Shepherds Bush Empire - 31 August 2007

[Mark]

Hi James

Thanks so much for your report. It was a great pleasure to meet you too and yes, your right, there are many benefits to being a member of HWI

I very much look forward to your photos (send me a PM if I can help with uploading them to the forum) and to meeting you again at another Hayley concert.

Best wishes
Mark

[1littlegirl]

WOW!! I just looked through all these pages and found out how phenomenal this concert was!!! I felt like I was almost there! Thanks so much everyone for all the gorgeous pics and wonderful reviews.

[comet]

roger said:

Okay everyone, I have a question for you. I think many of us realised that this event was going to be a little different from the sort of concert that Hayley normally gives, but we could not have known quite how different it would be. Nevertheless, more members attended than ever before. Of all the concerts that she is giving this year, especially those in the London area, what was it about this one that made so many people decide to go? That question is directed to everyone who came, but especially to those of you who travelled from overseas. Surely it wasn't merely coincidence, was it?

Roger

There were a few clues that this was going to be special.
Kiwi = New Zealand
Ceili (An Irish word) = Social Evening; Irish dancing session; friendly call or visit.
Kiwi and Ceili in one line :2fun: That sounds like a plan.
I went to ceilis all through the summers as a young lad.
Fiona had spent some time in Ireland learning how to give it wellie.
Hayley had spent time with Celtic Woman and I hope having some Celtic fun (craic).
All the seats were to be removed from the stalls was another clue that this was not going to be a "concert" as such but something a bit more exuberant.
A lot of HWI members were booking, so I thought this would be a good time to meet as many of you as possible before I start singing " They're coming to take me away ha ha they're coming to take me away "

So I sold the pig and sow and booked me some tickets for planes and things.
I got a good price for the pig, so I booked a hotel as well (Instead of sleeping rough )
And so it was I came to be in the heart of London to hear the world's greatest soprano.
Of course I had heard Hayley close up and personal in the National Concert Hall in Dublin in June 2007 and I really wanted to hear that beautiful voice again.

Oh and by the way, the reason I did not join you all in the WALKABOUT was this.
Drew and myself were outside the Walkabout when himself in the black and white jumper came up and started sort of chatting at us. "Jumper Man" decided he was going to follow the rest of the HWI members into the Walkabout, so he went to the door to get in, there was a bit of an altercation and flailing of arms with the doorman of African origin, unfortunately just as Jumper man was being physically ejected, I walked up to the door, the bouncer had seen me talking to Jumper Man and assumed I was with him so I got the same treatment. Thanks Jumper Man whoever you are, I owe you one, Maybe Hayley can sign your plaster casts next time

All in all I had a wonderful time, Thanks to all of you HWI members.
We were right when we said:

"THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT"


comet

[timj]

Hi Roger, I went to Shepherd's Bush because I miss Hayley, especially after I read all the glowing reports from concerts that HWI members attend! I knew it would be a different type of show but that would not matter to me, I love her voice whatever she sings. Maybe she'll include some NZ Eazy Rock on a future album, in particular " I hope I never", I hadn't heard it before! AHHA! I digress!

I wanted to support Hayley with this 'different (for us)" type of show, I'm glad I did, the "different" was great!, try more musical styles Hayley I'll be there (well....maybe not Rap, HipHop, Bluegrass, or Throat Singing). Again, I digress!

It was a pleasure to meet Stephany, Caite, Joyce, James, and Paul, also to re-aquaint with Drew, I hadn't seen him since Canterbury and didn't know him right off .(I think it was the nifty hat Drew).

I wanted to go to a Kiwi Concert so I'll know how to behave when I go to NZ.(let's go Grant we can share a car), AND with the World Cup and Japanese Tour, I wasn't sure there would be many Hayley Shows until December,( but I believe that will change now).......

Hope I answered your question Roger.......TimJ

( Oh my I have a picture to post, hopefully before page 55)

[dutchjoyce]

THANKS Thomas for your nice report and pictures.
I hope you had a good trip back home!!
I try to give an answer to the question, why to decide to go to this concert.
After seeing Hayley for the first time in New Zealand, there was no doubt, WESTENW@WED, in one evening!! Back in the Netherlands, I tried to find more information about her,her music and her concerts. I was ,as someone called "lurking", around, reading,hearing and so more. The fact, she's now based in London, and most of her concerts are in the UK,made it for me easier to see her again.Last year i found out, she was going to do a tour in Germany, and i booked for the show in Cologne.Can you imagine what a shock it was, when i heard about the cancelation!! Our Holiday planned for this year to Ireland, gave us a new chance to see her in Dublin. But my health situation,on that moment, and the loss of two friends in one week time(one of my age 42) made it impossible to do a holiday and a concert at that time. Simply, i was not in the mood for it. The 3 rd chance should be the best, and that was Sheperds Bush concert.A new chance to see her, and for me and my husband , a short break in London for a few days, was a good combination to go for. And so we did, we decided to go to London and we had a great time.We came in on wednesday,had lovely weather and saw a lot of London, the city we've never visited before. HydePark,Kensingtonpalace,Buckinghampalace,London Eye,Towerbridge,Big Ben,The Ritz , etc etc and finally SHEPERD'sBUSH EMPIRE.
What a FANTASTIC evening we had, Thanks to all the HWI members, it was very nice to meet you all, Thanks to SteveA, to make it possible to meet Hayley, Thanks to Fiona,Ian , and the members of the band, and Finally thanks to Hayley.

[Stephany]

It is very interesting to hear how everyone decided to go to Shepherds Bush. I believe no one regrets his/her decision! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Paul, I'm so sorry to hear about the 'Jumper Man' story.
Next time you'll definintely be with us!

