UK Cathedral Concerts in 2024

[Yorkie]

And they took a photo of the wrong side of the Chester audience! How am I supposed to check if I'm thinning on top yet?!

Judging by the heads we can see in the other photos if you aren't yet you soon will be

[Padmachou]

I have just updated the french database and can tell you now : Salva Me was performed for the 150th time in Lincoln, short behind Libera (163). Quite an accomplishment for Ben. Did he do it from the pulpitum as well ?

[Surpinto]

I have just updated the french database and can tell you now : Salva Me was performed for the 150th time in Lincoln, short behind Libera (163). Quite an accomplishment for Ben. Did he do it from the pulpitum as well ?

Yes he did. 150 times? Wow!

[bruinrules]

New member here posting for first time. Sorry to post so late but I just got home.
I became a fan after hearing first, Ave Verum and then the other songs that was well done by such young kids. That was just about a year ago so l missed the concert at Bel Aire Pres. I really hoped to see them in LA this year but oh well.
I decided to go to England for the Lincoln concert instead.
I had to set my alarm to get tickets as soon as it went on sale. Holy cow!! I managed to get front row center-rock star seating!! Lincoln turned out to be a beautiful, historical town and the cathedral is just stunning. View from hotel room.

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IMG_3174.jpeg (3.63 MiB) Viewed 1833 times

I stopped by the cathedral at 2:30 on the day of the concert and they were rehearsing. There were seats in the back behind a roped off section so you don’t have to pay admission to see the entire cathedral but just sit in. It was really fun to see the work they put into practicing their choreography and how good they already.
My review will not go into details about each song because I didn’t take notes (didn’t want to distract them by appearing to be grading papers in the front row) and because I can’t remember (went on a bus tour of Ireland right after). Others’ reviews have been more detailed and knowledgeable than what I can say. But I can review the little details that I can see from the front row.
It was fun to see how poised and confident they appeared, even the youngest mini boys weren’t fidgeting.
Liam was conducting and l had to smile whenever he gave them the smile signal. Smiling while performing is the hardest thing to do with so many moving parts going on (my hula troupe leader keeps admonishing us that smiling is requisite).
He did it a lot. Some did smile or smirked or were side eyeing. Speaking of smiling, after the concert, l told Josh Madine how much l enjoyed his smiling throughout his career even as an adult.
I didn’t know there was so much choreography in their concert. It was very effective in giving the songs pop. Whenever they pivoted or step forward, there’s a subtle change in volume to emphasize what was being sung. They were projecting to the back row so l felt like I was blown away in the front row (not literally like my hair was flying backwards) but mind blown! The acoustics in a large cathedral was amazing which can’t be captured on a CD.
The best part was when the boys spoke. That takes a lot of poise and nerve to speak alone in front of a crowd. I forgot who said it but the funniest line was saying how the mini boys would one day be the bigs but you don’t want to be wishing your life away. The thing about the sets of brothers was fun. Only the first set(forgot if it was Joseph or Nathan) threw his arm around his bro. The others , older walks over to the younger, stood by with the kind of reserved coolness teens have with their parents if spotted at the mall by their friends. Speaking of moms, I noticed there were “moms” standing off to the side near the mini boys to provide support if they need to leave the stage. That’s a nice touch to reassure such young kids. I miss that they didn’t do the seven part harmony demo. I would have loved to hear that demonstrated. I miss that Victor, Dom, and Luca weren’t there as they probably aged out already. Time flies but let’s not wish our lives away.
After the rehearsal, I stepped outside to walk back to the hotel for a nap and saw them setting up for a group picture. Liam was trying to get them to smile by telling them to repeat funny sayings after him, like “I’m so glad rehearsal got out early!”
Then he laid on the ground to get a shot upwards to capture the spires above their heads. Here’s my pics

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IMG_3184.jpeg (2.07 MiB) Viewed 1833 times

It was a wonderful experience to see Libera in concert. My friend who came with me with no knowledge of them , thoroughly enjoyed it. The sounds and setting just adds to the experience of hearing their music.

