With just a few days until Alfie’s first summer concerts, we have finally arrived at the number one position and the song that has been chosen as your favourite Alfie Boe live song 2018!
Before we get to that though, let’s take a look at the top ten so far:
Buona Sera
Barcelona (with Laura Wright)
He Lives In You
O Sole Mio / It’s Now or Never
Rank Strangers
The Prayer
Love Reign O’er Me
Wagon Wheel
Don’t Stop Me Now
And so the song at number one is:
Of course, it’s Snow Patrol’s Run, a song that jumped straight in at number one the first time that Alfie sang it and has stayed there ever since. Here is the original and I have to say that I love it too:
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Yes it was, a very good year for thoughtsofjustafan and for Alfie Boe too. If I asked Alfie, his 2015 highlights might include Classic Quadrophenia and Les Mis on Broadway but I’m sure meeting loads of adoring fans at various UK and US concerts would also be right up there with the best moments.
For me, 2015 has been a series of fabulous moments one after the other – I can’t possibly choose one as the best although the first three on the list would certainly be competing for the top spot!
Interviewing Alfie for Classic Quadrophenia.
Interviewing Alfie again for the first in the Club 24601 series.
Chatting to Alfie at Somerset House and hearing him tell me that he reads thoughtsofjustafan…if Nikki Lewis hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have believed it!
Seeing my Classic Quad review from the Huffington Post quoted in a proper newspaper (the Guardian). The thank you from Alfie when I interviewed him shortly after was pretty special too.
Addio Sogni di Gloria being voted the Best Alfie Boe Song (recorded) – last year’s favourite, Bring Him Home was number 4.
Taking my 9yo to Alive @Delapre for his first Alfie concert and hearing the stand out Alfie song from 2015, Run:
The Club 24601 series of interviews, beginning with Alfie and culminating with the current London JVJ, Peter Lockyer.
Interview with David Steadman, of the D’oyly Carte Opera Company and hearing about Alfie’s very first tour as a professional singer.
Finding out that the fan’s favourite Alfie Boe look is jeans, the tighter the better! Alfie in a suit was a (very) close runner up.
Alfie in Les Miserables on Broadway – hearing the amazing reviews and happy fans was the next best thing to being there myself.
Thank you to everyone for reading and supporting thoughtsofjustafan – I really appreciate the time you take to comment on and share. In February this year we passed 30,000 hits and thanks to all you wonderful readers, we have now more than tripled that number – woohoo!
Thank you too for all the wonderful compliments you have sent over the year, you are all very kind.
Of course, I can’t let 2015 pass without thanking some extra special people who have continued to support me and thoughtsofjustafan:
Thanks to Debbie Bannigan for giving me the best gift anyone can ever receive; belief and confidence that I can achieve whatever I want to. Without your support, this blog would not exist.
Thanks to Linda Wellington for continually providing me with photos and videos and allowing me to use them. Thank you also for all the laughs along the way this summer – and for ferrying us to Northampton!
Thanks to Carole Hunt for continuing to allow me to use her photo for the main blog banner.
Thanks to everyone who allows me to use their videos here – Nikki, Jayne, Annie in particular.
Thanks to Roberta Kappus and Carole Hunt for being fabulous reviewers this year – I hope to be able to call on you again lovely ladies!
Thanks to Sue Black, Linda Anstee and Marie Blair for being my top social media sharers this year – thanks for spreading the word!
Thanks to my top commenters in 2015 – Linda McCann, Sue Redfern and Carole Naden. Love hearing from you!
Lastly, thank you to everyone who spoke to me at concerts this year and said they loved my blog – I love doing it! Special thanks to the super posse of friends who, amongst others, made it extra special this year: Linda A and Linda W, Sally, Cecelia and Cassie (I’ll never forget your comments while waiting for the ladies at Hampton Court!), Paul and Pauline, Jan, Carole H, Sue, Pam and Tina, Nikki, Annie, Pauline H, Pat and Janet, Jayne, Deb and Flo.
After the fantastic review of Alfie Boe’s Belfast shows earlier this week, my expectations of his show at the Hampton Court Festival were sky high. Luckily, along with the weather, he didn’t disappoint. The evening was glorious, the setting perfection and the company of fabulous friends made it an evening to remember. I suspect it will also be an evening to remember for the poor audience member who popped to the loo at the wrong moment and Alfie stopped the show for her!
And so to the show itself. Alfie was accompanied by the usual band line up of Murray Gould, Richard Causon, John Tonks and Dan McKinna who were joined by a new guitarist, Al in place of Matt White. Apologies to Al but I didn’t catch his surname so if anyone has it please let me know! Launching into A Marechiari and Mamma, the evening got off to a lively start before giving way to the gentler sounds of Parlami D’amore Mariu. The musical theatre section included a lot of references to Les Mis although the only song included was Bring Him Home. Alfie jested that he would in fact be singing I Dreamed A Dream but sadly / luckily (delete as appropriate) he stopped himself. Prior to that, we had Come What May and Being Alive.
It was around this time that Alfie said that he was now coming to the part of the concert that involved him taking his jacket off which he duly proceeded to do…unfortunately, this was the wrong part of the concert and Murray had to point out the order of the set list. Those in the front row were then able to get a close hand view of Alfie down on all fours as he peered at the set list – they may have recovered by now! Happily for me, the set list dictated that the next songs were from my favourite Alfie album (and favourite EVER), Trust. The title song was followed by Keep Me In Your Heart which had us all in fine voice and up out of our seats dancing. After listening to the song countless times, I can confirm that “the buttons on your blouse” still has the same effect on me. Here is Linda’s video of Trust and showcases the incredible musicianship of the band (with the biggest shout out reserved for Murray):
As you can see from this, Alfie was at his quick witted best with the audience, taking photos of the band and himself with a lady’s phone…before being beaten to the punchline by an even more quick witted audience member.