James, we didn't have the chance to talk much but I was delighted to meet you anyway. Hopefully next time in Southampton we'll have more time to chat!

Thomas, thank you very, VERY much for your gorgeous pictures.
They are fantastic - good souvenirs from my trip to London

Lots of love,
Stephany xxx

[martindn]

WOW! That concert realy must have been immense!
I am still a day behind in reading all your posts. It didn't help that I had to be away last night doing a night shift at Aberdeen Airport, so right now I've had 3 hours slepp out of the last 40. And I need to go to bed!
Drew, the problem with your videos is that your ISP imposes a limit on the amount of data that can be transferred from yout link, and that limit has been exceeded, so I can't play the videos. I guess they want some more money! I apologize if somebody else has already pointed this out to you.
Stephany, trust me I know how it feels. The first time I saw Hayley live over 3 years ago, I had not even heard her record. I didn't know what to expect and was totally blown away. It took me weeks to recover, in fact perhaps I never did recover.
Surely, sooner or later Hayley just HAS to do something that will make her a household name. She is just so impossibly brilliant, and every time I see a recoding or hear a new record, she amazes me again. Her talent just HAS to burst out to a wider audience, all she needs is the right song and some half decent promotion to capture the public imagination. The vidoes and photos from Shepherds Bush just do it again. I am now sure, she is simply the most talented female singer I have ever sen, and believe me, I have seen some of the best. You name them, I have probablty seen them.
From what I have seen I'm sure the concert was awesome. When are you coming back to the Midlands Hayley?

Martin

[scoobedoo]

Hi everyone,

First of all, are your feet now back on the ground after a fabulous night out?? Now you guys and gals know how us kiwi's party i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I am sooo pleased you all enjoyed yourselves with some wonderful reports and photos.

Stephany............. WOW!!!!!! you sure had a ball and you had a chance to meet up with Hayley i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif You are well and truly ahead of me, the last time I heard Hayley was back in Jan last year, and there were well over a hundred people waiting to see her for a signing session after the concert,unfortunately I didn't have the time to wait around after the concert. Never mind next time hopefully.

This weekend I think is chat time again, if I am right I wonder what the subject will be,any guesses anyone i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

With a bit of luck I will view the videos this weekend, thanks guys for posting them and the wonderful photos.

Roger...... somewhere on this thread you mentioned that you had food supplies in for a week the way this thread was going you should have perhaps looked at enough supplies for a MONTH

Well done everyone I would loved to have been there but I am pleased you had a taste of kiwi partying i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

You know............It's actually different to the norm rather good in fact.

Pleased you all enjoyed it.... you must do it again sometime,

take care,

cheers,

Rodders CH CH NZ

[grant]

Hi Thomas, Mark, Tim, James Joyce have I missed anyone? Oh, yes, and Paul!!

Many thanks for all the additional reports, comments and pictures from all of you. The length this thread is running to is testament to the sort of night we had!

I am so sorry Paul that you got involved with "Jumper man" some of us have encountered him on four occassions now and he is a real liability and could cause real problems in the future. He was becoming quite aggresive at times on Friday and it makes me wonder whether or not we should be alerting someone to this individual.

Roger, what do you think? He was obviously aggrieved at missing out on meeting Hayley, something I think she may be eternally grateful for!

On a happier note, as James has already commented, HWI gets the job done where Hayley is concerned and I guess there are a lot of member who may never have met her, had it not been for this amazing family we have created for her!

Best wishes
Grant

[timj]

[Joe]

Hello Thomas,
Thanks for your report and photos ... nice of you to share them!

Hi Tim J...
Some great pics from you too... I like your HWI shirt !

Joe

[Stephany]

Great pictures, Tim!
I particularly like the one of you & Hayley of course

Stephany

[Richard]

Thanks for all the additional reports and photographs, everybody!

It was definitely the best concert of the nineteen I've been to so far, and it was also the most international HWI gathering I've been part of. We certainly lived up to the name 'Hayley Westenra International' on Friday night. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

I guessed it was going to be a very different type of show when I first saw the venue listed on Hayley's official site, and soon it was promoted as 'Hayley's Kiwi Ceili'. I'm pleased we had such a good turn-out, and I know Hayley was too. I must thank everybody for coming and making it such a memorable occasion, before, during and after the show!

Best Wishes,

Richard

[Steve H]

I have waited until this thread has quietened down a little to post about a few 'firsts'and memorable occasion for me personally at Shepherds Bush.

The evening was special, that was for sure, It was the first time I had met Stephany a fellow colleague on the management team of HWI and the first time I had met Paul, James, Joyce and Chris. It was great to meet you all and I am sure we will meet up again soon!

It was the first time that I had been invited to the after concert party, for which I can not thank Steve A enough. the venue suited this perfectly with a bar upstairs and ample to space to put us without us taking over!

It was also the first time Hayley has ever asked me for a Hug!, thats right a Hug - and this is how it happened. As Stuart and I were leaving the upstairs party Stuart was updating Hayley about her organic allotment which is sited at Alfred Salter School, I said to Hayley that "we were off now" as I had a long trip back to Suffolk. She smiled at me and said "Thanks for coming Steve, give us a hug" Well I did not need asking twice! It all happened so quickly but I will remember the occasion for a long time yet.

Clearly the HWI family is as important to Hayley as Hayley is to HWI, the support from Steve A is I am sure recognition of this special relationship,

Thank you Hayley, and thank you HWI.

Steve.

[Dori]

Hello Steve,
Aww, she gave you a hug!! You should feel so previlaged!! :2fun:

Dori :wink: