I realize this review of the Chicago concert is coming very late but I guess better late than never. I posted this to AV earlier this week. I hope you enjoy it.
The setting was Rockefeller Chapel, a beautiful chapel built in the 1920's on the campus of the University of Chicago. Although it was on the north side of the downtown area, it was very park like in appearance and some quaint university style shops and restaurants were a couple of blocks away.
Unfortunately, like most churches in the Northern US that I know of, it was not air conditioned and it was exceedingly hot and humid that day. The dedicated crew members that set up for the show were drenched in sweat very quickly after starting their work. Many younger crew members went without shoes to try to cool themselves on the chapel's stone floor. During the show, the boys could be seen pulling on their robes to keep them from sticking to them and wiping their brows from sweat. Fortunately for them, I believe their dressing room below the chapel was air conditioned. As far as their performance, the heat did not deter them from putting on a fantastic show!
In general, I saw them twice in the 2011 Canada tour (London and Hamilton) and I would say this was a better vocal performance than both the Canada shows I saw, primarily due to many of the soloists clearly being more comfortable with their songs. Also, I didn't see evidence of any of the kids appearing under the weather like I did in Canada. Where Canada froze them with cold rain, we in the US burned them to a crisp with hot, sunny weather. They were probably glad to get back to the UK after these tours.
The show was pretty close in content to the Canada shows with some great surprises thrown in. Two soloists that did not make the trip include Stefan and James M. which gave the opportunity for some other capable singers to display themselves. We got to hear four new voices that I haven't heard soloing live before - Cassius, Sam, Eoghan, and Josh's new voice. All were great additions to the show!
The show started the same as the Canada shows did - with Jubilate transitioning into Libera. I loved this in Canada and it still hasn't lost its impact with me. Ralph, Jakob, Alex, Eoghan, and Carlos were the primary singers for Jubilate and Eoghan and Luke really sounded great leading the group's theme song, Libera.
Barney and Cassius provided some humor with their speaking parts. Both these boys come across as being very comfortable on stage and are very effective at being playful in their parts. Later in the show Kavana and Jude also deliver punch lines at different times and seem to have fun with their speaking parts. By now they have done it many times and they seem to look
forward to doing it.
Next we get two consecutive songs by Ralph: Songs of Life and Sanctissima. Ralph continues to sound better and better every time I hear him. I could listen to him all day. He has such a beautiful voice!
Sanctus was next with the final solo being ably handled by Luke. Here's another boy who has obviously worked hard at his voice. Luke has a bigger part in this show than others I've seen and he deserves it.
You are going to get tired of hearing this statement from me but the next song we really get to hear some improved confidence in a song, this time with Freddie doing Always With You. I wrote in my review of the London show how he has made this song his own. He really has and his confidence seems to grow each time I see him do it which translates into a better performance. This continues to be a show highlight for me. While I am making a case for Freddie's improvement, I also need to say this show is the best I have ever heard Jakob sing. Jakob did the high parts on this song and really nailed them. Great job guys!
There is a great freeze frame moment in Always with You that I hope Libera shares with us sometime on their pictures. It is when Freddie is singing out front with all the boys on either side leaning towards him with their eyes closed. It is a great shot that I really wished I had a picture of (but of course pictures are not allowed to be taken).
I kind of wished I didn't know ahead of time that Josh was going to do Eternal Light because seeing him come forward to sing this song would have really had a surprise impact, but Josh with his new voice did not disappoint. What a beautiful lower voice he now has as he sang this song with Ralph and Daniel!
Salva Me has a special place in my heart as it is the song that introduced me to Libera back in 2001. Matthew RA really did a wonderful job as the high note specialist on this song.
Lamentione was amazing. This is a very haunting song that really grows on you. If I remember right it is done with very little accompaniment so we get to hear the beautiful harmonies (with lots of reverb added) that makes this group so special. I think Jakob and Ralph had solo parts but most was harmonies from nine of the boys.
The first half ended with Exultate and it brought a nice ovation from the appreciative audience.
Just like that it was time for the interval which seemed to come too soon. The usual appeal was delivered with the following numbers given. This tour costs $17,000/day, including $15,000 for visas and $50,000 for air fare.