Before rounding off the evening with Mambo Italiano and Buona Sera from Serenata, Alfie gave us four songs from the newly released Classic Quadrophenia. Alfie is one of those rare singers who sound better live than on recording but as the sound of Alfie’s vocals on Quadrophenia sound as if they were recorded live (click here to see what Alfie said about the recording process) I was keen to hear these songs live. Two of them were already included on the Serenata tour but Sea and Sand and Drowned are new to his live repertoire. After hearing them live, I can safely say that the lucky ticket holders for the Royal Albert Hall on 5 July will be blown out of their seats by the production.
When the Serenata tour ended in December, I felt that I had seen and heard Alfie at his best. The repertoire, the range, his stage presence not to mention the voice were all far better than I had previously seen him. At Hampton Court last night, he again raised his game and was quite simply phenomenal – this was without a doubt the best. I’ve no doubt that when we revisit the Favourite Alfie Boe Tour poll in 2016 (it’s still open – click here) this mini UK tour will be head and shoulders above the rest.
After singing for almost two hours, Alfie’s encore was a song that he sang for the first time only a few weeks ago but has swiftly become a fan favourite, Snow Patrol’s Run. Thanks to Linda for sharing:
So, hot on the heels of the Alfie Boe Favourite Tour poll, Alfie this week started his mini UK summer tour 2015. Or to be more precise, the first big show is planned for tomorrow evening at Hampton Court and the two concerts earlier this week were something a bit more special. Monday and Tuesday this week saw Alfie play two intimate concerts at the Culloden Estate and Spa, Northern Ireland and luckily thoughtsofjustafan had a willing reporter on hand to tell us how the two evenings went. Here is Carole’s guest review of the two concerts:
“An intimate dinner & show with Alfie Boe” is what it said on the front of the menus for our pre-concert meal and that is certainly what we got. In anticipation of this Alfie experience we thought that it may be a little different and a bit special but the reality was quite simply magical. Our Boe odyssey to Belfast took us away for three days so that we could attend both nights.
Before the main man appeared we had a 30 minute performance by the Belfast Community Gospel Choir who were wonderful and got everyone in the party mood, you could tell they were as excited to be there as we were! The stage was very small and just a foot or so high so we knew we were in for a very up close and personal experience indeed. The band was the same as on the Serenata tour – Murray, Richard, Dan, Matt and John (aka Tonksy!) . Bit of déjà vu crept in as Alfie appeared to huge applause and launched into A Marachiare, Parliami d’Amore Mariu, Buona Sera, Volare and Mambo Italiano. The musical theatre section was Come What May, Wheels of a Dream and finally Bring Him Home. Tuesday’s rendition was extra special as Alfie sang to Mark and Declan McMullan:
On Monday night someone had requested he sing Georgia, he got the first line or two out then dried up – cue giggles and a couple of unrepeatable words – he said he’d go back to it and would sing it all the way through before the night was out. He did manage to get through it after somebody brought him out a laptop with the words googled, it was put on the floor so he got down on all fours to see a bit closer, then of course half way through the screen blacked out! Funny funny.
It was a thrill to hear two new songs from Quadrophenia, Sea & Sand and Drowned although on Tuesday he changed these to I’m One and Love Reign O’er Me. I am reliably informed that the band are working really hard on getting as big a sound as possible for some of these songs, particularly the Quad numbers, and somehow they are doing an amazing job recreating those big thumping orchestral accompaniments like the kettle drums on Love Reign.
It was a joy to hear Run and the audience were in great singalong voice, I think this may become a staple of his upcoming summer dates. On Tuesday members of the Gospel Choir came back on towards the end and accompanied him, really recreating that amazing moment at the VE Day concert. The video shows the amazing crowd reaction:
On Monday night I thought I was going to burst when he launched into Don’t Stop Me Now as his encore (yayyy!!). and he ended with Suspicious Minds (double yayy!!). His final parting gift to Belfast was a perfect acapella rendition of Danny Boy.
Most of the people we met were from Ireland and although they were fans many had never seen him live and never one to disappoint he gave them the full Boe treatment – ringing phones, chasing after loo-break escapees, selfies on stage with the band and it went down an absolute storm. One gentleman right at the front nipped out (never a good move at an Alfie concert especially if you’re sat under his nose) and while he was gone Alfie took his chair up on stage and rifled through his jacket to check for valuables all whilst continuing to sing. Cue confused man upon his return with nowhere to sit! At the end of Come What May, which is always a belter of a tune and done with such passion, he said it’s amazing what goes through his mind when he’s singing and all he could see were the cakes on one of the tables in front him (the mini muffins mentioned earlier!) so he jumped off the stage, picked up the plate and passed them round to the band, although he did managed to drop his on the floor! He was just introducing lovely Murray to everyone and a lady way at the back laughed out loud, so she was hauled up to the front and was sat on a chair right in front of Murray so she could watch and appreciate him while he played the next number. Lucky lady, poor Murray! A phone rang from behind the bar which was way over the back of the room and by then had closed, so he flew off the stage to try and answer it but didn’t make it in time!
Thank you to Carole for an amazing review; I hope she’ll do a few more for us!
The next concert review will be from Hampton Court – hope to see a few of you there.
