Aled at Chester Cathedral

xbons · Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:21 am Post subject: Aled at Chester Cathedral

Although Aled had to pull out of FNIMN last Monday evening because he was not very well - see the report on the FNIMN thread on Jonathan's forum - he clearly did manage to make it up to Chester Cathedral for his concerts there.

A report from Brina on Aled's forum starts:

"Absolutely amazing!

Aled was on top form tonight and sounding simply stunning vocally. As the concert was with the Cathedral choir they sang at the start of each half and then joined Aled on the last song of each half. They sounded great as usual and did some lovely acapella songs which of course were even more beautiful with the cathedral acoustics."

For the full report CLICK HERE

Good to hear you are better, Aled! Very Happy

xbons

jonfan · Joined: Sep 18, 2007 Posts: 148

So glad Aled was able to perform at Chester Cathedral, it sounds like a great evening , I think hearing a Classical voice in a Cathedral setting,is as good as it gets

cathyk2002 · Joined: Sep 18, 2007 Posts: 486

Nice one Aled - nothing like a concert in a Cathedral Very Happy

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Molly · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 460

Thanks xbons. Lovely review there.

Im so glad Aled was fine for the concert. And that it all went off well.

I love Aled's voice and I love his personality - and I'm very proud of him as a fellow countryman of mine.

It sounds like a beautiful concert - and what a lovely idea to give the audience a choice of encore - and even nicer that he sang both anyway!

I'm looking forward to his next album!

Love Molly xx Smile

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Jonathan on Tour...October/November 2008

kay · Joined: Feb 19, 2006 Posts: 34

We, Jonathan fans, came to pay a visit to Aled on this one Very Happy

since we were rather concertned and interested at the same time to know what happend to Aled after he had to miss FNIMN.
Sounds like he gave it all on this one, and nobody could have replaced him for this one, of course. It must have been great to hear it a capella, we all know what a wonderful experience it is in cathedrals Very Happy

Silwa · Joined: Oct 16, 2006 Posts: 76 Location: Denbighshire

Well am slowly coming back down to earth after last night's concert at Chester! It was such a fantastic evening as always with Aled!! I had never heard him sing in a cathedral and it was out of this world!! Wow!!! The accoustics were amazing!! he voice seemed to be magnified in wonder if that is possible!

Aled was as gorgeous as ever in a black (or was it dark grey?) suit! And he was on fine form with his great sense of humour very present! I thought he sang a perfect mix of songs - WalkingInTheAir, Suo gan, always there, all through the night, San Damiano, If, YouRaiseMeUp, How great thou art, Whenever God shines his light, and bugeilio'r gwyneth gwyn! The Cathedral choir sang 5 songs first in each half then they sang with Aled for the final song of each half!

Whenever God shines his light and Bugeilio were the encore! he asked if we wanted an accompanied english song or an unaccompanied welsh song. He sang WGSHL which is not one of my favourites on the cd I must admit but when Aled sang it live it was incredible and he used his voice to the full!! he really seemed to enjoy singing it too! It was in my head for the rest of the night! Then he mentioned the welsh in the audience and sang Bugeilio which was wonderful!! He seemed to really enjoy the whole evening - it seemed a lot more than just singing!! It's been said that he sings first with his soul, then with his heart and lastly with his voice (did i get that right?) and that was so apparent last night! Wow!!!

Aled made his joke about WalkingInTheAir about it being him singing with him and if the audience thinks that is freaky they should try being him!

He mentioned GMS asking if anyone woke up with him and went on to say actually 3m people wake up with him - "it's a big bed" he said! Wink

He announced he had the best fans in the world and thanked them for everything!

At the beginning he said he thought about wearing a daffodil on one jacket breast and a leek on the other and asked if there were any welsh in the audience and then wished everone a Happy St George's day! Later he mentioned Wales beating England at rugby then quickly wished everyone a happy St George's day again, and then looked at Pete and Dom and said "think I got away with that! "

Aled mentioned he was writing a book about his favourite hymns (due out next year I think he said) and a few people cheered to which he said (as if speaking to one person) "I'm very glad you came!"

At one point he disappeared off to the side of the cathedral to thank the audience there saying his Mum always told him never to forget the people behind the pillars and how important good manners are! He said it showed a sign of good upbringing!

It really was a great night! We were lucky to get to say hi to Aled in the reception as he was rushing back to London! having had a couple glasses bubbly I even braved some welsh to him and I actually think he understood! I did say bendigedig amongst other things!! (fantastic)

It was great to see everyone who was there!!

We were collecting for Hope House / Cathedral (to be split 50/50 I think) and I think it went very well! The pot I had was very heavy by the end and people were putting notes in there too! They were so generous!! It was wonderful!!

I shall certainly be keeping an eye out for other cathedral concerts!!!!

Diolch yn fawr iawn am popeth Aled!!!!

(thanks v much for everything Aled)

xcept · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

What a fantastic review! Thank you silwa Very Happy

Margaret. · Joined: Jan 05, 2006 Posts: 370

That is a brilliant review Silwa. Thank you. Very Happy

xbons · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:59 am Post subject:

Thanks for a great review, Silwa - I wish I could have been there! I loved the Aled humour bits - the leek and daffodil for St George's Day.... Laughing

And when you said he went to speak to the people in the side of the cathedral - typical Aled again. His parents cetainly did a great job. I'm so glad you were able to speak with Aled afterwards also. Very Happy

Just to explain to other readers - Aled is patron of Hope House Childrens' Hospices in N Wales (Ty Gobaith) and the Welsh / English border (Hope House). Some of us have set up Aled's Friends of Hope House (AFHH), to which Silwa also belongs, to raise money for music therapy for the children of Hope House, and Chester Cathedral had allowed the members to collect at the concerts, half to go to the Chester Cathedral fund and half to AFHH. When I know the amount raised for AFHH I will post it here

xbons

xbons · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:45 pm Post subject:

I have now heard that the amount raised from the collections over the 2 evenings was over £1200. Half goes to Chester Cathedral itself, so that is £600 for AFHH, for music therapy for the children at the two hospices.

Good on you, Aled!

xaria · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:16 pm Post subject:

That's brilliant news xbons! Smile

I'm glad people enjoyed the concert. I remember when he did the Lincoln Cathedral concert - the acoustics work so well with his voice. I wish I'd been at Chester. Just need to wait another 4 months till I get to see him again. x
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'A life in music is a life beautifully spent.' (Pavarotti)

Molly · Joined: Jan 14, 2006 Posts: 460

Thanks Silwa - great review. I was chuckling reading it - Aleds humour came through wonderfully.

I would love to get the opportunity to hear him sing live one day.

I loved what you said here: