Tag Archives: Together

Emma and Jamie Cropper’s Six Sensational Songs

Although 2019 had a quiet start for Alfie, it’s about to get a whole lot busier, with An Evening with Alfie Boe starting in just a few weeks time. And then of course we have the excitement of Les Mis to look forward to. Before we get bowled over with new events, let’s pay a visit to our series of Six Sensational Songs, this time from Emma Cropper and her son, Jamie. Emma hails from Fleetwood and, as she says, “when I heard about this singer from the wood I just had to listen!” These are their songs.

If I can Dream is Emma’s favourite song – the lyrics get Emma every time – and “Alfie sings it better than anyone.”

Emma says that the Storyteller album is one of her favourites and that Bridge Over Troubled Water really helped her at a difficult time.

Blood Brothers is one of Emma’s favourite musicals, so Tell Me It’s Not True has to be in her top six. “It always provokes such memories of the stage show and a great way to escape.”

Emma’s son Jamie also loves Alfie’s music so when Emma asked him which songs he wanted to nominate, he instantly said You’ll Never Walk Alone. Being Liverpool fans, as is Alfie, they know how powerful and important this song is to so many people. 

The Willy Wonka song, otherwise known as Pure Imagination, is Jamie’s other choice of song, because it reminds him of chocolate!

Finally, Emma and Jamie’s joint choice is He Lives In You from The Lion King, because “that was the soundtrack to our Christmas past!”

Another two new songs to add to our list of Six Sensational Songs!

thanks for reading – please share

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?


all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2019: Number Eight

In at number eight in our quest to find your favourite Alfie Boe live song this year is a song that entered the chart in 2018 at number four and is from Together:

St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, June 2018

Alfie has been singing You’ll Never Walk Alone for a long time, and not just because he’s a Liverpool fan! This version in the glorious setting of St. George’s Chapel showcases Alfie’s classically trained voice superbly.

Despite it’s undoubted footballing connotations in the UK, the song is of course originally from the 1945 musical, Carousel, which Alfie appeared in 2017. However, Alfie’s character, Billy Bigelow doesn’t get to sing this song and it was a pleasure to hear Brenda Edwards’ Nettie sing it in the ENO production. Here is Alfie at the VE Day celebrations in 2015:

thanks for reading – please share

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?


all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2019: Number Ten

Number ten in our first poll of 2019 means only one thing – An Evening with Alfie Boe kicks off in just ten weeks time (next Sunday to be precise).  Anyone excited yet??? I guess that’s all of you, then!

Number ten is a song that has featured in both best live song poll and best recorded song poll of 2018 and is A Thousand Years:

This is Alfie by himself…with a few comments about Mr Ball!

The song was originally performed by Christina Perri for the 2011 film Twilight: Breaking Bad Part One. Written by Perri and David Hodges, the song also featured on the soundtrack of Breaking Bad Part Two, as a duet with Steve Kazee. In addition to Alfie and Michael, the song has been covered by several other artists, many with millions of YouTube views!

In 2018, this song ended up at number six in both live and recorded song polls – and I only just realised now!

thanks for reading – please share!

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?


all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos, a welcome message from Alfie

 

Alfie Boe Best Ever Song 2018: The Top!

We’ve made it! The top place in the fifth annual Alfie Boe Best Ever Song poll is shortly to be revealed, but before we do that, let’s run down the top ten so far:

10 – A Living Prayer

9 – Rank Strangers

8 – You’re The Voice

7 – Keep Me In Your Heart

6 – A Thousand Years

5 – The Prayer

4 – Love Reign O’er Me

3 – Bring Him Home

2 – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

And so, the song voted in at number ten is:

Anthem, recorded for Alfie’s 2016 album with Michael Ball, Together, is this year’s top song, the last of four songs from Together and Together Again.  Last year, Anthem was a new entry to the chart, ending up at number six.

Anthem is one of the most famous songs (although for me, I have more of an affection for the Elaine Paige / Barbara Dickson song I Know Him So Well) from the Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus musical, Chess, which opened in London in 1986 before closing three years later.  A subsequent Broadway production was much less successful.  Prior to either show, a concept album was released, from which Paige and Dickson’s recording derives as Dickson was unable to open in the London production.

Thanks for all your votes – always interesting to see what comes up trumps – and as Alfie has now announced his 2019 tour, it’ll soon be time to vote for our favourite live song again!

thanks for reading – please share

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?


all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus four exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

Alfie Boe Best Ever Song 2018: Number Six

Almost half way through our countdown to find the fans favourite Alfie Boe recorded song and we arrive at our second new entry, A Thousand Years, nominated this year by Karen Blower:

It’s the second song to feature Alfie’s collaboration with Michael but this is from their first album, 2016’s Together.

