Chichester Festivities, 9th July 2007

[Stephany]

Hi Dave & Roger,

Thanks for the great pictures and reports.
Her white dress looks amazingly beautiful - thanks for the snatched shot, Dave!
Looks like it was quite an adventure to avoid the chandelier

The song list is impressive too. Wow!! Thanks Roger for posting that so early after the concert
........and I knew you would get 'Sonny' - there was no way the applaude would stop with seven members of HWI.
I'm sure Grant was totally in awe

Best wishes,
Stephany

[Mark]

Hi Roger & Dave

Thanks so much for the swift reports and photo's I'm so pleased you got to hear Sonny live The programme looks actually quite like Porthcawl - I think Hayley felt the combination of songs/encore's working well and was well received, so she thought she would try it again. I wonder if she had thought of singing Sonny, or if perhaps the person in the audience who requested it at Porthcawl put the idea into her head

It sounds as though you had a great time, despite sitting infront of the lighting controller and a large chandelier I'm now looking forward to more photos and hearing more about it.

Best regards
Mark.

[melissa]

Oooh! Sounded fantastical! Glad you had a great time. Hayley looks glamorous, and I must say I adore her green dress!!

Think she'll let me borrow it sometime?

[roger]

stephany said:

........and I knew you would get 'Sonny' - there was no way the applaude would stop with seven members of HWI.

Hi Stephany,

I knew we would get 'Sonny' too, provided the applause was sustained. The main set was printed in the programme but the encores, of course, were not. As I returned to my seat after the interval, I could see Hayley's running order on the floor beside the microphone stand. Reading it upside down(!), I could see the first encore was to have been 'Abide With Me' but she had crossed it out and written 'Amazing Grace'. Beneath that (or above it from my angle!) was 'Sonny'. We HWI-ers were determined to keep the applause going long enough. It worked. It was either that or Grant yelling "more"!

Roger

[postscript]

dori said:

Beautiful!! I wanno know one thing: why is Hayley wearing the same two dresses (green and black) in all her concerts this month?? Is it because it's a tour and she has to uniform it? Or does she just love those dresses?

Dori

I suspect the latter, Dori--and don't we all? I want to see her in it live!
Peter S.

[Jeff]

Of course green and black are Hayley's favourite colours. It reminds her of dark chocolate !!

[Martin]

Hi Everyone
Last night was an unforgettable experience and we all agreed afterwards that it was the best performance by Hayley we had ever seen. Hayley was radiant, relaxed and her voice reached a new dimension in terms of richness and, to copy an expression used for a type of red wine, full-bodied!

I will leave the full account of the concert and pre/post evening details to the skills of Grant but here are just a few snippets:

The location, acoustics and lighting were excellent so all credit to the Chichester Festival team. It isn’t easy to get this right in such a large cathedral. Both Hayley and Fiona commented that it was one of their favourite locations (and quite genuinely meant). Also, the entire concert was televised for the CCT screens sited for those people who couldn’t see the stage! Alas, I asked the cameraman if he had also recorded it but the answer was no. What an opportunity lost!

When introducing “Pokarekare Ana” Hayley described it as her Signature Tune - Wow!! Unless this was an amazing coincidence I would like to think that HWI had a little input to this statement. Also, during Hayley’s heart felt rendition of this tune I spotted a little tear in Fiona’s eye (or was it in mine!).

I mustn’t forget both Fiona and Ian who were both on top form with an opportunity to perform six songs. The audience loved them. Also, credit to Misha the Christchurch guitarist. I thought his presence added value to the accompaniment particularly for those songs that needed a more subtle sound that the violin alone can offer. I think he only needed to re-tune one string all evening and then only briefly.

At the end of the concert (after two encores) we headed off to the “meet and greet” which had not been publicized to my knowledge. This was to our benefit as there weren’t too many people to hold up the HWI photo session and chat. Still in her green dress Hayley was in buoyant mood and pleased to meet her loyal band of followers! We all left completely Hayleywowed and looking forward to the next concert (Woburn in my case).

Martin

[postscript]

Oh wow, Martin--and great having a report from you too--See you at Woburn then, via Llangollen for me!
Peter S.

[Stephany]

Thanks for the great report, Martin.
Interesting that Hayley introduced 'Pokarekare Ana' as her signature tune.

[Stephany]

roger said:

stephany said:

........and I knew you would get 'Sonny' - there was no way the applaude would stop with seven members of HWI.

Hi Stephany,

I knew we would get 'Sonny' too, provided the applause was sustained. The main set was printed in the programme but the encores, of course, were not. As I returned to my seat after the interval, I could see Hayley's running order on the floor beside the microphone stand. Reading it upside down(!), I could see the first encore was to have been 'Abide With Me' but she had crossed it out and written 'Amazing Grace'. Beneath that (or above it from my angle!) was 'Sonny'. We HWI-ers were determined to keep the applause going long enough. It worked. It was either that or Grant yelling "more"!

