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Post by comet on Sept 27, 2011 15:54:40 GMT
 each ring stands for something different they are: life, love, longevity, friendship, health, wealth and happiness |
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Post by grant on Sept 27, 2011 17:51:12 GMT
Hello everyone As promised, some pictures of Hayley after the concert That's it I'm afraid! I don't think anyone from HWI took photos during the concert Libby - there wasn't even a press photographer, but I'm sure there'll be plenty from the UK tour and perhaps even the NZ tour. Best wishes Grant |
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Sept 28, 2011 6:38:22 GMT
Hi Grant, GREAT PHOTO'S Well done Steve  |
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Post by postscript on Sept 28, 2011 9:35:29 GMT
Hello everyone I'm back! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif But, at the moment, I'm jostling catching up on here with cooking dinner. Great concert last night - Hayley's contribution was as Ebbw Vale last week with the addirion of a magnificent duet with Elgan Thomas. Programme scans and report to follow. Best wishes Grant Well done Grant. I knew you would come up trumps which is why I excused myself from climbing three flights of stairs to retrieve my programme! The wifi was only in the lounge and in any case I didn't have a scanner with me! Peter S. |
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Post by postscript on Sept 28, 2011 9:49:20 GMT
Thanks for sharing.  I find it funny that they refer to the choir as an "it". A choir is a "they", normally. Yeah, and "choir" is spelled funny, too. A more phonetic approach —"quire" — would be nice. Actually, an adult male voice choir like this should work very well for Hayley. I have a hard time distinguishing her voice in performance with boy choirs and mixed choirs. Interesting observations Steve, although I don't agree with you completely. 'Choir' is one of those duplicitous words whose singularity or plurality depends more upon context. As regards 'quire'--it is the original spelling! Rather like 'program'. It is thought an Americanisation, it isn't, it is the original English spelling! Peter S. |
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Post by grant on Sept 28, 2011 12:22:10 GMT
Hi Grant,
GREAT PHOTO'S
Well done
Steve Thank you very much Steve Your concert photography has been sorely missed by many though  Best wishes Grant |
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Post by postscript on Sept 28, 2011 12:24:25 GMT
Hi Grant, everyone else at Llandudno and everyone generally.
I am afraid I was very switched out. I did as I so often do with a distant Hayley concert, turned the trip into an exploration of my own country, on this occasion visiting Chester, Haworth and then Blackpool--I will not digress further mods!
Grant has done an excellent job, so I see no point in saying the same thing in a different way. All I will do is pick up on some of points which Grant has made and add my alternative contribution.
"...and a tiered stand for the choir which, in my opinion, looks very amateurish." In my opinion extremely dangerous. I feared the elderly gents might miss a step, there was no rail in front for them to catch hold of, should they miss their footing and the tiers were quite steep (gave a nicely balanced head height presentation) and seemingly quite narrow. Looking ahead and watching the conductor seemed to me something of a challenge but perhaps I'm more conscious of my vertigo.
"Now I don’t believe there is any such thing as a bad Welsh male voice choir but Maelgwn are very traditional and there is very little in the programme that I know, and, although they sound absolutely wonderful..."
In my view, if one is in a different location where there is established tradition then that which is local knowledge and experience is what one wants to hear. Hearing them trot out that which is already well known merely devalues the experience. This is where Hayley persists in her exploration, seeking the new and the less familiar to see what she can make of it and put her own slant upon it. It is what is going to retain interest in her. Comment has already been made in this forum on Laura Wright having a lovely voice but singing the 'expected' choices.
"The same applied to the choir’s first guest, Elgan Llŷr Thomas – a very 'talented young man and a local lad too with many scholarships and awards under his belt despite being only 21.'" Here Elgan was doing just that. Handling something less well known and to some extent I support Grant's earlier comment because I did not have the expertise to appreciate the subtleties of the unknown work and was initially not greatly enamoured of him.
However, he certainly came to the fore in his later contributions and was excellent when duetting with Hayley.
"On a negative note – not aimed at Hayley but at the venue; the conductor’s podium remained in place centre stage throughout the time Hayley and Elgan were performing. Seated where we were, Paul and I were very lucky – our seats were perfect in fact considering we were there essentially to see Hayley but on the other side of the isle, the front rows particularly would have had a very restricted view. "
Yes, in general stage management presentation I feel there was a lack of understanding of what the views would be like throughout the theatre. Whenever producing stage plays I always sat in different positions in the auditorium during the final rehearsals to watch viewing angles and for clarity of diction. Theatres do have 'dead' spots.
In seating I was both fortunate and unfortunate. Unfortunate in that I am realising my dislike of stairs. I had to climb a staircase to the top of the auditorium to then walk back down again inside the auditorium. This placed me in an excellent position to watch the pianist's hands and I was almost as close to Hayley on stage as was Grant and Paul both of whom totally ignored me, being unaware I was just above their heads and a little to the side. I was in the first row of the left bank of circle seats. Superb.
"Trystan welcomed her back to stage although I feel he let himself down by saying that he wasn’t going to introduce her songs as “She’ll probably change them like she did before” which, although intended to be taken humorously, came across as being rather rude – [I interpreted as an expression of angst} surely it’s up to the MC to ascertain whether or not the programme is correct?"
Something of an assumption here, Hayley may have failed to advise him but accompanied by his introducing her players for her instead of leaving it to her is indicative of some lack of co-ordination and I don't think we are in a position to judge whose, though I think we are all confident of 'our Hayley' that any fault doesn't lie with her.
In his favour, judging from Grant's report at Ebbw Vale, the MC's jokes were excellent, received a good belly laugh response and were to me entirely original and topical. Only one I can remember and that was the one about the person talking to another as they observed a man park his car and then walk all the way round it to open the door for his female passenger. The man quipped. 'Interesting. Either the car is new or the wife is!"