The song was originally performed by Christina Perri for the 2011 film Twilight: Breaking Bad Part One.  Written by Perri and David Hodges, the song also featured on the soundtrack of Breaking Bad Part Two, as a duet with Steve Kazee.  In addition to Alfie and Michael, the song has been covered by several other artists, many with millions of YouTube views!

Together is available here:

thanks for reading – please share

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?

all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

 

Sue Line’s Six Sensational Songs

This week, we’re looking at Sue Line’s Six Sensational Songs – this is what Sue says about how she found Alfie: ” I found Alfie through the 25th anniversary Les Mis concert. I heard this voice and was spell bound. The fact that he’s drop dead gorgeous helps! Through Alfie I met Greta and Graham and the three of us will always be thankful for that. We’re more like family than friends.”

Here are Sue’s choices:

Run, chosen by Sue because “it says so much that’s like my life. Also, it was during Run that Alfie came into the audience at Nottingham and  sought me out for a hug.”

Bring Him Home, because “Les Mis is my favourite music theatre and I found Alfie through that. It also reminds me of my Dad. Dad died whilst I was on a train to meet up with Greta and Graham for the first time, to go and see Les Mis. I cried my way through BHH. I’ve got a tattoo that says Alfie with BHH under his name.”

The Prayer because ” it’s a beautiful song and hearing Alfie sing it in Italian is wonderful.”

In My Daughter’s Eyes.  Sue says that this is a very personal choice as “I had a daughter who passed away as a baby but her eyes were beautiful and shone when she looked at me.”

Glory, Glory.  Sue chose this because “he sang it when I first saw him live in Newcastle and he kept making me laugh by just waving his wrist. My arm was in a cast and that was the only way I could wave at him.”

A Thousand Years.  Sue’s son sings it to her; “He has autism and many physical and psychological problems but has a beautiful baritone voice and always makes me cry when he sings it.”

Thank you Sue for sharing your stories with us.

If you would like to see your choices featured, please fill in the form:

thanks for reading – please share

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?

all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

 

 

Alfie Boe Stuns at Kelvingrove

Last night saw the first concert of Alfie Boe’s summer concerts, in Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow. Roving reporters Roberta Kappus and Annie Lloyd were there for thoughtsofjustafan:

Glasgow was simply everything anyone could have hoped for – two hours and fifteen minutes of Alfie’s musical talent, backed by an incredible band (there was no support act). There was no intermission and it was pure Alfie, covering what could be described as his greatest hits and more. It was musical heaven and as it was Alfie’s first UK solo performance since Leeds in 2015, to say it was well worth the wait would be an understatement.

Last night we were once again treated to Alfie’s amazing talent as he began with swing from his upcoming album. We then journeyed through Serenata, both Together albums and concerts, Trust and Classic Quadrophenia. He saved the best till last with a mix of country and rock and never before heard material from Alfie.  He was back on the guitar for Wagon Wheel, an amazing Glen Campbell medley and an Islands in the Stream duet with one of the female singers. Alfie has an amazing ability to sing a previously recorded song heard many times before and place his own mark on it. Once Alfie has sung it the song is never the same again.

The addition of Tommy after Quad was a fantastic surprise and a massive crowd pleaser; he really hit his stride from this point, loosening up and clearly enjoying playing the music he loves alongside fantastic musicians who out played any orchestra.

Yes he did sing Bring Him Home, to a standing ovation, but not before teasing the audience that he was going to sing from Les Mis, instead launching into You’ll Be Back from Hamilton, accompanied with stories of his time on Broadway.

A fantastic night that can only be even bigger and better in Fleetwood.

Another fabulous review from two star reporters – roll on Fleetwood!

thanks for reading – please share!

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?

an exclusive interview and four exclusive photos

plus a welcome message from Alfie!

xx

Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2018: No. 6

The countdown to the summer concerts continues and we are now at number six.  So far, so good but this week there’s a difference: two songs tied for sixth!  The first is a song that has featured in all the previous Best Live Song polls and was first seen in 2012 on Alfie’s Bring Him Home tour:

The song was written by Albert Brumley, a musician and singer born in Oklahoma in 1905. After studying at the Hartford Musical Institute, Arkansas, Brumley toured with the Hartford Quartet and went on to write / copyright an astonishing 800 songs. The most famous of these is I’ll Fly Away from 1932. In 1970 he was inducted into the Country Song Writer’s Hall of Fame and his songs have been covered by amongst others, Bob Dylan.