[Citlec]

I decided to go to England for the Lincoln concert instead.

The best part was when the boys spoke. That takes a lot of poise and nerve to speak alone in front of a crowd. I forgot who said it but the funniest line was saying how the mini boys would one day be the bigs but you don’t want to be wishing your life away. The thing about the sets of brothers was fun. Only the first set(forgot if it was Joseph or Nathan) threw his arm around his bro. The others , older walks over to the younger, stood by with the kind of reserved coolness teens have with their parents if spotted at the mall by their friends. Speaking of moms, I noticed there were “moms” standing off to the side near the mini boys to provide support if they need to leave the stage. That’s a nice touch to reassure such young kids. I miss that they didn’t do the seven part harmony demo. I would have loved to hear that demonstrated. I miss that Victor, Dom, and Luca weren’t there as they probably aged out already. Time flies but let’s not wish our lives away.

It was a wonderful experience to see Libera in concert. My friend who came with me with no knowledge of them , thoroughly enjoyed it. The sounds and setting just adds to the experience of hearing their music.

Thanks for the review, you certainly picked a good first concert to go to!

The speeches are always great, you get a bit of the personality of the individual speakers, and the humour just adds to the whole experience. I believe the "wish our lives away" line was delivered by Hal.

The Libera concert experience is something special. Once you attend one, you're hooked...

[Surpinto]

New member here posting for first time.

Welcome to Libera Dreams! It's so good to have you here and sharing your first concert experience.

I became a fan after hearing first, Ave Verum and then the other songs that was well done by such young kids. That was just about a year ago so l missed the concert at Bel Aire Pres. I really hoped to see them in LA this year but oh well.
I decided to go to England for the Lincoln concert instead.
I had to set my alarm to get tickets as soon as it went on sale. Holy cow!! I managed to get front row center-rock star seating!!

Amazing and wonderful that you had such great seats at your first performance. Lucky duck!

Lincoln turned out to be a beautiful, historical town and the cathedral is just stunning. View from hotel room.

We must have stayed at the same hotel because I had a similar view. A bunch of us fans actually ended up stayed there, many without even coordinating with one another.

I didn’t know there was so much choreography in their concert. It was very effective in giving the songs pop. Whenever they pivoted or step forward, there’s a subtle change in volume to emphasize what was being sung.

Yes! This not only creates a really cool visual but forces the boys to emphasize things in a certain way during the performance too.

They were projecting to the back row so l felt like I was blown away in the front row (not literally like my hair was flying backwards) but mind blown! The acoustics in a large cathedral was amazing which can’t be captured on a CD.

Yup! It's a different vibe in person versus on a recording. Many other choirs (though Libera doesn't do this) record their albums in cathedrals exactly for the acoustical effects. Libera conversely, wants control over the sound recording, and uses mixing and reverb to create a similar effect; but with more detail being captured due individual microphones, etc.

The best part was when the boys spoke. That takes a lot of poise and nerve to speak alone in front of a crowd. I forgot who said it but the funniest line was saying how the mini boys would one day be the bigs but you don’t want to be wishing your life away.

That was great!

The thing about the sets of brothers was fun. Only the first set(forgot if it was Joseph or Nathan) threw his arm around his bro. The others , older walks over to the younger, stood by with the kind of reserved coolness teens have with their parents if spotted at the mall by their friends.

Teenagers are the same the world over! Love the mall analogy, so true.

Speaking of moms, I noticed there were “moms” standing off to the side near the mini boys to provide support if they need to leave the stage. That’s a nice touch to reassure such young kids.

Yeah, those are Libera staff who are all either current or former parents of Libera boys. It really is a huge chore to take care of so many young children and anything can happen on stage from nerves to needing the facilities. Music concerts are hard enough, but music concerts with kids are degrees of magnitude more complicated. Full accolades to the staff!

