Stoke-on-Trent - 18 October 2008

[graemek]

Oct 19, 2008 22:03:39 GMT martindn said:

That video is on my computer, and I would like you to have a copy. If the worst comes to the worst, I will burn individual DVDs, but I hope someone will come to my rescue..

See also my PM Martin,

Graeme

[martindn]

Right, the start of what I hope will be a pictorial review.

Like Grant, I set off shortly after 1pm. But I am 35 miles further away from Stoke than he is, which explains why he got his post in first. The reverse will be true at Northampton,so maybe I'll get my own back!

No matter, I had printed out direcxtions from the AA, and knew Hanley (one of the famous potteries towns) from the early 70's. So I drove until I saw the signs for the Victoria Hall, then parked in the first car park I saw. But I had parked too soon, there was a nearer one as I subsequently found out, across the road from the hall. So I walked the quarter mile or so uphill and found the hall. it looked like this



And outside it, as there always is at any Hayley concert in the UK, was a group of HWI members.



Actually, this photo was taken later, I arrived before Mark but grant., Dazza, Peter were there. Timj, Mark, Graham and Morag and eventually Adny arrived later.

I will gloss over the lavatorial stuff, and Grant has already described how we got back from the bog in the nick of time to see Hayley arrive, fresh from her exciting experience of being stuck in traffic on the M6. I could have told her that M1/A50 would have been better, but I sure that was up to Dave, her driver. It was lovely to see her again. It is always lovely to see Hayley.
The meal was at at Whetherspoons as Grant described so I will move on move on to the concert. When we came out of Whetherspoonsit was drizzling, as it does in England most of the time as you know. But we were able to walk straight into the foyer of the Victoria Hall, and very nice and modern it is too. Eventually they, with great ceremony, opened the doors and let us into the auditorium.
At this point I parted with the rest of the HWI group. They had all booked early and had good seats in the stalls.. I had booked late, and was in the third row of the circle, which I though was preferable to row R in the stalls. I was correct too. The two seats directly in front of me were empty. A great view of the stage, and a wonderful opportunity for photography I thought, and I had my new camera (and the old one as a backup).
I was a bit inhibited though, since I had made the mistake of reading the small print on the back of my ticket, which said that photograpy and sound recoding were strictly prohibited. I looked around for camera Nazis, and didn't see any. But you can't be too careful. But I was able to take the photos you see and several others without being challenged.
This is what it looked like from where I was just before Hayley appeared



Our old friend Al was at his piano



Then Danny, (dkeeno) who we had met earlier appeared and made his appeal



And introduced HAYLEY, resplendent in her famous orange dress, beautiful as ever



Once again, we were thrilled by that fabulous voice. As has already been mentioned, there were a number of wonderful surprises in the set list. Hayley sounded at least as good as I have ever heard her, and I was already thinking that the wonderful iTunes EP was old hat. She has moved on. She just gets better and better. It is absolutely thrilling. Where will it end I wonder. I hope I live to see it. As she sang "I love you, I love you Iove you, like never before", I couldn't have agree more..
Raven as always were wonderful.. Al Gurr is a fine pianist, this is the thrid time I have seem him with Hayley, and the third time I have seen Raven with her too.
The interval came all too soon, and there was the usual HWI gathering in th aisle.



This was taken at some ridiculous ISO setting like 6400, so is a bit grainy as you see. One lives and learns with photography, even at my age.

I took the opportunity to get a better picture of the auditorium from where I sat



Martin

[Andy]

Hi All

Thumbs up for what was a truly fantastic night !!!

[martindn]

And so to the second half. This started with three peices from Raven



Then Hayley appeared in a lime green dress I had never seen before



and sang to us beautifully again











culminating in her dismissing her musicians from the stage, and singing that moving song Sonny, all on her own.



Then she left the stage, Raven filled in for her, and she reappeared in a different dress, the lovely black and gold number



And gave us one of the highlights, Santa Lucia, sung with thrilling power. If that has been in Venice, perhaps they would of heard it in Rome or even Naples (which seems to be mentioned inthe song) Afterwards she quipped "you liked that one didn't you", and Al, the pianist, asked for the volume of his monitor to be turned down.

More songs followed







And all to soom it was over. She finished with Wuthering Heights, a wonderful rendition. I think it was Grant who later said, and I don't knoe how he knew, that there were three encores prepared. Perhaps he had seen one of those bits of paper that Dave the Driver was scattering around the stage in the interval. But in the event we got only one encore, Hine e Hine, beautiful as always.

Martin

[Joe]

Hello Martin, thanks for these new sets of photos. Brilliant!

Mark also shared some lovely photos and scanned the programme for us...thanks!

Thanks to Grant and Dazza for their contributions today...nice to see Tim representing HWI Pennsylvania!

'night all,

Joe

[martindn]

We had been told by Danny that the signing afterwards would be limited to 20 minutes. In the event, it was rather longer, perhaps twice as long. But as we know Hayley loves her fans as much as we love her, and was in high spirits throughout.