The second song is a new entry and featured on Ball and Boe’s 2016 chart topper, Together (46 seconds in is the best bit of this video):

The song is of course A Thousand Years, one of my favourite songs from both the Together tours and album.  Written for the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, the song was written by Christina Perri and David Hodges and recorded by Perri.  Released in 2011, the song has charted three times, eventually reaching number 13.

thanks for reading – please share!

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?

all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus four exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie

xx

Ball and Boe Conquer Japan

What a twelve months it’s been for Alfie Boe and Michael Ball – as if a second number one album wasn’t enough, they have now performed sell out concerts in four countries, with the three Japanese concerts taking place this last weekend at the Orb Theatre, Tokyo.  Fans jetted in from multiple continents (Cecelia, Annie and Margie amongst them) to join Ayano, Mitsuho, Akiko and many other Japanese fans.  Roberta was also there and this is her review.

On Saturday night, two amazing performers, Alfie Boe and Michael Ball, stepped out onto the stage at a sold out Orb Theatre and conquered another audience, in another city, in another country, on another continent. Alfie and Michael loved the audience and the audience loved them from the first song to the last note in the Wham medley. To many in the audience this was a dream come true – Alfie and Michael singing in their country – and to others it was a completely new experience. The camaraderie between the two was so infectious that it easily carried over to the audience. Not only did you leave the show humming or singing a song you had just heard you felt good doing so due in large part to the affection flowing back and forth between Michael and Alfie and between them and the audience. To be a part of this event was an amazing honour and one to be treasured. The audience itself was much more diverse than in the UK, tending towards a younger age range with quite a few single men. At the stage door it was interesting to see young men among others asking Alfie to sign their programs or pose for a picture. The UK, US, Germany, Korea, China and Australia were all represented by fans who flew in for the concerts proving that music transcends any language barriers there may be.

Alfie and Michael came onto the stage with an amazing exuberance going from Somewhere to Tonight as they bounded and spun across the stage. Right from the start they were encouraging the audience to clap along with the music and the audience was happy to comply throughout. To say that Alfie and Michael were pleased with the audience response is probably an understatement.  Due to the fact that the two albums had just been released in Japan the set list was primarily a mixture of songs from both. However, Run and Keep Me In Your Heart seemed to be the highlights. Being a bit of a risk taker Alfie had no problem asking the audience with the aid of the translation skills of one of the backup singers (all three local singers were excellent) to sing along with him. While the first pass at the chorus was a bit timid by the time Alfie had a lucky gentleman on stage to repeat the chorus everyone was applauding and laughing and singing loudly.

Going into Run, Alfie made his now famous leap off the stage to the audience’s surprise and amazement. It did not take anyone very long to realise what a bonus they had received. People were reaching out to touch Alfie and stepping in the aisles to hug him as he completed his circuit. Since phones are not allowed there were very few phones lit but some had glow sticks which were waved throughout the song. Another popular song was New York, New York as Michael substituted Tokyo, Tokyo for New York. The reaction was as expected. A personal favourite was You’ll Be Back. Alfie and Michael took this up a notch, actually acting the lines out with forceful hand gestures and facial expressions. It was not a song well known to the audience but with all the acting it was well received. The audience even sang along on the da, da, da lines.

The Wham songs were as well received as in the UK; instead of the pudding hat Alfie wore a baseball cap with “I ♥️ Japan” on it. and wore it through the whole song. Alfie forgot to toss Michael his tee shirt and so while Alfie was bouncing across the front of the stage Michael was going through Alfie’s parka looking for the shirt.  Once again we had audience participation in addition to the clapping and dancing and Japan’s Alfie’s Arrows sitting in the front row put on their Choose Life tee shirts. It was a wonderful addition to a great medley.

 

The orchestra was reduced in number but this had no apparent effect on the sound – the music was as full as ever. Among the five of us who had experienced a collective seventeen performances in the UK, all agreed that Tokyo surpassed those shows.

Wow – what a fab review and as there were some differences between the first and second shows, we have another review still to come! Thank you so much Roberta x

thanks for reading – share the love for Ball and Boe by sharing!

if you like what you see, why not subscribe?

all your Alfie news straight to your inbox

plus 4 exclusive photos and a welcome message from Alfie!

xx

Ball and Boe Together in Australia

Alfie Boe and Michael Ball are certainly enjoying a period of unalloyed success with Together.  Fresh from a short summer tour, preceded by a sellout winter tour in 2016 and the platinum success of the album of the same name, Ball and Boe will take the show to Australia in October:

QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane – 5 October

Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne – 7 October

State Theatre, Sydney – 11 October

AEC Theatre, Adelaide – 14 October

Crown Theatre, Perth – 16 October

 

General tickets go on sale Friday 7 July  – click here.  Meet and greet opportunities will be available as well so this is your chance to get up close and personal!