I miss that they didn’t do the seven part harmony demo. I would have loved to hear that demonstrated. I miss that Victor, Dom, and Luca weren’t there as they probably aged out already. Time flies but let’s not wish our lives away.

Nice photos and thanks again for sharing your experiences here, I loved reading them. Please continue participating here with us!

[Mercurial909]

Fantastic review Bruinrules, thank you so much. Brilliant pictures too.


Did you have a favourite song or favourite performance?

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Emmanuel and Caspar seem to be absent from these pics (and from the Chester pics).

[bruinrules]

Surpinto, yes, looks like we were in the same hotel and got the same view of the cathedral. What a beautiful cathedral it is!
Also toured the Lincoln castle that morning and was amazed that a little town has one of the original copy of the Magna Carta!!! Afternoon tea at Bunty’s on Steep Hill was fun.
Thanks for the warm welcome here. It’s better than the warm “welcome back home LA” gift of a 4.4 earthquake! Most earthquakes under 5 are gentle, rolling window-shakers but this one was sharp up and down then rolling. It’s probably due to the epicenter being 7 miles away which is as close as I’d ever want it to be!
Anyhoo, here’s a fuzzy, too distant photo of the Lincoln rehearsal

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IMG_3180.jpeg (1.4 MiB) Viewed 1615 times

It was nice to see Tadhg F. still very involved with being the stage manager. He looked very busy running here and there.

Mercurial - my favorite songs so far would be Ave Verum, Sacris Solemnis, and Cum Dederit with their incredible harmonies and mature artistic techniques. Such training at a young age is not so prevalent in American culture. The arts are heavily de-funded in schools and not as valued.

[Mercurial909]

Some more images from the Lincoln concert…

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IMG_0355.jpeg (1.65 MiB) Viewed 1538 times

[Luckdragon]

So the Libera harmony demo wasn't brought back for the last two concerts?

[Surpinto]

So the Libera harmony demo wasn't brought back for the last two concerts?

Correct.

[bruinrules]

For those attending a Libera concert for the first time, l really was disappointed that they didn’t do the seven part harmony demo that l heard about. I would have loved to hear how they achieve that rich , full sound.
Question for this esteemed board, would you have been bored to hear it again?

Or what else could they talk about?

What they like about their destination site even if it’s still in England?
To hear from the bigs instead of just cooling their heels in the back row- about whether they like to stay in the music world or plans for majors in uni.
To hear what their favorite songs are?

[filiarheni]

For those attending a Libera concert for the first time, l really was disappointed that they didn’t do the seven part harmony demo that l heard about. I would have loved to hear how they achieve that rich , full sound.
Question for this esteemed board, would you have been bored to hear it again?

Not at all. Unlike other topics that get old with time passing and must be replaced, I'd wouldn't mind to see that every time.. While it wasn't a deep musical demonstration, just a short one of 7 voice group entries, but definitely fun, because one of the boys themselves was conducting. But well, some part of the audience changes more rarely than the line-up of the choir , so they probably think they should serve us different kind of food.

Or what else could they talk about?

I'm simply happy that after a long time of repetitive speeches they're now getting creative. I love the surprises in the speeches, so ... I don't wish for anything specific, just lean back and enjoy what they like to share.

[Padmachou]

I would like to hear the 7 parts of Libera again but I am sure it will be back soon.

I would love for them to talk about how many time they rehearse in a week, if they are always working all together or in smaller groups. Would love to know about their musical education as well, is Libera teaching them music ? Can the boys read music and around which age ?

[Yorkie]

So the Libera harmony demo wasn't brought back for the last two concerts?

Three concerts with Ely - time moves on, new speeches are made. I must say that whilst I loved Dan's conducting, the new speech with Lewis and Edward, whilst completely different, is very funny and I enjoy it.