Porthcawl - 28th June 2007

[postscript]

garbobob said:

I just joined the forum, but have been looking on HWI for 2 years.

I am also going to this Porthcawl concert - only 10 miles from me

It's my first Hayley Concert!!!

Gareth

Delighted to hear from you Gareth and welcome. Clearly, if you have been with us 'lurking' for two years you know what we are about. If it has taken two years for you to make up your mind then thee should be no question that you know what you are doing! Look forward to your first concert review and your later posts.

Peter S.

[Stephany]

Hi Mark & Gareth,
Have lots of fun in Porthcawl.
I'm sure it will be a fantastic concert once again.
It's odd that you have a 4th row seat considering you are late booking, Mark!!
Maybe they knew you were our HWI representant i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best wishes,
Stephany

[meldy]

Welcome Gareth! Sounds splendid that you are going to Porthcawl!! How exciting your first Hayley concert! Hope you and Mark have a wonderful time, well I know you will

Meldy

[garbobob]

Hi again.

Well the Porthcawl concert has come and gone and the question is ..... am I glad I went to my first Hayley concert?

The answer is YEEESSSS!!!

My memory is really bad so I am not going to attempt going through the whole performance.

I must get out of the way the small mention that the "Grand Theatre" was not so Grand and there was nowhere to do a meet and greet afterwards. So that was not so the best compared to other locations I have been to.

On the flip side the performance by Hayley for me was quite refreshing. There was a variety of songs from all 3 albums which was good for me. The band (including Fiona Pears) were very good in their backing to Hayley and each played their part well.

The stand out song for me was Prayer - this was sung so well, in perfect tune and great interpretation.
The other well received songs were Pokarekare Ana, Scarborough Fair and Danny Boy (the last two being British favourites).

In the middle there was a little aside by Fiona Pears, performing 4 of her own violin pieces which were warmly received, if a little out of step with Hayley's music.

To end with Hayley performed the wonderful May It be from Lord of The Rings, which got a huge applause as the final song.
In the encore there was Amazing Grace and by public demand -Sonny.

All in all it was a most enjoyable evening with Hayley saying she was going to have Fish & Chips after the show. How very fitting for a seaside location

[flip8]

Sonny, by popular demand? I should hope so! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
Glad to hear you had fun (like you had a choice)!

[roger]

Hi garbobob,

Thanks very much for your report of tonight's concert. I think you must have posted it within about 90 minutes of the concert ending which must be something of a record!

I am pleased to hear she sang 'Sonny' as I don't think many of us (if any) have heard the live performance of that song yet and it is one that I would love to hear. Sorry you didn't get to meet her though. Hopefully, that will happen for you in the future.

Roger

[Dori]

Wow garbobob, that sounds like you had a great time!! Any photos?
Dori

[grant]

I am dying to hear Hayley sing Sonny live, so you have got one up on most of us at this forum already!

Did you not hang out at the stage door to meet Hayley? I'm sure she would have been disappointed not to have been able to meet her fans afterwards. She always says that doing so rounds off the evening for her.

Best wishes
Grant

[Caitlin]

Hi Garbobob!

First, welcome to the forum. I must have missed welcoming you somewhere, sorry for that

I'm glad you had a wonderful time at your first Hayley concert. But then again, it's pretty hard NOT to have a good time at a Hayley concert. You are SO lucky to have heard Sonny live. I must ask - did she play the piano for it?

Thanks for reporting so soon after the concert. I look forward to hearing more from you.

<3 Caite

[Stephany]

caite said:

You are SO lucky to have heard Sonny live. I must ask - did she play the piano for it?

That's also something I would love to know.
I'm sure Mark was totally in awe when Hayley started singing "Sonny".
Thank you for your report, Garbobob!

Very best wishes from Paris,
Stephany

[Mark]

Grant wrote

I am dying to hear Hayley sing Sonny live, so you have got one up on most of us at this forum already!

Hi Grant

Your wish may come true - stay tuned

Mark

[Mark]

Hi Garbobob

Many thanks for your very swift report. I didnt arrive home until 1am this morning and didnt feel like switching on the computer. I guess we didnt knowingly bump into eachother last night, but I am so pleased that you enjoyed it. It was a fantastic evening. I'm just in the process of writing my report, so keep tuned in

Mark

[Stephany]

tinky3344 said:

Grant wrote

I am dying to hear Hayley sing Sonny live, so you have got one up on most of us at this forum already!