This is Hayley with Timj, who had flown over from the USA specially for this performance





It is just lovely to be there and see Hayley with the people who love what she does. She really is a truly beautiful human being.







Not convinced? Well, our "official photographer is. Here he is in action



and Hayley, concentrating on writing her name correctly. By the way, what does the "x" stand for?



There was quire a queue to see Hayley (who could blame them)



One of whom was our Mark



I think Hayley likes Mark (lucky guy)





Another one of our princess



or two



or three



In fact I could go on all night, she is so photogenic









Then Dazza arrived at the front of the queue





I'm getting carried away now













It all ended very quickly. But as always with Hayley's concerts, you leave feeling that it was a privilege to be there, and that the experieince you have had really was something special..

It always takes me weeks to get over a Hayley concert, except that I never really do, After seven weeks since Lincoln I was almost sane again. Or perhaps almost insane.

What a beautiful, inspiring experience that was!

Martin

[Joe]

Hello and Welcome Stephen!

I'm pleased that you've joined us here on the forum! Glad that you attended Hayley's performance last Saturday.

Looking forward to more of your posts!

Best wishes from the USA,
Joe

[graemek]

Wow Martin,

Incredible shots. Thank you

Yes, its impossible to say : "OK that's enough", when its Hayley. And Grant too of course. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Graeme

[Mark]

Hi Martin

Thank- you, Thank-you for your stunning photos of the show itself - your new camera did you proud indeed.

Thank-you also for capturing me talking to Hayley. Of course, I was thanking her for singing 'Never Saw Blue' - I can't quite remember why she was waving her pen at me :

All I know is that because we were under some pressure to be quick, when it was my turn, I was temporarily lost for words - I couldn't remember the name of the song she had just wowed me with Hayley was very patient and after what seemed hours (in reality it was all of 30 seconds) I almost shouted out 'Never saw Blue' - maybe thats when she waved her pen at me as she remembered my asking her to sing this song in the past.

Great shots Martin and thanks again.

Best wishes
Mark

[grant]

Hi Martin

Oct 19, 2008 23:24:08 GMT martindn said:

I think it was Grant who later said, and I don't know how he knew,

Quite right about the bits of paper. They were the set list - identical to the one Andrew posted a scan of for the Aberdeen concert. I had intended to 'rescue' a copy, but in the rush at the end, forgot all about it!

Oct 19, 2008 22:03:39 GMT martindn said:

No, I FILMED you and Peter with Hayley. Then I spoke to her and gave her Graeme's message, It was so quick you probably missed it!

At that point I was in 'Hayley Heaven' so probably wouldn't have noticed if the theatre was on fire! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Oct 19, 2008 22:03:39 GMT martindn said:

That video is on my computer, and I would like you to have a copy. If the worst comes to the worst, I will burn individual DVDs, but I hope someone will come to my rescue..

That would be great Martin. I'm sure that Dave or Graeme will 'sort you out'

Thanks again for the Itunes CD insert. Now safely in its propper place!

Best wishes
Grant

[stephen]

Thank's to Grant,Martin and Joe for your feedback and of course to all contributors.I was very surprised at Hayley knowing the song and giving a small rendition of the Rainbow Connection which apparently was captured by Martin.Luckily I did not try and sing it !.My travel limit will only be to Hanley and hence posts will be restricted.For those of you not aquinted with the song it came from the Muppets and was sung by Kermit the frog .It's clear to see why Hayley would be a big improvement!.A superb rendition of it can be found by Karen Carpenter on the Carpenters album "The Way we Were".It was originally an outtake from the Made in America album. I hope Hayley returns again next year when I will see you again.

Regard's, Stephen.

[belleyetere]

Hi Mark
Thankyou for the photographs of Abigail and Hayley there great. I will not have to forget my camera next time.
Robert

[Stephany]

Hi everyone

Thank you very much for all the reviews and pictures! It sounds like it was a very special and enjoyable concert. I'm glad to hear that a few songs from her first album are now back in her repertoire. I suppose it's due to the fact that her Greatest hits is out soon.

Stephany

[Bill]

Hello All,

What another special Hayley night that was. My first concert since Buxton. Her voice just gets better and better. Plenty of songs I had never heard live before as well. Also good to see some old HWI faces such as Grant (they don't come much older ), Mark and Tomasz. Also some new ones like TimJ.

Did manage a few pictures when Grant's elbow wasn't in shot.

Here's our American in Stoke-on-Trent:



How many HWI guys are in this?



We're usually the ones 'Western-wowed', but looks like it's Hayley who is wowed by Tomasz:



More later!

Regards
Bill

[Andy]

Hi All

I would just like to say thanks to everybody that I met at Stoke on Saturday, it was nice to meet you all again and Tim who I met for the first time.I enjoyed our little chat Mark, talking about Hayley etc. Martin, I'm glad your new camera was OK . I could go on and on, but I wanted to say that you all contributed to what was an absolutely brilliant night. Here are some of my pics of the signing.










Best wishes Andy