Minneapolis Concert

Libera concert #1 is over! =( It all went by so fast! We were joking that the end of the concert only felt like the intermission! But it was a really GREAT concert! With some good surprises. =)

First off, I have to say this concert was even better than any I went to in the US last summer or in Canada! How is that possible?! You're about to find out. Next, the venue was amazing! The acoustics were great, and the sound just went on forever! There were 6 touring newbies, Thomas Delgado-Little, Ben Fairman, Isaac London, Matthew Madine, Michael Ustynovych-Repa, and Orlando Woscholski. Great to see the little guys! There was no Jonathan, Stefan, or Mini James. Also missing, although pictured in the program, were Liam and Sammy. We’re not sure why they're not here (except for Stefan working on an opera), but we miss all of them! A lot!

There are 26 boys on this tour - Henry Barrington, Tiarnan Branson, Jude Collins, Luke Collins, Kavana Crossley, Jakob De Menezes-Wood, Thomas Delgado-Little, Dylan Duffy, Ben Fairman, Daniel Fontannaz, Freddie Ingles, Matthew Jansen, Alex Leggett, Sam Leggett, Barney Lindsell, Isaac London, Joshua Madine, Matthew Madine, Eoghan McCarthy, Cassius O'Connell-White, Benedict Philipp, Matthew Rangel-Alvares, Michael Ustynovych-Repa, Carlos Rodriguez Villegas (that's a new addition to his name), Ralph Skan and Orlando Woscholski. Welcome to the US! =)

Fan de LoK already took a picture of the program, so I'll just post that here.

Program picture page

Front of church

Back of church

Audience

Audience

The program was similar to, although not exactly like, the one in Canada.

1. JUBILATE - They started with Jubilate with Ralph, Alex, Jakob, Barney and Carlos singing, then joined by the others. What a beautiful song! Then they swelled into...

2. LIBERA - The lights get bright and off they go! Great solos by eoghan and Luke with Josh standing in the center. Ralph did the high parts at the end.

Speech - Barney and Cassius talked about how there are 26 boys here, old and new, who waved their hands. The newbies are sooo little! Barney said that he started singing with Libera when he was 9. And the youngest on this tour is 8! Wonder who that is. =)

3. SONG OF LIFE - Ralph sang a beautiful solo with Daniel and Kavana. Daniel's voice is still so high!

4. SANCTISSIMA - Solo also sung by Ralph. He has such a great voice!

5. SANCTUS - Jakob sang the high parts from the back (that boy’s voice is still as high as a kite!), and Luke sang the "Sanctus" at the end.

Speech - Kavana and Cassius gave the second speech about Moose, Libera’s mascot who we found out has been on every tour since Libera began and now has his own passport and seat on the coach. =) He is a very spoiled moose.

6. ALWAYS WITH YOU - Freddie sang the solo and was great! The strongest I've ever heard him! Jakob sang the high bits, and Josh stood in the center because he's the tallest. Although Alex may have a growth spurt on this tour and catch up to him! He's verrrry close. =)

7. ETERNAL LIGHT - AND THEN CAME THE SHOCK! Ralph and Daniel came out to sing Eternal Light, and I figured they must have given Stefan’s solo to Daniel, but then, much to my surprise, the big boy in the middle began to sing the solo. AND IT WAS JOSH!!!! I think I audibly gasped! =) He sang the solo down an octave which sounded different, but really good! He was totally enjoying every minute of it, you could tell. He had this look on his face like "oh yeah, Josh is back." =) I was enjoying every minute of it too! I can't wait to hear this one again! From that excitement we launched right into...

8. SALVA - Matthew R-A sang the high parts very well from the back.

Speech - Barney had a speech introducing the musicians and introducing Lamentione which they sing in "our own special *airquotes* ‘Libera way.’" And he made the airquotes sign with his fingers! lol!

9. LAMENTIONE - Daniel, Jakob, Carlos, Ralph, Matthew J., Matthew R-A, Dylan, Eoghan, Barney and Freddie sang facing Mr. Prizeman while all the other boys are behind them with their hoods up. This is a stunning song!

