera at the moment.

Dylan Duffy: Hanging around the edges as a primary harmonist on so many songs. Hoping he gets a chance at center stage some time soon.

Jude Collins: Happy to see him perform so solidly in what I believe was his first shot at a solo. Having watched a number of first solos I know that this is no easy task. Jude was great!

Attendance: Very disappointing. These shows had a lot to offer and deserved a greater audience. Anyone who could have come and decided it wasn't worth the effort made a bad call (which could still be rectified if you're close enough). Fortunately Libera did not let the size of the crowd affect their performance.

Personnel Turnover: It's always tough to replace the skill and experience brought to the group by leaders such as Carlos, Ralph and Stefan; but their absence created opportunities. While a part of me misses anyone who I've become accustomed to seeing on tour, I am equally happy for the choristers who now get their shot at increasing their responsibilities. With that said, I was personally happy to see Jakob return. I hope he will be touring with Libera again in the future.

Odds/Ends: I think these were these were the first concerts I've been to that Andy Winter wasn't there (hope he's enjoying his vacation) and that Robert Prizeman didn't play an instrument. I noticed Libera walking through the streets of St Helier (to their first show anyway); usually they are delivered by a bus of some sort. Walking is a popular form of transport in St Helier; as an American, I'm just not used to walking that much - a fact that my newly blistered feet will attest to..
A few hours in Guernsey makes me think it will be the same here. Despite queueing not being necessary here, I have still been able to visit with some of the Libera faithful such as Dani, Fan de LoK, Yorkie, John45, Timjanni, Viktar, Bernard, Derek, Momo, Yuki and Mum . Hanging out with other fans is always one of the highlights of any tour trip. I'm looking forward to meeting a few new people in Guernsey. Johan, Mr. James, make sure you introduce yourself!

Looking at the online booking form for the Guernsey concerts there seems to have been a big take up of tickets in the last few days, which is good news. Still quite a few seats to sell but with two days to go it looks like well over 50% of tickets sold - I think the bus adverts are doing their job

Tom, not being able to attend I love to read reviews and am always grateful for them. But you took it a different way and I've learned so much from the reading of it. I aghree it's sad when a boy we grown used to leaves but reading your review I think the future is in safe hands. Josh, he's had a wonderful run hasnt he and liek you >I wish him every sucess in the future.
Asa for Americans they dont walk do they? Still blisters or not I'll bet you are enjoying every minute

A change of plan saw me travelling over to Guernsey this morning on the Condor Vitesse ferry. Imagine my surprise when I noticed a group of extremely familiar boys and their Musical Director, along with Big Ben etc, and one or two other parents, getting on board the very same ship this morning! I musn't have been the only Libera enthusiast on board either because they got a mention on the speakers from the captain during the crossing too! The boys were picked up by an Island Coachways coach to be taken to their accommodation for the next few days.

Now I've been on hundreds of ferry crossings in my lifetime, but this has to rate as being the most interesting one of all time!

HJ

Harry James, that was fun to read Great that you were able to experience that.
Tom, thanks for your comments about the new boys stepping up.
I look forward to everyone's reports from this week!

HarryJamesSnr wrote:I musn't have been the only Libera enthusiast on board either because they got a mention on the speakers from the captain during the crossing too!

Great stuff - You know you've made it when you get your own special guest announcement over the tannoy. I wonder if they were tempted to recover their 90' Angels Voices track 'Sailing' whilst navigating the English Channel between the two islands

Thanks to those who have provided concert reports and pictures on this tour, there could have been a danger of it not being covered but thankfully the reliable sources have contributed once again. Good to hear the replacement soloists have done an admirable job in the absence of Ralph & Stefan.

The tickets are selling much better for Guernsey - I haven't counted but it's looking like a 65-70% take-up which is much better. The posters have no doubt helped, but also I think the cheaper tickets. £18 after the first two rows, compared to £30 for Jersey.

Glad to report that nearly all of the flyers placed in the Guernsey Tourist Office on the sea-front in St Peter Port (by Johan) have gone, they are going to photocopy some more. Also there is a big advert display in the foyer of St James's Hall now too. So by spreading the word more things might lead to a full house hopefully. I would not be surprised to see the boys handing out flyers again in the town tomorrow. Apparently they will be departing for London on Thursday.

HJ

hey, what's all this about Americans not walking?? why, this very morning I walked upstairs to access my computer!!!

have a great time at the upcoming concerts everyone, and thanks to all who wrote reviews!!! i am hanging on every word!!!

Sounds like the concerts have been great so far! Really upset that I missed out on this tour! I would have loved to hear Josh and Matthew on Faithful Heart! Looking forward to hear how the last two concerts go! Hope everyone attending has a wonderful time!

Well, still a few hours until the concert. The boys were in town this afternoon to ditribute some flyers. The hall is being prepped. It seems all is going to plan. I did not get a flyer, as the lady with the boys, I suppose Mrs. Lewis, told them I had already tickets, she even knew my name, although we were never intr oduced. Go figuer that.
Johan