Bristol Concert Video

This is an excellent video from the Bristol concert taken by a member of the French forum. You can see all the Libera boys walking up to the front door of the church, and there's the 2 newbies! Love how Daniel is always smiling! :) And how Henry is singing to himself. :) It's funny to watch which boys have the most energy.

Then there's footage of the practice! How cool! You can see them fixing the robes, and is it me or did Alex have a gigantic growth spurt! And then at 2:32 notice all of the younger boys in the back watching Kavana and Daniel have a thumb war! :D (Daniel won) lol! The big boys are all talking over on the side. Then the continuation of the thumb war. I think I see Kavana cheating at 3:11! :) And cool effect with the boys practicing Adoramus! Sounds like the accoustics are amazing!

After the concert is so cute!!!! The little ones are all so adorable!!! And once again, I spy newbies! The older ones seem to have perfected the art of talking while smiling, but I love how the little ones just flat out talk. :) And there's smiley Daniel again! I love how the one newbie (Barney/Dylan?) is CRACKING UP! Somebody over in his section is funny! (and I see more dimples!) And they're all so business like while switching places! And then just how adorable the little ones are when they leave! Great video! Thanks!

Eternal Light Lyrics

The concert programs had the words to the songs in them including "Eternal Light." Thank you to Yorkie on the dreams forum for posting them. The solo is sung by Stefan. You can hear part of it by going to my October 11 entry and listening to samples of the new songs. "Eternal Light" is also heard in the new Libera Blog 2010 video from 0:49-1:16. This is such a pretty song, and boy can Stefan sing! The lyrics were written by Terah (Terry) Cox, and the music was composed by Akira Senju.


Thoughts of love surround you
Everywhere around you
May your heart discover
All the magic and the wonder.

Inside every moment
Deeper than the ocean
I just want to show you
All the beauty and the glory.

In this clear eternal light
This miracle of light
You will never lose your way
Because the eternal light will find you
and guide you.

Life is but a journey
Tides are always turning
Seasons come and go here
But you’ll never be alone here.

In this clear eternal light
This miracle of light
You will never lose your way
Because the eternal light will find you
And guide you every day.

Ahhh Ahhh Ahhh….

There are times of long and sleepless nights
But I will bring you peace and hope
shining like a rainbow.

In this clear eternal light
This miracle of light
You will never lose your way.
This eternal light will find you
To shine its guiding light on you.

In this clear eternal light
This miracle of light
You will never lose your way
This eternal light will find you
And guide you in all life.

Ahhh Ahhh Ahhh…

Chester Concert

The concert was held at the Chester Cathedral. Chester looks like a beautiful town! Bullehynka says that Tom Cully is the Sound Assistant with Sam Coates for the concerts!

4:45 p.m.  Fan de LoK reports that that he was able to watch the full 90-minute rehearsal before the concert! Wow! When Libera arrived they got a tour of the cathedral before they started rehearsals. Ben Crawley and Tom Cully were testing the microphones of Freddie and mini James and were joking around by speaking into the mics with little kid voices.  :)  Libera sang about 12 songs and portions of others. Two concerts in one! He said it was weird to hear these songs and not be able to applaud at the end. 

The concert was just as good as Bristol. Same songs and soloists, and everyone did a very good job. He can tell they have been working very hard. But NO PHOTO SESSION at the end of the concert.  *sadface*  Steven Geraghty plays the keyboard, clarinet on "When a Knight Won His Spurs" and flute on "Exultate." That would be so nice to hear and see! There was also a string quartet and percussion - a man playing a gong! Cool!

There were CD's for sale but no bags, t-shirts or posters like in the US. It's great to hear that Daniel is still his smiley self.  :D  And mini James is becoming a very good singer with a solo on "Going Home!" Fan de LoK says his "voice is soft and measured and will grow in force in the next months/years, but he is already a very good performer, smooth and very pleasant." I love his voice in "Touch the Sky."  The WAY he sings reminds me of Josh. And that's very good!  :)

More later from FDL on Oct. 30 - "I think back to several songs yesterday, and I think that Ralph and Stefan compose a duo of really great voice! These concerts and fall of 2011 promise great moments. Stefan's voice is beautiful, efficient, powerful ... That of Ralph is quite as beautiful and deep, with perhaps a touch of sensitivity and frailty. How fortunate to have these two singers in the group.