10. EXULTATE - This song was changed up a bit. Ben's solo was sung by Freddie, eoghan, Ralph and I think another boy. Wait, what, it's time for Intermission already?!!!!

Intermission - Mr. Philipp said that the boys come from 15 different schools in South London. Wow!

11. TE LUCIS - You've got to see and hear this song! Wow! It started out with low voices singing from behind the altar. This was really cool, because we honestly had no idea who was singing until they came out. It was Ben, Sam, Josh, Alex, and Tiarnan! They harmonized perfectly! This segwayed perfectly into...

12. MYSTERIUM - Ralph and Luke were great together! All the boys took their hoods off at the same time instead of staggering from tallest to littlest. Then they segwayed into...

13. GLORIA - I am still always blown away by the transition from Mysterium to Gloria. I love it! And I love this trio of songs together! It's a WOW!

Speech - Cassius and Freddie gave their same speech about their huge hoods and practicing blindfolded in which Freddie yanks Cassius’ hood down completely over his head. =) Crowd loved this!

14. THE FOUNTAIN - Ralph's solo was amazing! He has such a nice voice.

15. WHEN A KNIGHT WON HIS SPURS - Ralph soloed again. This song has to be, oddly enough, like one of my favorite songs. Ever since Mr. Prizeman rearranged it for the Canada tour.

16. STAY WITH ME - Our smiley Daniel sang the solo, which I LOVED. Daniel is so sweet, and he always looks so happy when he sings this song. =) Matthew R-A did another great job on the high parts.

Speech - Sam, yes SAM gave the voice-changing speech, which was really nice, because we don’t get to hear from Sam a lot. He fist-bumped Jakob in the dark just before he started. =) I'm so happy Sam is here! He has such a kind, serene face, you just sigh, and think "Sam's here. Everything's going to be great." He seems so nice to me.

17. AVE VERUM - Carlos did a great job on his solo with Jakob harmonizing. This song never fails to give me goose bumps at the V formation at the end. And there's Josh in the center, in charge of everything. =)

18. LOVE AND MERCY - Cassius sang Mini-James’ duet with Freddie! They both sounded great! And then Cassius did the last "mercy and love" by himself! Great job! 

19. GLORY TO THEE - This was another very moving song that came with another awesome surprise of the night - Eoghan sang the solo at the beginning, and it was STUNNING! I mean strong, beautiful, soaring, and PERFECT. I was so blown away by it that I almost didn’t notice that Josh got to sing another mini-solo on the last "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Ok, I said ALMOST. =) He's hard to miss. =)

Speech - Jude and Mini-Mini Ben (the little newbie, Ben Fairman) came up to give the last speech. I loved how they played on Jude’s Canada speech, which he started by saying "Hello, I’m Jude, and I’m new," by having him say that, and then having Mini-Mini Ben wave and say, "But I’m newer!" He said he'd only had 2 months to learn all the songs, words and stage movements. Some of the newbies sat out on a few songs, but still, great job newbies!!! So excited to see you on your very first tour! =D

20. HOW SHALL I SING THAT MAJESTY? - Eoghan, Jakob, Ben and Jude sang the solo parts. What a soaring way to end!

Encore - EXULTATE

Standing ovation! Crowd loved it! There were a lot of new people at this concert who heard about Libera on Minnesota Public Radio and liked the songs they played! It was an amazing concert! I can't wait for Friday! No Meet & Greet. Maybe Friday.

I took some pictures. Sorry they are blurry. I'll try to get screen shots from the video later. 

Group shot

Mini Mini Ben, Henry, Jude, Cassius, Isaac, Michael

Daniel, Alex, Kavana, Tiarnan, Ralph, Ben, Eoghan

Jakob, Luke, Sam, Matthew R-A, Josh, Barney, Orlando

right side - Matthew J, Carlos, Thomas, Freddie, Dylan, Matthew Madine