"Hayley did take the opportunity to re-introduce her band personally before concluding her second set with La Califfa and she left the stage to applause but no standing ovation as had happened last week."
I think we have to remember the nature of the audience. Supporters of the choir were mostly as old as them and this frequently happens in many of Hayley's audiences. These people are not agile and spontaneous rising upon the moment is not in their programme of daily events. It requires engagement of personal paraphenalia!
"I had warned Paul that there would need to be some shouting but tonight’s audience didn’t seem to appreciate the need and the applause began to die."
This is debatable and illustrates the difficulties every artist (the good ones) encounter. For how long do you allow the applause to trail before re-emerging, or deciding to re-emerge at all. Personally, I think the natural audience response was for Hayley to step back at the end of her first part.
For the second part, again taking into account the average age of that audience I think she was entitled to return sooner but the MC was correct in his 'saving' the situation and there was no doubt the audience wanted another song.
As for the meeting afterwards it was one of her particularly rushed ones and one on which I had earlier warned her I hoped to 'knobble her' when meeting her before the concert but that was not the occasion to say to her what I wanted.
Here Ash is superb as are all her Bandana team when they get to know the regulars and to whom I suspect Hayley may well have given an indication as to when to push and when to hold back. They know we always stand back for the new ones for whom it may be their only 'great' moment but as I was anxious to have a word I whispered in Ash's ear that I had forewarned Hayley, so he kindly determined it was important enough to squeeze me in. To go into the detail here would be to cross threads and may need a thread of its own and at the moment it would be too early to publicise.
I will mention Alan and Marie. I mentioned I met them at breakfast in an earlier post and promised them I would regale their story to Hayley. I didn't as i didn't have enough time to her anyway. However, hopefully they have enough nous to key 'hwi' into google, find us and know that I did not forget them. They can then tell us their own story (or Marie's rather) when they join us.
Peter S.
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Post by Simba on Sept 28, 2011 14:22:18 GMT
Absolutely stunning pics grant, Hayley looked beautiful in the last couple of pics |
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Post by grant on Sept 28, 2011 17:36:18 GMT
In my view, if one is in a different location where there is established tradition then that which is local knowledge and experience is what one wants to hear. Hearing them trot out that which is already well known merely devalues the experience. Hi Peter and everyone I don't believe that to be true. As a genre of music that I am not familiar with and generally not keen on, I am perhaps guilty of seeing a male voice choir in the same way as many outsiders will percieve a church service - stuffy, out of date and not for them. The church is having to change to encourage younger people to attend; so too, I think, this applies to the MVC or their audiences may dwindle as older traditional fans become less able to attend. Even with a modern repertoire, the choral sound is retained and, in many cases, the piece of music enhanced. I don't see that as devaluing the experience. Best wishes Grant |
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Post by comet on Sept 28, 2011 19:30:07 GMT
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mlb
Junior Member 
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Post by mlb on Sept 28, 2011 20:36:09 GMT
Hey Grant, thanks for the report! Weird question... did Arnaud do the sound for this concert? Just curious whether he does the sound for these types of things where there's a choir, etc. (I feel like I ask the stupidest questions on here. Lol) No it was not Arnaud at the mixing desk. But I hope he reads this. Thanks for the answer. I hope that doesn't portend anything as I thought he usually does them all. Looking forward to future reports. |
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Post by postscript on Sept 28, 2011 21:28:36 GMT
No it was not Arnaud at the mixing desk. But I hope he reads this. Thanks for the answer. I hope that doesn't portend anything as I thought he usually does them all. Looking forward to future reports. I hadn't wished to comment as we want Hayley to have confidence in alternative options, to cover contingencies but I felt there were one or two volume overloads at Llandudno. I realised some while ago, before we started gaining implications of something special, that acquiring Arnaud had raised the overall standard of sound management. Peter S. |
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Sept 29, 2011 3:16:21 GMT
Hello Comet Many thanks for three more glorious sound recordings! Very much appreciated, Paul! Cheers, Joe  |
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Post by comet on Sept 29, 2011 20:19:56 GMT
I suppose it won't be long before Nicola has a place for Elgan Thomas on her site. He really is a fine and talented singer, He just might stop Nicola looking at Hayley's legs
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Post by Paddy on Sept 30, 2011 2:17:05 GMT
'Can't speak of Hayley's legs  but I also thought Elgan was outstanding. A rare talent - not just his colourful voice but his ability to interpret songs, some quite unfamiliar to me. Hayley seemed quite impressed too and remarked, just before the duet, that she liked what she had heard from her dressing room. Here's hoping Paul will post some more of Elgan's songs. Much as I loved Hayley's touching duet with Elgan, the (unexpected) highlight of the concert for me was 'La Califfa'. In that song, Hayley seemed really 'in her element' and in total command of her many talents and her subjects audience, just like when she sings Pokarekare Ana. Not being a fan of male voice choirs, I preferred their less conventional (for me) Welsh songs. Despite the (lack of) stage design (and my being in B25, towards the opposite side to Hayley), my view was unrestricted and within easy range of Hayley's 'fan-seeking' smiles. Great too (after nearly ten months of Hayley deprivation) to meet again with Hayley friends old and new (John and Billy). Many thanks to Paul for his recordings and for tempting me across the wind-swept Irish Sea. Paddy |
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but I also thought Elgan was outstanding. A rare talent - not just his colourful voice but his ability to interpret songs, some quite unfamiliar to me. Hayley seemed quite impressed too and remarked, just before the duet, that she liked what she had heard from her dressing room.