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Post by Karsten on Mar 29, 2014 17:17:36 GMT
Hi, just back from Ireland after this really incredible concert. Thanks to Hayley, Tim, the RTE orchestra and all people from HWI I had the opportunity to meet there. Here are a few pictures... First half: |
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Post by Karsten on Mar 29, 2014 17:19:19 GMT
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Post by Karsten on Mar 29, 2014 17:20:11 GMT
...and the signing session |
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Post by Karsten on Mar 29, 2014 17:20:51 GMT
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Post by Karsten on Mar 29, 2014 17:21:57 GMT
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Post by martindn on Mar 29, 2014 19:11:29 GMT
WOW what a night! Anyone who thinks Hayley is in any way a lesser singer than she used to be should have been there. Absolutely fantastic. Not sure if there will be any videos of the actual concert though though, the NCH is very strict about such things, and people have been known to be ejected or have their camera contents deleted when caught. So I didn't risk it myself. I was right on the front row, next to Comet and that was too close and looking up for good video results. Hayley was about 6 feet away, and I was very exposed to being spotted filming (and I don't mean by Hayley). For once I just enjoyed the show. So we will have to wait and see if any videos appear, but don't be too surprised if there aren't any.
Grant told me he will be writing a report, and since I was with him most of the time, I will see what he writes first and make any comments I feel moved to make afterwards.
But I can assure you Hayley and the orchestra were both wonderful. It is hard to pick a favourite song, they were all wonderful..I thought it was very brave to open with such a blockbuster as Amalia por amor though. She usually takes things a bit easier than that to start with until things get settled. Certainly one of the best Hayley concerts ever, (but I seem to say that every time).
There was a signing session afterwards in the foyer, where many members of the audience got to meet Hayley. We had a good HWI contingent of I think about a dozen members (that we know about).
More later.
Martin D
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Post by grant on Mar 29, 2014 19:22:25 GMT
Grant told me he will be writing a report, and since I was with him most of the time, I will see what he writes first and make any comments I feel moved to make afterwards. Thanks Martin What a fantastic night we had in Dublin! May get something written up tonight or it may be tomorrow - pictures will certainly have to wait until then. Good to meet so many friendly and some new faces too. Best wishes Grant |
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Post by Libby on Mar 29, 2014 20:27:20 GMT
Nice new dress! I like the design on it. Also love that necklace she has on in the signing session.  And Karsten, I'm always thrilled to see your photography back on this forum! |
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Post by grant on Mar 29, 2014 23:42:38 GMT
Hello everyone Sorry it's taken a while but here goes ............ The “Gathering” for us began when Martin Dixon, Gordon and myself arrived back at our hotel after a day of tram riding and sightseeing around Dublin to meet up with Martin James and Comet. With pleasantries exchanged talk soon turned to Hayley’s fast approaching concert which would take place just around the corner at the National Concert Hall. Joyce and her husband soon joined us whilst Gordon and I took our leave to go up to the venue to collect our tickets. Around 5pm we moved next door to the restaurant for dinner and to await the arrival of the final member of our little party, Juliette, whose flight from Lyon is due to land at 5.20pm. Hopefully there will be no delay for her as time is already tight. We need not have worried however, with a few texts exchanged and meetings arranged our little band; now consisting of Juliette, Joyce, the two Martins, Gordon and myself, set off to walk the short distance to the NCH. The foyer is already well filled and acquaintances are soon re-established with Paddy, Eugene, Larry, Karsten. Michal and Ezequiel – a truly international gathering of “Hayliens”. I am surprised to find the programme for tonight is a simple card flyer containing little more than the set list but then what more do we need really? The doors to the auditorium opened at 7.45 and we began to take our seats. Gordon and I are pretty much in the centre of the second row and I am very happy to find that I have Juliette next to me. Karsten, for reasons you will already understand (wink, wink) is sitting a little further back whilst everyone else is on the front row, so Hayley will see a lot of familiar faces when she comes onto stage tonight. And so it began! Members of the orchestra poured onto the stage and quickly warmed up; conductor Neil Thomson soon took his place on the podium to a traditional welcome and the auditorium fell silent. I couldn’t see the door through which Hayley would appear but I knew she had as the silence was shattered by a crescendo of applause. Walking purposefully across the front of the stage she took her place at the microphone just a few feet away from where we were sitting. Wearing a short black dress and with her wedding ring glittering in the light she looked stunning as we all waited with baited breath for that first note ………… It has already been quoted by Martin that Amália por amor was an unexpected choice for an opening number but WHAT a choice. As an acquaintance of mine