When he finished, most poured outside to take in some of the cooler air. The chapel was still sweltering hot but outside it had cooled off. Unfortunately, the wind which this city is so famous for was virtually nonexistent so the cooler air wasn't making it inside even with the doors open at both sides.
It was now dark outside so the lighting could have its full effect. On AV we were wondering which song from the first album they would resurrect for this tour. They started the second half with that song - Te Lucis.
Seven of the older boys were in the back of the stage with dark green floor lights pointed up at them. They sang Te Lucis beautifully with Sam taking much of the solo parts. It was hard to tell who was singing because the lighting made them appear ghostly. It was a really great idea to have the older boys sing a song just by themselves. They sang it like the veterans they are. I just wish the lighting was such that you could see their faces better.
Te Lucis went right into Mysterium then right into Gloria. Mysterium featured Ralph and Luke as soloists. Gloria was not done with a booming organ this time. The organ was there (played very well by Sean Groombridge) but it wasn't overpowering like I have heard in the past. This allowed the boys to take the lead and they were clearly up to the task!
Next are two more from Ralph - The Fountain and When a Knight Won His Spurs. The Fountain never gets old. It didn't impress me much when I first heard it on the album but now that I have seen Ralph very capably perform this song several times, it has become one of my favorites. Kavana also does a great job on this song as one of the soloists.
When a Knight featured a new approach to this song which I really liked. I can't describe what is different but they did alter the song. I hope they record this new version. It was a really good song already but they made it better and Ralph did his usual amazing job of delivering it.
Stay with Me was next. What more can I say about this song? It is one of my favorites and Daniel is fantastic, delivering it with his sly grin that I have come to enjoy seeing. I wish more boys would sing with a smile as he does. Matthew RA was flawless as the high note artist.
Sam came out to deliver the speech about the older boys and the lower notes. When he said something like, "I have been in this group since I was seven," the audience erupted into a loud applause that clearly surprised Sam. He paused his speech with a wide grin at the reaction before delivering the rest with renewed enthusiasm. It was good to see Sam smiling more back there after that.
Ave Verum was well done by Jakob and Carlos, who both improve each time I see them do this song. The V formation with a much bigger Josh out front is a freeze frame I hope Libera releases on their website at some point. They did this with Jonathan out front for the Canada shows and it was a great shot that I'm happy they shared with us.
Love and Mercy featured the first appearance of another new soloist - Cassius. The boy who has become young Mr. Confidence when it comes to the speaking parts was just as comfortable in James' spot singing this song with Freddie. Cassius has a beautiful voice and really did a great job of it as did Freddie.
Glory to Thee (aka Talis' Cannon) was next which was a reprise from the morning when Eoghan started the song. Eoghan has an amazing voice and he is definitely one to watch for the future. The harmonies were fantastic, even better than the morning at the Moody church. Libera has sweated their way nearly through the concert and there was no sign at that point of them tiring out. They still sounded fantastic.
Then for the big finish, Jakob and Eoghan did How Shall I Sing That Majesty. They did a good job at Moody Church in the morning but they were both much better at the concert. Eoghan has such a beautiful voice and we all know how good Jakob is. Jakob was at top form on this song - probably the best I have heard him. Fantastic job!
The encore was a brief version of Exultate, after which they got another long standing ovation. The concert seemed to be over way too soon. Talking to some folks in the audience after the concert, all seemed to be impressed with the performance whether they were a long time fan or someone who happened by from the University wanting to see the show. I feel so fortunate that I was able to see them. Once again, a long trip to see Libera was well rewarded with an incredible show by the group we all love.
It needs to be mentioned that every person on that stage did an outstanding job that night - whether they soloed or not. Harmonies are one of the key things that make Libera special and one singer can't do that by himself. Everyone is a part of that harmony and even if they don't get a special mention on this or other sites, even if no one dedicates posts to them, they
are very important and valuable to the sound that we all love.
If members of Libera ever were to read this, I have a message for all of those who were part of that show -- from Robert to Ralph, from Big Ben to Mini Ben to Nano Ben, from Tiernan to Thomas - I am proud of you!
Craig
). 
