One should not complain about Branson's wi-fi, as the system is continually monitoring at split-second intervals the best service available. As we are currently whizzing along at probably 120mph that is pretty okay but it is rather slow compared with my home broadband and the track is currently somewhat bumpy, so I am typing this very erratically as a word document and will upload later when at home.
In a few hours time, Hayley will be following me, having flown into Liverpool two days ago and leaving today (Friday) on a much later train, allowing herself time to do some Liverpool shopping.
So, where do I begin? Alice said ‘… at the beginning and go on until you get to the end …’ but when one is in Wonderland sometimes what seems right is wrong and what seems wrong seems eminently more fun, yet not too naughty!
As you will have guessed, I am still in Hayley’s Wonderland. What is it, perhaps six years since she first bowled me over stepping so assuredly forward to shake my hand saying, "Well you can't get any closer than saying 'Hi!' can you?" I am just as bowled over now! Last night was superb. The beauty of someone like Hayley is that she attracts the best who all want to be with her. The key, as it is so often when she is ‘solely’ with one or other of her regular pianists, Andy on guitar and Raven, the value of the whole rises to her level. Rarely is it ever Hayley ‘with’ anyone, although for pragmatic reasons that is how it might properly be billed. Around her is so much talent that the whole is seamless.
This applies to last night, although on this occasion she was ‘simply’ the RAF’s guest. I am not sure if I will list the programme or will scan legibly to a small enough size to be loadable while still being readable, I have been travelling so much of late that I have a lot to catch up with, even though many of the letters I send out with my Christmas cards have been written while travelling but they tend to be long letters as they are re-communicating after a year with friends all over the world, so I shall be coming back home with much to do.
Simply detailing the programme can only be of passing interest, for the key with an evening like this is the high level of professionalism that is obvious throughout but behind the scenes. I have found this in the past when Hayley has sung with bands. What makes everything work to such a high level is the ‘hidden’ effort, the skills of the arrangers. In the “Champagne Polka" one completely overlooked the missing string section, because the parts allocated to the woodwind and the brass were so well detailed and executed that you didn’t initially realise the strings weren’t there. This detail was obvious not only throughout the band arrangements, especially in the “Christmas Festival” (a medley of Christmas music) but also in the choral arrangements.
I had no intention of seeking Hayley after the concert, it was cold outside but more particularly I expected her to be hidden away, giving time to all the supporters who make a function like this go so well and for whom her presence would have been their highlight. I did not expect the ‘wagon’, it was only she and I had thought she would have flown in from Ireland straight into Liverpool and be taking the train back the next day, which was in fact the case but how did I know?
I had gone homeward after closure, collecting the glass of mulled wine and a mince pie and taking one or two photographs of the building by the West door. I did not make any attempt to photograph during the concert, my current equipment just isn’t good enough for those conditions and in any case, although using it for stills, it very obviously is a camcorder so, because of the sound recording, people tend to be particularly nervous of them being used.
Despite having arrived very early, this time armed with a book to while the time, I was still sat some 12 rows back, due to pre-reserved seats for families and others associated with the RAF. Perhaps because of the size of the place, they had not closed the cathedral between everyday visiting and the start of the concert. Presumably allowing people to eavesdrop on the rehearsal/sound check if they wished, or maybe, because it is so large it just isn’t practical to close it. It is a vast edifice with all mod cons and seems to operate like a small town.
It is the largest cathedral in Great Britain, has the highest gothic arches, the largest organ in the country and possibly in Europe and the heaviest peal of bells in the world.
As I said to Hayley, “Some contrast to Exeter, eh?” Fortunately, she seemed unconcerned by the cold as it seemed to me to be colder than Exeter had been and I sat throughout with my coat and scarf on. She had highlighted the cold at Exeter, saying Raven had had problems with their fingers and strings breaking.
I wandered back down the aisle as I had forgotten to count off the rows as I left. I met an attendant on the way and he said they had made provision for 1200 but around 1,000 had actually been taken. As I reached the performance area it was apparent that the RAF support unit was a little more realistic about health and safety. They had not cordoned off the entire area, so I took the opportunity to go round the choir stalls before the altar, leaving my glass of wine on a ledge as I felt a social drink somewhat inappropriate to be waving in front of the altar.
I noticed that the corridor led to the choir disrobing rooms and one seeming office door had “Dressing room 2” on it. I wondered, as it seemed nearest the stage, if that might be/have been Hayley’s, or perhaps the office further up had been “dressing room 1”, its sign now removed as the place returned to its normal business I chose not to be inquisitive.
Having attempted, largely inadequately, to photograph the altar I left, intending to head back through the nave and outside. As I picked up my glass a familiar voice exclaimed from several feet behind my back, “Peter!”
I turned to greet the wearer of the scarlet dress [
hwi.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Concert&action=display&thread=4277&page=5#109229] .
“Hayley! I do not believe this! I have just been trying to photograph the altar and will probably have to join three pictures in Photoshop.”
“Oh that’s an idea. I really must think of getting myself a better camera.”
We had met with the casualness as if it had been the street or supermarket shopping, perhaps all the more wonderful because it was so by chance and so unsought. It is the sort of meeting I am sure we all dream of having with Hayley and only a very few of us, who are able to make so many of her concerts, can possibly hope to be statistically favoured for it to happen to us, for such meetings can only be ordained by chance of circumstance.
We chatted for some while, with one or two performers dropping by to pass a comment. One, whom I perceived would have liked to stay but thought he was butting in, I called back and said, “Come on and join us. I’m fortunate to be able to see her quite often, you are not butting in, come and share her company.” He came back to join us.
Conversation was wide-ranging as such light chit-chat is and I reminded her of what I said to her previously. “Was it four years ago you were up the road at the Philharmonic Hall?” She nodded. “You said you probably wouldn’t have the time to visit but I told you about this place. Tonight you fulfilled my dreams when, four years ago I visited here. I imagined you standing almost where you did and singing
a capella and you did, tonight. It was all I had envisaged then.”
She had not been able to talk to the organist as I had suggested to her at Exeter but that did not matter, because the organ in almost its full power, played a part. It is indeed an awesome spectacle of sound, although it was in its quieter modes that I had envisaged Hayley singing with it. It would have had to have been a project with her and the choir perhaps promoting the cathedral but is something she may perhaps bear in mind should she revisit, for perhaps one of her own concerts.
The seating was confusing, twenty seats each side of the centre aisle. Since I was 12 rows back that meant there were nearly 500 in front of me. I would have thought that meant 1,000 behind me but I have to assume the attendant was dealing with facts when he stated only 1,000 actually in attendance, although he might have meant 1,000 paying after the guests, which would then add up to my assessment!
So we parted being reassured that she intends to be available at the end of the Barbican concert.
[Part 2 will follow. This is a rehash simply to hone my prose from last night and I know I've lost my url connection. I'm sorting, Mods. Sorted!].
Peter S.