Among the younger successors, the future already seems well launched. Mini James undoubtedly will take more and more responsibilities in the years to come. His Going Home is very good and interestingly promising!

Luke also in my opinion should obtain more responsibilities. Kavana also gave us soaring high notes which are perfectly controlled and surprisingly powerful for his size."

Bristol Concert Pictures

There was no Meet & Greet after the Bristol concert, but we do have a few pictures. Thank you to Bullehynka from the French forum for sharing her great photos! If you copy, please credit the photographer.

Great panorama shot! Wow! Click on it for a better view!

Alex, Tiarnan, Sam, Josh, Jonathan, Liam, Jakob & Ben

And many thanks to Fan de LoK from the French forum for sharing his many excellent pics with us!  :)

Mini James, Cassius, Henry, Sere, Alex & Kavana.

Ben, Tiarnan, Daniel, Sam, Ralph & Josh.

Cute smiles!  :D

More cuteness!

Stefan, Jonathan, Sammy, Liam, Mine, Jakob & Luke.

Stefan & Liam are looking right at the camera!

Matthew R-A, Carlos, Matthew J, newbie 1, Freddie & newbie 2.

Thank you for this great one of Josh, Fan de LoK!

Only way it could be better is if he were looking at the camera!  :)

Luke!

In the center is a newbie named Barney! More dimples!  :)

The other newbie - Dylan.

2 New Libera Videos!

Libera posted 2 new videos on YouTube today. An HD version of them will be on their new Peace Deluxe CD.

Bristol Concert

5:00 p.m.  Per Fan de LoK after the concert, James Threadgill was not there, but Sere and Mini Akpobome were plus 2 newbies - Barney Lindsell and Dylan Duffy. His seat was so close to the stage that it felt like a private concert! Josh mentioned in his speech that yesterday was his 16th birthday. Everyone clapped which seemed to make him very happy.

The set list was the same as the US concerts except Agnus Dei was replaced with Eternal Light.

Adoramus
Libera  solo: Stefan and Luke
Speech by Freddie
Time  solo: Josh+Ralph+Alex and Ben+Daniel, Jakob solo at end
Sanctus  Stefan on high parts
Sanctissima  solo: Ralph
Eternal Light  solo: Stefan with Ralph and Daniel
Speech by Kavana as director to illustrate the harmonies
Ave Verum  solo: Jakob and Carlos, high parts Matthew R-A
Far Away  solo: Ralph, Kavana on high parts
Salva Me  Stefan on high parts
Speech by Ben - mentioned that people came from Canada, France,
    Japan and Spain
Exultate  solo: Stefan with Ben

Mysterium
Gloria  Daniel on high notes
Speech by Freddie
The Fountain  solo: Ralph
How Can I Keep From Singing?  solo: Sammy
When a Knight Won His Spurs  solo: Ralph
Love and Mercy  solo: mini James and Freddie
Speech by Josh about how he started with Libera at age 9 and just
    turned 16
Deep Peace  solo: Stefan
Stay With Me  solo: Daniel with Ralph, Matthew R-A on high parts
Going Home  solo: Mini James sang Josh's part & did very well!
Speech by Cassius
How Shall I Sing That Majesty
encore: Libera  solo: Stefan and Jakob, Ralph on high parts

When Mini James was done singing Going Home, 3 or 4 of the boys patted him on the shoulder to congratulate him. Fan de LoK said it was very touching to see.  :)  Thank you for your updates, Fan de LoK!

4:30 p.m.  Per Dani after the concert, there was no Meet & Greet. Libera had the Peace Deluxe CD for sale at the concert for £15. She said, "The concert was amazing and way better than Arundal . The boys are now really working together and the shows are better for this." She thought that Stefan, Mini James and Ralph did especially well. Thanks for the excellent updates, Dani!


8:30 a.m.  Fan De LoK is 1st in line at the Clifton Cathedral as we type!  :)  He says that Tom Cully is inside working as a technician with the equipment set-up! Concert starts at 7:30 p.m. London time!

Happy Birthday, Josh!

