After waiting for a while, the doors finally opened. The excitement was at its highest, everyone was hurrying to get to the first rows.
I was lucky: my Mom managed to get two places in the second row, right behind Robert Prizeman’s keyboard :) She nicely exchanged places with Bullehynka. We both had ringside seats, next to Japanese fans (that’s saying something! ^^). Right behind us was Stefan’s family, they seemed really nice!
While we waited, we tried out our cameras on Big-Ben and Steven, clarinet and recorder in hand. They were too far away for us to get clear picture :(.
Suddenly, silence took over the room, the lights turned down; Robert Prizeman settled 3meters away from us, the quatuor a bit further.
A spotlight lit Stefan up, standing at the far back of the stage. He was hooded and sang the Adoramus/Libera mashup : “Are you the door, are you the key?”, as the other boys walked down the sides of the cathedral. I wrote down the beginning: Mine, Sam, Matthew, Josh, Liam, Jonathan…
The boys settled on stage, Kavana’s usual smile shining, whilst Daniel was trying to get used to the lighting, which was getting him right in the eyes.
A second group of boys had arrived at the back of the stage : the 5 new boys.
Libera had begun, Stefan on the high notes. He missed a couple of the higher ones, but it was still really impressive, and of course, beautiful.
At the end of the song, Freddie read his text : there are 37 boys, with a couple of “older” ones, such as Josh and Jonathan, but also some quite young ones : the 5 new boys, who were taking part to their first concert.
The second song was Time, from their new CD. Josh and Ben were soloists, and Jakob sang the “Aaah” at 2:47.
Josh was right in the front part of the stage, Ben behind him on the second “step” of the platform. The other boys were set in diagonal on the sides of the soloists, like this:
It was then Sanctus. Ralph and Kavana sang the high notes, I think, and the last Sanctus was sung by Stefan.
It was then Sanctus. Ralph and Kavana sang the high notes, I think, and the last Sanctus was sung by Stefan.For Sanctissima, Mini-Ben moved forward to the front of the stage, kneeled and sang in that position. The rest of the boys were behind him. He stood up in the middle of the song to join the group.
After these two songs, Sam talked about the work they have to do to learn all of the lyrics, the movements… and that the older boys often had to help the younger ones.
The next song was Ave Verum. Matthew sang the higher notes; he stood far in the back-left part of the stage. Flynn sang the solo, and Jakob did the “echo”.
Then, Far Away, sung by Ben, supported by Ralph, with Kavana on the higher notes.
For Salva Me, Stefan sang the soaring « Aaah », and the 5 new boys were back on stage.
Mini-Ben then read his text, talking about the adventure they had to come back from the Philippines. He also stated that some people in the audience came from France, Japan, Switzerland… But also from Croydon (a part of South London) !
Alex had the solo in Agnus Dei, accompanied by Steven playing the pipe. On certain parts, Flynn sang too, and I think Jakob sang the second solo (My notes aren’t always perfectly clear)
How Shall I Sing This Majesty: Of course, Stefan soloist, with Kavana on the higher notes. The first sentence was sung by Jakob, facin the audience. Being one of my favorite songs from the CD, I had set the bar high for their performance, and I was definitely not disappointed. The song is truly superb.
We then had a 15min intermission,
At 9:10, the second part started, by Mysterium. Stefan came from the back of the cathedral, hooded. The timing was perfect : he got to the stage right on time !
Next was Orinoco Flow, which I found less lively than on CD, but still a cool song!
Freddie came back to the centre of the stage and read his text, starting by the famous “Hi! It’s me again!”, which as usual triggers the audience’s laughter. He explained why they wore these white robes, and then said that sometimes, between songs, they had to change places in the dark, so they had to rehearse with a blindfold!
Ralph then had his first solo, accompanied by Mini-Ben, on The Fountain, which was really beautiful. The lower parts were particularly fantastic, and Ralph really has stage presence! He sang whilst smiling, just like we say about Josh. These boys truly seem happy about what they’re doing !
Then, Sammy sang How Can I Keep from Singing, in a very different way from the two first Libera versions, but very beautifully none the less !
For When a Knight won his Spurs, the boys put their hands in their robes like in a muff. Ralph sang his second solo, with a completely different introduction by Steven on the recorder (we even heard people say : “What’s this?”!)
Then, it was Mini-James and Freddie’s turn: Love and Mercy. It was adorable and really well performed!
Then Josh read his text about the change of voices, especially about the fact that his voice didn’t drop in one time, so he still could hit some higher notes, but he could now reach lower ones as well!
Bayan Ko was next. It resounded superbly in the cathedral. I really think they have reached perfection on this one! The atmosphere was really surreal; I always get goose bumps listening to it. But when you add the lighting effects, plus having the boys in front of you… You’re truly in a different world!
Daniel and Ralph had the solo on Stay With Me, with Matthew on the “Aah”s. Their version of the song is one of the best I think, and the pairing of their two voices is great!
As for the previous concerts, on Deep Peace, James doesn’t sing his solo anymore : he sings with all the boys. But Stefan was, as usual, stunning !
Cassius then came up and did his little goodbye speech. He hesitated a bit on some words, but finally he got by really well! When he went back to his place, Mini-James congratulated him, very cute!
Finally, to finish the evening on a lively melody, Exsultate, with a choreography which emphasizes this jumpiness!
We got a bis from Libera, which Stefan achieved much better than the first time. His voice was now warmed up, and he reached all the high notes perfectly!
Now, a couple of anecdotes from the concert :
- During Ave Verum, it seemed like Josh and Mini-Ben were staring right at me, it felt like they were singing just for me. It's a great feeling !
- In the beginning of Mysterium, when we could just hear Stefan, and not see him, his Mom said "That sounds like Stefan!". Right she was !
- At the end of Love&Mercy, as James and Freddie went back to their places, the latter fell back. You could see the older boys try to keep from laughing, and I think Josh helped him up.
- On Stay With Me, Mini-James kept beating the tempo with his foot, and kind of performed a mini-dance with it :)
- In one of the songs before the intermission, Stefan was missing. His family, who was worried, solved the mistery : "He needed to go to the loo!"
- A couple times you could see one of the boys yawning, and trying to keep it back (especially Mini-James). The effort they put in trying to hide it something was worth seeing !
It was quite interesting to see how Robert Prizeman conducts the boys. I really didn't imagine that he did it like in an orchestra, but it's exactly that ! A gesture of the hand to show Matthew or Stefan when the "Aaah" in Ave Verum or Salva Me had to be sung, the hand slowing down to say : "You're going to fast, boys!"...
I think the Arundel concerts are mainly for the choristers to show their parents what they do on tour, and I had the impression that I was seeing the kids of my conservatory, just glad to show their parents what their talent. The smiles addressed to a person in particular during the concert betrayed this happiness.