Hi Grant

Your wish may come true - stay tuned

Mark

Stephany

[Mark]

PART 1 - Porthcawl - The journey & arrival

The weather was fairly good when I set out yesterday at around 2pm. In a way, I wish I had set off earlier as I was too excited to get any work done . Anyway, about half way there, a travel report informed me that the Severn Bridge into Wales was closed due to an accident. My first thought was for Hayley, as I knew that she would be travelling along the same road and I was praying that she would arrive in time to rehearse without being in a panic. However, the bridge re-opened just before I reached it but, the build up of traffic meant that the journey took me an hour longer than expected.

By the time I arrived in Porthcawl, it was 5.30pm and the weather had taken a turn for the worse. I took a walk along the promanade to clear my head and was nearly blown away.

See what I mean



The Grand Pavillion is perhaps not as grand as it once was on the outside but the inside was a pleasant surprise



Yep - Ive come to the right place



I was pleasantly surprised by Porthcawl itself and I was seeing it not exactly in the best light given the weather. Here is a shot along the promanade from the Grand Pavillion



After my walk I decided to pop into the theatre to ask if I could use the small attached carpark and to see if Hayley had arrived. The answer was yes to both questions, thankfully. There were too very pleasant ladies on reception and I got chatting to them about HWI and explained that there would normally be a group of us present but, tonight I was perhaps the only face Hayley would recognise. The ladies said why didnt I wrote Hayley a quick note to let her Know that I was here I wasnt sure that it would be appropriate I said. But with a pad a pen trust at me, It was done with the assurance that they would "make sure she got it".

I took my seat around 7pm and chatted to the man next to me, who was part of a male voice choir and had performed with Hayley just before last Christmas !! My seat was 4 rows back, but right to one side of the stage, still, I had a good view. The stage was 3 feet or so high and everyone could see. The lights went down at 7.30 on the dot and the curtains opened to reveal ......... coming up in part 2.

Mark

[Mark]

Part 2 - Porthcawl - The Performance

The curtains opened with the stage already lit and there stood Fiona to one side, Ian Tilley sat at the piano and the guitarist (sorry I didnt quite get his name it was ...... Marks I think). Within 30 seconds, Hayley walked on to stage with one of her black dresses on - sorry no photo of that one. I should say, that the theatre appeared very strict on photography and from where I was sitting, with my small camera, I only managed one sneeky shot (well photo anyway)

Hayley started with Ava Maria, followed by Scarborough Fair and The Waters Wide. Fiona then performed the 2 numbers that she did at Telford with Hayley coming back to sing 3 more songs, saving the songs from Treasure until the second half.

Fiona opened the second half with 3 numbers, again those that she performed in Telford. With Ian at the piano and the fantastic accoustics of this venue, her performance was truly fantastic and the audience were really enjoying it.

Hayley then came back on Stage to slow the pace right down and (not in the right order) performed Danny Boy, May It Be, In Truitina, Pokarekare Ana, Let Me Lie, Shenandoah, Santa Lucia, One Fine Day and Summer Fly. The audience started to clap to Summer Fly, it was the best that I had heard Hayley perform it.

During the performance, Hayley kept treading on a squeeky floorboard on stage and had to keep moving - this became quite a joke throughout and the audience were very vocal. On quite a few occasions the audience were calling out to her on stage about the rugby etc. Hayley dealt with it really well and appeared to be absolutely loving the interaction. Thats something that I've not seen before. The audience were also very knowledgable about Hayley and her songs - I was quite surprised She was so warmly received that she must have commented 2 or 3 times on what a fantastic audience you've been - "I've really enjoyed myself tonight"

The first encore was Amazing Grace after which, Fiona and the others left the stage but Hayley was enjoying herself so much, she said "shall I sing one more " to which a huge YES was shouted from the crowd. "What shall I sing then ?" she says - various songs were called out and in the end someone shouted "Sonny" . " I think we can manage that can't we" Hayley says to Ian. I could'nt believe it It was a performance to remember , totally unreheased and I'm not ashamed to say that my eyes were "watering" while she sang. (keep tuned in)

Here is the only pic I sneaked in of Hayley on Stage just making sure Ian is ready to play Sonny. Oh and yes, she had changed into her Green (Welsh) dress for the second half.



As the last notes of Sonny faded, the audience burst into applause and Hayley got a standing ovation Finally , the show really had ended and I made my way into the foyer to wait for Hayley, Fiona & Ian. To be continued ...........Lots of aftershow pics too

Mark