Apr 20 2011

Toronto Day 5: Unexpected changes to the itinerary for the day

We woke up, quickly got ready, and headed to YYZ in order to make our flight. However, there was a bit of a change of plans and we didn’t get on the plane. There was a bit of chaos trying to get everything in order for our additional day in Toronto. For instance, we had already returned our rental car, so I had to try to figure out how to get another. We had to go with a different rental company, and unfortunately, they only had this gigantic vehicle available. Nonetheless, we had no other options, so we rented it. We also had to find a way to get another room at the hotel. This, however, didn’t seem to be a problem, and we were even able to use our same room from the nights before.

After getting everything organised, I decided that it would probably be a good idea to look up the directions to the show in Chatham. My cognitive map was completely wrong! I thought that Chatham was in between London and Kitchener. Turns out that only half of that was correct; it is actually between London and Windsor! The drive took approximately three hours from our hotel, but we set out for an unexpected third Libera show.

When we were nearing Chatham, I called Kent and he met us for dinner at this little Chinese place called “Fortune Express.” I was a little leery as it seemed like a typical Chinese take-out restaurant. However, the food was really unique and quite delicious. I had honey chicken balls, which were crisp and perfectly cooked. They also had a great balance of sweetness and savoury flavours.

We headed for the church about two hours before the show. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait outside in the rain at this show. Even better, we got a little treat of seeing a bit of the rehearsal and stage preparation for the upcoming show; great fun! The crew, musicians, and stage managers REALLY work diligently to make sure that the performance goes smoothly and that all the fans experience everything that is Libera. From the lights and ambiance to the transitions between songs, everything is beautifully executed.

This particular show was actually my favourite of the three that I was blessed enough to see on this Canadian tour. The musicians (string quartet, percussionist, and woodwinds / keyboards [with the exception of Mr. Robert Prizeman]) were situated on two opposing balconies above stage-left and stage-right, which really added a further level of depth to the sound. The boys had plenty of room on this particular stage, and I believe that some of their formations during the pieces were a bit different than the previous two nights.

As with the other shows, I got a bit teary eyed during James Mordaunt’s solos in “Going Home.” It has been one of my favourite songs since it was released a couple years ago on their album “Angel Voices,” but I believe that his voice is the perfect match for the tune. I have enjoyed all the renditions of the song (by Joshua Madine, Tom Cully, Ben Philipp and Michael Horncastle). However, James Mordaunt’s voice is a bit more airy and whispy, and therefore, lends perfectly to the almost evanescent solemnity of the music and lyrics. For the same reason, the verses (and especially the closing line of “Mercy and Love”) of “Love and Mercy” stood out to me at this show. Only wish I could have heard him sing “Touch the Sky” as well; I think the harmony parts are very interesting and unique in that piece.

Also, after now having had the honour of hearing their new piece “Song of Life” three times live, I think it may have replaced “Adoramus” as my all-time favourite. It is stunningly beautiful, and has an incredible positivity to it. Further, the boys seem to really enjoy performing it, which is readily apparent by their shining smilies while singing.

The other two shows seemed to fly by in no time, and this one was absolutely no exception. Actually, this one seemed to go by the most quickly. Just like that, the performances that I had counted down the days to see were over. All wonderful things must come to an end, I suppose… until next time that is!

We got on the road for our three-hour drive back to the hotel. It was late, already pitch dark, and storming. The drive was quite scary in spots due to the torrential rains, the heavy winds, and the transport trucks on the road. Thankfully, we made it without much of a hitch.

|:| Zach |:|

P.S. Really like this new Android app for white noise; awesome for those who have trouble sleeping in silence!

Apr 19 2011

Toronto Day 4: The CN Tower, and Kitchener for the second show

Again we thought that we may be greeted by the sun in Toronto, but alas, overcast skies with high chances of precipitation. However, according to the forecast, the morning would have clearer skies than the afternoon. As such, we headed downtown to visit the CN Tower. The CN tower was the tallest building in the world until that monster was built in Dubai.

Once downtown on Front Street, we found a parking lot and figured that we would just walk to the Tower. In that parking lot, there was this really strange advertisement from Evian water that had pictures of adults with babies’ bodies superimposed on them, so it looked like babies with adult heads. Apparently it is some ad for releasing your inner youth.

Anyway, we made it to the CN Tower, and I had looked at the possibility of going to the 360 Restaurant located just above the visitor area of the Tower. There was a lengthy queue, but we bypassed it by making reservations to eat at 360. We hopped on the lift, and it scared the daylights out of me to see even the taller buildings in the city go racing by the window.

