Talent certainly is coming to Lincoln and tonight’s talent was G4. Lincoln Cathedral was one of the venues for their Cathedral Tour. On my Premium Ticket it said that the doors open at 7pm, so I left my house about 6.30 and started my 10minute walk, and was greeted by a loooooooong queue. Soon enough I was inside which was only slightly warmer than outside, and was shown to my seating area, (a case of first come first served with the seating, in your respective paid blocks of course). The usher that was seating me noticed I was on my own and managed to find me a seat near the side aisle but just behind the VIP section so I had a really good close up view of the stage.
Once I had my seat I went to find the merchandise, and in true rainy style, couldn’t decide what I wanted so pretty much bought most of what was on offer lol. I got a G4 tie-pin, keyring, mug, programme and signed tea towel.
At about 7.30ish everyone was seated as the Bishop of Lincoln introduced us all to the church and welcomed us and praised G4 for coming to the cathedral. He mentioned how on one of the inlayed stones just behind where the stage was set is some Latin writing and the writing (in English) says SING HERE, saying how this is the perfect place to sing and is honoured G4 have come here.
After this he introduced G4’s support act of the night – Natasha Marsh. At first I was a bit wary as I’m not really too keen on the soprano voice but Natasha’s voice doesn’t seem so high pitched, and this I found I liked. She came on stage in a long slinky strapless silver dress and had her long blonde hair down but slightly curled. ;;She sang 3 songs, the first being I could have danced all night, then she sang Somewhere, from West side story, then she finished with an opera song, which I cant remember what it was, (sorry), I think it was Mia Babino Caro (sp), but don’t quote me on that. And to my surprise (as I said before, me not really being a soprano fan) I really liked it. Everyone clapped and the Bishop came back on to say that Natasha’s album is out in the new year and that she has a single out now and will sign that at the back in the interval (which is now). I went to the back to see if she would sign my programme, but when I got there she had a pile of cd’s next to her and was signing them free. So I went and congratulated Natasha on her amazing voice and mentioned I shall be seeing her next year when she supports Russell Watson. She thanked me and signed her single out To Lorraine. With love and best wishes Tasha xx
I went back to my seat and was ready for G4. The stage was set with a silver G4 towards the back with big church candles around it. (It was a giant G4 candleholder). There was a grand piano towards the left of the stage (I was seated toward the left too). The bishop came back on to introduce G4 and said that the boys do appreciate applause but would like us to show our appreciation with silence for when they come out. Very strange request I thought, but I’ll go with it. Next thing we hear is G4. They are at the back of the cathedral singing Amazing Grace. Literally everyone turned around in their seats. Still behind us all we hear a girls voice sing Once in Royal David’s City, she sings the first verse, followed by theboys, singing the second verse whilst walking down the central aisle. Once they get to the stage they lift up their programmes (as in the programme it has the words for audience participation of this song and O come all ye faithful). So altogether we all sing the final 2 verses. Once the song has finished we all applause and G4 are at the stage ready for their Christmas concert with us at Lincoln Cathedral.
Mike, Jon, Ben and Matt are all in darkish blue suits shirts and ties. All the suits are similar but not quite the same as each other. The majority of the order they stood and sang in is that, Mike, Jon, Ben and Matt.
Mike sat down at the piano and Jon stood at the side of it and Matt and Ben sat on the stage and With Mike playing the piano (and singing also), They sang Arms of an Angel. I had a great view of Mike and Jon at the piano. And when Jon sang this line You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here, he looked directly at me and that bought a tear to my eye. This song always makes me cry but that made it even more special for me.
Now this is where my review starts to get a bit patchy as I can’t remember the order of the rest of the songs and I may forget a few but I’ll try my best to tell you what happened, (it just might not be in the correct order).
Jon came to the microphone (they have one on stage for the speaking only, they do not need it for their singing), and spoke about how the next song is from their first album and that we all will know it and then they all got back in line and sang Nessun Dorma. Sometimes I have felt in the past that Mike, Ben and Matt’s voice are sometimes overlooked in favour of Jon’s and as although he is the main singer in the group, to me it was Mike’s and Matt’s deep (baritone?) voices that stood out and shone for this track.
I think after this they sang another Christmas song (apologies for not remembering which) and then they sang another song which makes me cry and that was from their 1st album also. And they sang To Where You Are. That is such a beautiful song and again I had a tear in my eye as they sang, the words resonated with me.
Matt took to the mic and said how proud he was to be singing at a venue so close to home (as he’s from Grimsby) and mentioned how his parents are in the audience then pointed them out, then pointed out his grandparents and his friends, and told the audience to be nice to them. Then he proceeded to tell us about the next song. A song that has been with them from their busking days, during X-factor and also goes on tour. ;;I was expecting this song to be Bohemian Rhapsody but it turned out to be My Way (and come to think of it Bohemian Rhapsody probably isn’t suited to a cathedral). This song was brilliant. Again showing off everybody’s voices and you could hear very clearly that they each have their own style. And I like the way that Ben kept putting his hand to his lower ribs when he sang long or loud notes.
The boys continued with Danny Boy and that too had a different arrangement to it than I had heard before, but this one I liked.
They went on to sing the Christmas song When a child is born. And then left the stage for a few minutes As the Lincoln Minster School Choir sang a few hymns. Shortly after G4 came back on and told us to pick our Programmes up again as together we shall all sing O come all ye faithful, and they told us to stand up to sing and that they are going to check that we really are singing as they are going to walk around us. Back at the stage after the song Jon said that we sang well but when they come back next year (at this everyone cheered), he repeated, when they come back next year (again we cheered) so he continued that they’d come back twice hehe. But that he wants us to practice, and that he expects to see the same faces next year but in much finer voice.
Also with the choir, But later in the concert they sang Silent Night, personally I didn’t like this rendition, the arrangement seemed a bit odd to me.
One song that made me smile was when they sang La Donna E Mobile. I felt myself bouncing in my chair to the tune and caught myself mouthing along with the words. Although it is a foreign song to me, when I hear it I can mouth the correct words perfectly. And I think Jon caught me doing this as he looked towards my way and then smiled with that special smile and glint in his eye.
The night ended with Jerusalem and G4 were granted with a well-deserved standing ovation. After they finished the song Jon said how proud he was to be able to sing at such an amazing venue and that unfortunately that was the last song of the night. The audience awwwww’ed and Jon said that it’s not a pantomime and then said “he’s behind…” and with that Mike waved from behind Jon. Afterwards they asked if we’d like one more song and we all cheered and they sang O Holy Night. During the chorus the cathedral’s organ began to play whilst the boys harmonised and once again, when the final song was over they were given another standing ovation with rapturous applause.
The concert was amazing. I think the cathedral tour was a brilliant idea as with the show being mainly accapella it is the perfect way to showcase ALL of their voices.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first G4 concert, and it being in the town I live in made it extra special. My only complaint is that at just over an hour long it wasn’t nearly long enough for my liking.
Well Done boys. xxx
Love rainy x
