The concert itself.
A presenter came on stage, having an unlikely outfit, tiger-print pants and what looked like to me to a C.S. officer-style jacket.
He filled the time jokingly with the audience, then he announced Libera.
To be noted: there was no message prohibiting taking photos or the like, and many people recorded or photographed with their mobile.
This allows me to illustrate here my summary with pictures
The boys entered from the back of the stage, including Steven, to the applause and encouragement whistles from the already numerous audience.
No chair, everyone sits on the ground, or like me on the raised bases at the foot of the posts.
1)
Orinoco Flow.
Good surprise, the problems of sound and of balance between the voices which were notable during the rehearsal have been resolved for the real performance.
During the rehearsal the 6 'bigs' were placed center stage at the back, but this obviously created too much of an obstacle between Steven and the musicians, and for the concert they were placed grouped on the right side. Steven himself was standing on a box to be better visible to the musicians.
Note that on some songs Jack does not stay in the group of bigs and joins the others in the center of the stage. I hadn't noticed this in Brighton or Chichester.
Funny little detail: I had already noticed it in Chichester because I was sitting in front of him, Joseph really lives the musics, he marks the rhythms with small movements of the shoulders. He would be ready to dance if given the opportunity
Lots of applause and shouts and whistles of congratulations at the end.
During the applause, Victor advanced on the front of the stage where he made an introductory speech and introduced the next song, Sanctus.
2)
Sanctus
Beginning a Cappella, still in the small groups ending position of Orinoco Flow, then to the first 'Benedictus', moving to form the large arc typical for this song. The high notes were sung by Luca.
First names, from left to right:
Ethan B
Ludwik
Cory
Ethan H
Thomas H-S
Frederick M (masked by Steven)
Pietro
Jack
John
Victor
Cameron
Luke
Lewis
Nathan
Oscar
Mitchell
Orlando
Joseph
Thomas M.
Leon
Samuel
Morgan
Laurence D
And on the bottom right row:
Mathias
Alexandre
Laurence T
Dominik
Koji
Compared to the two concerts in Brighton and Chichester, 5 are absent:
- Daniel
- Frederick H.
- Hal
- Luke
- Julian
3)
Lightouse
Solo by Luca, who enchanted the audience throughout the song.
He is placed in the center in front of the others.
The others are first grouped in 4 columns in order of size, and move repeatedly, in lines, scattered or in a fan with Luca in the center
Final at 4 with Victor, Nathan, and Morgan who join Luca on the front of the stage.
There was no announcement that the song was composed by Josh, who is present on stage at the piano.
4)
Beati
The transition is done during the applause. Victor and Morgan went in front of the stage for a short solo introduction.
Lots of movement on stage during this song. In small groups, in lines, facing each other or opposite, as for Orinoco flow, etc.
Personal comments: this third opportunity for me to see the song live confirmed my first impressions: I don't like this song
I find it confusing both musically and vocally, and the many movements on stage don't help.
I hope the recording that will be on the next album will do for me better than what I had on stage during the last concerts or on the rehearsal video shared by Libera a few days ago.
We can note on the photo the purple lights.
It's not easy to shed beautiful light on a concert performed in the open air at 1:30 p.m. on a sunny day.
There was, however, a smoke machine which diffused throughout the concert, in order to make the light beams more visible.
5)
Libera
During the applause Frederick M and Dominik came to the front of the stage for a speech.
Frederick M introduced himself as '
Freddie' and Dominik introduced him as '
Dom'.
Freddie indicated that the last two songs were recent. Dom presented himself as an elder by being 15, and introduced the youngest on stage, Cory, being 8.
Dom introduced the song 'Libera' stating that it was made up of 7 voices, and he demonstrated to the audience by leading the different groups of voices.
For the song, Mitchel came to replace Dom on the front of the stage, and did solo with Freddie for the lyrics sung in English.
On the finale they all formed on the large arc typical of this song
The final high notes were sung by Luca.
6)
Voca Me
All the high notes were sung by Luca, who placed himself on the right side of the stage.
Very pleasant song, but the open air and windy environment did not make the song as deep as when it is sung against the stones of a large cathedral. The performance in Chichester with its exceptional lighting was much more meaningful.
During the applause Laurence D came to the front of the stage to announce the next song, Smile.
He started by mentioning Luca for the Voca Me high notes, and he was interrupted by the audience who clapped and congratulated Luca
Perhaps confused by this interruption, Laurence made a mistake, he announced that Smile was going to be started by Victor and... Daniel (instead of Mitchel). This made several boys smile, including Mitchel himself
7)
Smile
As in Brighton and Chichester, the song begins with Victor, who sings the opening lines solo, then the solo is continued by Mitchel while Victor does bass harmonies. Final a cappella by Mitchel and Victor.
Mitchel sings really well, I can't wait to hear him on other titles.
8 )
Sing For Our Word
There was a 'blank' before moving on to this song. Steven making signs to the musicians at the back of the stage and I saw some of them turn several pages of their scores. I think one or two songs were skipped due to the late start. It was already 1:45 p.m. by then, when they should normally have finished. It was going to be the last song.
It is logical that Sing For Our World was chosen to finish, it is a joyful and bouncy song, perfect to end the performance and mark the many festival-goers present.
The song was started on the same positions as Smile, then the boys rearranged themselves on stage during the intro, and arranged themselves in a large arc for the finale.
The song was obviously much appreciated by the public because several people took out again their mobile to record it.
The lighting was also very dynamic on this song.
Then there were bowings on a gesture from Steven. Steven then pointed his index finger towards the back of the stage, ie the exit.
The boys were surprised for a few seconds, not knowing exactly what to do and looking at each other, and then after a few seconds of hesitation they headed for the exit. Obviously the start had not been planned for that time but Steven had to adapt because it was already 1:50 p.m., they should have finished 5 minutes ago already.
Lots of applause throughout their departure, whistles and shouts of congratulations.
Even the musicians at the back of the stage applauded them as they left.
In summary, a very unusual performance achieved in a bit difficult conditions and they came out very well.
Too bad there weren't more songs performed, but it's already a great chance to have been able to be there and to attend this more than rare performance.
It may be some time before Libera can take part in another of these summer festivals, because usually on these dates they are on tour abroad. If another opportunity should nevertheless arise again, I will be delighted to be able to go there, it was a very good experience