At the 360–and as the name implies–the floor rotated around the Tower, so that diners could view the entire panoramic. We sat down for our three-course meal. I started with these really nicely prepared sweet potato fries, and she had a spinach and Brie tart. For our main courses, I had prime rib with roasted garlic bread pudding and asparagus, and she had salmon. Lastly, I had an apple-almond strudel with pineapple ice cream, and she had a chocolate mousse tower with re-hydrated fruits.

After lunch, we went down a floor to the observation area of the Tower. Having just seen the entire city one floor higher, there wasn’t all that much to see below. However, there was an area that had incredibly thick lexan plates for flooring, so that one could see straight down. Being a wimp, I couldn’t even walk over them and wondered how all these kids were okay with jumping on the panes. Fearless.

We then headed back to the hotel to change for the Libera performance in Kitchener-Waterloo. The drive was a little less than an hour, so it went by quickly. KW is a much smaller town (more of a college feel) than the big city, and so we walked to find a little cafe for tea before the show.

The Kitchener show was a bit special as it was in a theatre (the Centre in the Square). It was a large auditorium, but we had front-row, dead centre seats (which apparently was a guessing game for people involved with the show–they couldn’t wait to see who had seats 19 and 20). Though the performance was essentially the same as the night before, each show is a little bit different. The new talks that the choristers gave during this tour were fun and cute. For instance, Freddie and Cassius had a little spiel about the hoods on their robes. Freddie pulled Cassius’s hood over his head, and proceeded to leave him out in the middle of the stage. Also, they talked about wanting to see a moose in Canada, considering their choir mascot is a moose named… “moose.” It seemed like one of the primary soloists (Stefan) had a bit of a cough, but he managed to execute his parts beautifully regardless.

As with the night before, the show ended way too quickly, and we were off again. Before we left, though, we spent some time talking with many of the great people that we met on this tour (Kent, Lauren, Stephanie, Sean, Beth, and Charles, just to name a few). We headed back to the hotel room and packed for our departure in the morning.

|:| Zach |:|

Apr 18 2011

Toronto Day 3: The Village, Thai, and the first show

Today we woke up to see more rain… bummer. Also, it was quite cold, so we couldn’t get to the zoo again. We decided to go downtown to see what the “big city” was like. We started out by going to this cafe that we visited when we were in Toronto about 4 years ago. It was called the Village Rainbow Restaurant, and was located in Toronto’s “Village” at Church and Wellesley (near the University). We just stopped in for coffee and tea, but the homemade desserts did look tempting.

After that, we walked around a few blocks to see what there was to see. There’s wasn’t all that much that was interesting, except this storefront that was advertising the Charlie Sheen “Winning” doll. That gave a good laugh. Instead of giving up our parking spot, we decided to just walk to our lunch destination. It was only about seven blocks to the Salad King Thai restaurant, so no big deal. However, it started to snow, and the flakes grew exponentially until they were approximately the size of golf balls and could knock you out if they got ya’ in the temple.

The Salad King had great reviews, and had just reopened after a fire a few months beforehand. The newly-renovated building was decorated in a really fancy, modern, and colourful way. The door on the inside of the bathroom said “Ahhhhhhhh, that feels better.” Anyway, I got this meal with some chicken, carrots, and onions in a spicy sauce with Kafir lime leaves. She got mango chicken, which was really an interesting flavour combination.

After our late lunch, we headed back to the hotel in order to get ready for the first of our Libera shows. This particular show was at the Islington United Church, which was only about ten minutes away. We showed up about 90 minutes early, and there were already a few people in queue. I called Sean and he relayed the message to Lauren to bring out the tickets. Unfortunately, it was dastardly cold outside and it started sleeting. Yet still, we waited in order to get the best seats possible. Little did we know that we were allowed to sit in the “reserved” rows in the front of the church. We took our seats, and waited for the show to begin.

The show was really nice, but the choristers seemed a bit cramped on the small stage. Further, I believe that the venue had been oversold, so there were people sitting everywhere, including on chairs in the aisle. Five members of the choir came out for the first song, and it seemed like only a few minutes before they were announcing their last song of the evening.

After the performance, we headed back toward the hotel, but weren’t ready to call it a night. We went over to the Woodbine racetrack and casino right across from the hotel. The restaurant was open until 00:30, so we had sandwiches and a glass of wine.

|:| Zach |:|