Roger

That's very interesting, thanks for the info Roger.
I wonder how she chooses her 'encores'. Depending on her mood or on the audience's request? Or maybe both?

[roger]

Hi Stephany,

I don't know how she chooses her encores but it is usual that she (and probably most artists) would make the choice before the start of the event. The two songs had been written on her set list by the time I saw it during the interval and therefore, almost certainly, during the sound check or even earlier. The only unknown factor is if she would ever get to perform them. We were never in doubt, were we guys?

Roger

[Stephany]

Thanks Roger for the enlighting reply.
I think I already know the answer to my following question but I will ask anyway.
Did she accompany herself on the piano for 'Sonny'?

Stephany
PS : Hayley, you SHOULD!

[roger]

Yes, Hayley, you should!!!

No, Stephany, she didn't!

Roger

[grant]

Yesterday was a bit special for all of us attending Hayley's concert in Chichester Cathedral. This is how it was for me!

Part 1
Strange, isn’t it, that a Hayley concert can consume a whole day? My “Hayleyday” began with a 7am alarm and the 9.02 train to London. My journey down to Chichester was uneventful except for, rather surprisingly, some disruption on the Victoria line which resulted in a packed platform and several trains running through slowly displaying “Sorry! Not in service” Made my connection though, and arrived in Chichester just before 1.30pm.

Found my B&B without trouble. Fell really lucky here; staying with a single lady in her one and only guest room which is very well appointed and with a myriad of welcoming items including a tin of chocolate biscuits!

Having settled myself in and laid out my requirements for the evening, I set off to explore the town but found myself at the cathedral so explored that instead! The Cathedral complex is something of a maze and I couldn’t work out where the performers might be secreted pre-concert so I ventured inside the Cathedral itself. During my explorations I was sure I spotted Hayley briefly, disappearing through a doorway.

By now there is some activity on the stage. Guitarist Mischa is present and very soon begins his sound check. With all this activity it seems that something will be happening shortly. As the Cathedral clock chimed out two o’clock, Fiona Pears and Ian Tilley appeared from the door that I had seen Hayley disappear through.

Neither of them noticed me at first, but in a quiet moment as Fiona walked across the front of the stage, I offered a quiet “Hi Fiona” which she heard and spun round to face me. She seemed really pleased to see me and asked how I was. Apparently she was unhappy with her violin as she said she had just fitted a couple of new strings and thought they didn’t sound right. Ian noticed me a little later as he jumped off stage to check out some minor problem and acknowledged me with a wave and a smile.

I watched the three musicians setting up and practicing, surprised at one point to see Fiona settle onto Ian’s stool at the Steinway and start playing and playing proficiently I might add. Did anyone know that Fiona played? I certainly didn’t.

I guess it would have been a little before 3pm that Hayley appeared, walking alone through the vast Cathedral. As she turned towards the stage, she acknowledged me with a smile, a wave and a cheery “Hi” from behind the apple that she was munching.

Hayley is wearing what looks to me like a Japanese patterned dress over jeans, but I couldn’t say what the top was like as she also had on a black cardigan. I did take quite a few pictures in very low light, but most look OK.

From the very beginning of Hayley’s sound check, something seemed different. She sounded absolutely amazing, so powerful yet effortless. I’m no expert when it comes to assessing musical talent, even Hayley, but it did seem to me that she sounded better than she had ever sounded.

During her, almost hour long session, we heard “The Water Is Wide”, “Shenandoah”, “One Fine Day”, Caccini’s “Ave Maria”, “Summer Fly” and “Amazing Grace” although I think the only one she sang right through was “Ave Maria”. It was also more than evident that Hayley is very happy at the moment and was enjoying herself immensely. At one point, a mother with a small baby in a pram, paused in the cloisters to watch the performance and Hayley, catching sight of the baby, made a point of acknowledging their presence, she even managed a wave at one point despite being in the middle of a song and I caught THAT on film!

After the sound check, I hung around briefly as Hayley was still talking with one of the festival organisers. As she turned to leave, I caught her eye with a wave and she waved back, then she was gone.

I left the Cathedral just on four to discover that it had rained heavily whilst I had been inside, but then I had been lapping up almost two hours of sound check. What an exceptional afternoon it had been, I though, as I wandered slowly back to my B&B to get ready for tonight’s concert.

To Be Continued …..

[Stephany]

Awwh...fantastic report once again, Grant.
A nice taste before going to dinner - hopefully part 2 will be online when I come back