Dear Josh,

Happy sweet 16 birthday! We thank the Lord that you were born on this day! Thank you for your amazing voice! You really are the reason I fell in love with Libera, because you were the first Libera member I ever heard sing! Thank you for your charming personality and your beautiful smile that lights up the entire room. I hope you have a wonderful day today and many more wonderful years to come!

Edit: Apparently Josh spent part of his birthday rehearsing for tomorrow night's concert at the Clifton Cathedral in Bristol.

New St. Louis Pictures!

Luke Ray sent his St. Louis pictures to us. They are very good. He said you may copy them, but please credit him and leave his watermark on the pictures. Thanks for these, Luke!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japan Peace Deluxe CD + DVD

There is a special Japan Peace Deluxe CD + DVD with extra features. Thanks to rabbie from Japan for telling us about it. It seems to have everything the regular Peace Deluxe CD + DVD has except the cover is different (very pretty), and I don't see anything about a poster. Plus there ARE 3 other videos:

1. "Far Away" Japan edition
2. "You Were There" Japan edition
3. A behind-the-scenes short film about 30 minutes long featuring Libera's arrival at Narita Airport, footage and members comments from their April 2010 concert. That would be really cool to see! Wonder if they'll do something like this for the US version with US concert footage.  

The release date is November 3, 2010. You can purchase it at the Tower Records site http://tower.jp/item/2785811/.

Lullabye Video...WOW

NEW VIDEO ALERT!!!!!!! Finally! I'm glad Libera put this video out themselves before someone else bought it on November 1 and stuck it on YouTube. We've been guessing about this song so much...it's JOSH!!!!! Amazing! His voice is so clear and perfect and...just WOW. I'm speechless. Literally. The story is so moving too! I love how it has a clear story. Our Libera boys did turn out to be amazing actors. Is it just me or does it look a little like "Ben's Day" at 2:18? My mommy cried. :') Such a great video guys!!!!! Keep them coming! Josh... <3 Wow.

A Mother's View of Lullabye

My mom wrote this about Lullabye.

I had already listened to “Lullabye” when we downloaded it on Friday night. After hearing it once, I cried. It’s those last lines, “Someday we’ll all be gone, but lullabies go on and on. They never die; that’s how you and I will be.” Maybe it’s the mommy in me. I thought, “Way to make me cry…again.” (“How Shall I Sing That Majesty” is the other one.) Yes, I’d heard the Billy Joel version. Nice. Yes, I’d heard the King’s Singers version. Really nice. But the Libera version is different. It’s better, so much better. That voice. So much sweetness and emotion. It makes you FEEL the song.

Our first guess was that the soloist was Josh, but the voice was too high for a nearly 16-year-old, so Lexi guessed Jakob. But I listened again to “Lullabye” then to Jakob singing “Lead Kindly Light” then to Josh singing “Faithful Heart.” Jakob’s voice is very similar to Josh’s - warm and throaty (don’t know how else to describe it), but Jakob’s voice just SOUNDS younger. The voice in “Lullabye” is more mature with a hint of vibrato just like Josh had in “Faithful Heart.” Since “Lullabye” was recorded last year with the rest of the Peace album, it DID seem to be a good possibility that it was indeed Josh.

Now the video. OK. Deep breath. And there you go! It IS Josh! I am very happy to see that Josh has another solo.

The video opens with a woman dressed all in black. Birds are chirping as she walks down a pretty but strangely empty street, enters a deserted school building and climbs the circular stairs to an attic room with 8 bare bed frames. The scene then flashes to that same, now much warmer, room filled with 8 little boys (Henry, Kavana, Luke – my has he grown!, Freddie, Mini James, Carlos, Cassius and Matthew R-A) and 2 big boys (Ben and Josh) all in nightshirts sitting on neatly made beds.

Josh begins to sing, “Good night my angel, time to close your eyes and save these questions for another day.” He glances at the woman, now at the door, who is their school marm or mistress, and she gives a knowing look. He has a music book in his hands. Ben is washing the little boys’ faces and hands. Josh sits on the bed with Carlos, Cassius and Matthew sweetly singing, “I promised I would never leave you.” Cue the tears. I knew what was coming. I saw THOSE pictures Libera released. “And you should always know where ever you may go, no matter where you are, I never will be far away.”

All the little boys start climbing into their beds. The school marm is now singing along. This may be the first time a woman has ever sung (albeit lip-synching) with Libera!  :)  Mini James presents his little, open palms to the woman to show her they are clean. Henry places his toy boat on his night stand. “And like a boat out on the ocean I’m rocking you to sleep.” We see Carlos snuggled in his bed with his teddy bear. He looks so darling. If I were Carlos’s parent, I would have that picture of him sleeping framed and on the wall. Then, out of embarrassment, he could make me take it down in a few years. :)  Also would have been a cute inside joke if it had been one of the Korean teddy bears (without the clothes, of course).

“Inside an ancient heart you’ll always be a part of me.” I’m not sure if Josh is singing this to the school marm or to the little boys. Now Cassius seems to dream of the boys playing war with swords and shields while Libera sings the most beautiful “Ahh’s” ever. This IS what boys do. When they are young, no matter a mother’s peaceful intentions, they’ll take any inanimate object and make it a gun or a sword. And then they grow up to be brave men who fight for their country. As the music swells we see Ben and Josh dressed as British World War I soldiers turning and leaving to go off to war. Then they are running; then they are falling. When Libera posted the still picture of Ben and Josh in uniform, many made innocent comments about how they looked ready for war or how their costumes were nice. When I saw the picture, I audibly gasped. To see such young men in uniform is all too shocking and real. So many went, many too young, and so many died. Britain had over 700,000 killed and over 1.6 million wounded in WWI. Perhaps I personalize it too much because I had a dad who got a Silver Star and a Purple Heart in France during WWII. Perhaps it’s that I have a 23-year-old nephew in the 101st Airborne. But they are all so very brave. They are why we are free.

Now the school marm, clearly mourning, is dressed in black again and walking through that cold, bare attic. We see an apparition of Freddie holding up his open palms to her then fading away. She picks up the music book, looks up and sees Josh in overalls standing in the corner singing, “Someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullaby then in your heart there will always be a part of me.” Now a smaller Josh is in uniform again on the right standing on 2 beds in his bare feet. Red flower petals begin falling down. Is it the blood he sacrificed and spilled or her tears? We see Josh with a smudged and dirty face singing, “Someday we’ll all be gone, but lullabies go on and on. They never die, that’s how you and I will be.” He fades away as she walks out in a path of red petals.

While the story is about bravery and the great toll war takes, it also seems to have another meaning for us Libera fans. There is this fleeting time in a boy’s life when he can sing in this lovely, clear treble voice. Not all boys can sing this well, but how many have this time pass by and we never realize that they CAN sing like that? This was brought to my attention this summer after the Libera US concerts. We went to my mother’s house to visit. My sister and her family live nearby. I had the cousins in the car, and Lexi had been indoctrinating them in the beauty of Libera. My 10-year-old nephew began to sing along to the CD’s. Sure the girls sang, and sang well, but my little nephew’s voice! Where did THAT come from? Why had no one noticed that he could sing THAT high? I mean really, really high! He was clear and right on pitch! We told him he needed to move to England so he could try out for Libera. The US doesn’t have that big tradition of boys’ choirs that England has. Most kids sing in a children’s choir at church, if they GO to church that is. And some sing at school, if their school can manage to emphasize music despite sports.

And then we hear Libera, and we get to hear those lovely, clear but fleeting treble voices. And then they grow up and their voices change. I actually hate the word “break.” Their voices aren’t broken; they’ve just changed. And we’re happy for them that they grow up. We wouldn’t want them to stay young forever. There are so many exciting things to do and learn in life. Being an adult is great. Having a man’s singing voice is very appealing in it’s own right.

Think of all the young voices through the ages who were heard in their times and then lost forever, only a memory to those who lived then. How wonderful that we have recordings and photos and videos of all of our children to remember what they looked like, how they sounded at a certain age. And how wonderful to have these recordings of Libera to remember how these boys looked and sounded at a certain age. How they changed and grew through the years. Thank you to all the boys for their years of practice and hard work. It looks like a lot of fun, but it still is time spent singing when they could’ve been outside playing. Thank you to their parents for chauffeuring them to practices, paying for music lessons and letting them travel so far away. And thank you to Josh, that beautiful child with the shining eyes and perpetually happy smile. If I could have a son, I’d want one just like you. I hope you are and always will be as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. Your parents must be so very proud of you. May God give you every blessing in life.