in another life would say “she nailed it”. She sure did! I think from that point on we knew we were in for a very special night from our beloved Hayley. It wasn’t hard to see why either. Yes, Hayley was, as always at the top of her game and she loves working with the RTE Concert Orchestra – well they are pretty fantastic aren’t they? All in all, the interaction between Hayley, the orchestra and Tim Evans was perfectly seamless. Job done! I don’t want to go through the set list song by song, everyone here will have there own “stand outs”. Hayley did sing a good few of my favourites – Amália of course, You Raise Me Up, I Dreamed A Dream, I Know You By Heart and Bridge Over Troubled Water. There are a couple of others that stood out for me last night too, one of which was Let Me Lie, not just because we haven’t heard Hayley sing it in a while, but because I think it was the first time we have heard her sing it with an orchestra. Another special moment, I felt, was the intro to Summer Fly played wildly and with such gusto by the first violin that even Hayley applauded her performance. There was an amusing interlude after Wuthering Heights when Hayley commented that she may have to stop singing it because of Kate Bush’s come back tour, so I suggested a duet (now wouldn’t that be something!!) but so many times last night I found myself completely mesmerised by what was happening on stage that I had to drag myself back to reality more than once! It is no surprise, therefore, that the applause for the final number was accompanied by a very well deserved standing ovation – talk about raising the roof – we certainly tried hard. Hayley seemed quite overwhelmed for a few seconds but returned to stage with her now standard “you want another one?” After a short discussion with Tim Amazing Grace was the chosen first encore after which Hayley left the stage once more. This audience was not going home yet though. No sir! After a longish wait – my arms were really beginning to feel the effects of so much clapping, Hayley returned to stage. This time members of the audience were shouting out suggestions. More whispering with Tim ensued and a smiling Hayley returned to centre stage announcing that a decision had reached and was preparing to sing. Neil looked down from his podium - the orchestra remained silent – Hayley realised with a giggle that it would be a good idea to share the choice of song with them. After Never Saw Blue Hayley left the stage once more and it seemed at one point that we might get a third encore, and although Hayley did return to stage to take another bow, that was to be the end of another most memorable and stand out concert. Now to find out if there was likely to be a signing……… More tomorrow and hopefully some pictures  Best wishes Grant |
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Post by Bamafan on Mar 30, 2014 0:56:22 GMT
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Mar 30, 2014 5:48:41 GMT
I'm very grateful for the wonderful reports, photos, and posts from the Dublin concert. In due course I shall thank those who have contributed.
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Post by Richard on Mar 30, 2014 7:20:09 GMT
Hello Dubliners!  Many thanks for the reports and photographs so far. I've posted a link to this thread on our Facebook page, starting with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra's picture of Thursday's rehearsal. I'm looking forward to seeing more. Richard  |
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Post by comet on Mar 30, 2014 14:59:05 GMT
I am always amazed at the sheer volume of items that Hayley signs, I would imagine 200 to 300 maybe more, on a night like this. Concert tickets, programme sheets, cd inserts, photos, magazine items, I think some people would have their bus tickets signed if they thought they could. At least in the NCH, Hayley has the comfort of a chair, table, glass of water and an orderly line of people approaching her and organised security guarding her, Thanks to the NCH staff, They make sure no dodgy looking characters join that cue.  Well, some of US manage to slip through..   |
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Post by grant on Mar 30, 2014 15:21:24 GMT
Hello everyone. The second part of my concert review follows Now to find out if there was likely to be a signing……… Well, of course, you all now know that there was. Several people did hear Tim say from the stage as we were leaving that Hayley was doing a signing – but I didn’t. I was soon put right of course and made my way through the gathering crowds in the foyer to see where Hayley's signing table is to be located. As I suspected it is close to the left hand auditorium doors in a similar position to my last concert here four years ago. The NCH front of house staff are busy erecting barriers to guide the ever growing queue of patrons towards the table and another to guide them away again after their precious time with Hayley. This can make things a bit awkward for us photographers but we’ve never been beaten yet! I’m not sure exactly what time Hayley appeared but it must have been close to 10.40pm looking at when my first picture is timed. She is now wearing jeans and a black sweater which instantly took me back to the first time I met her back in September 2005 where she was similarly dressed. She has a lovely Celtic style necklace around her neck. By now the signing queue stretches diagonally the length of the foyer which is always good to see, but then Dublin audiences love Hayley so it is hardly surprising. It always amazes me that, after being on stage for over two hours and having given her all to some 19 songs, Hayley still manages to look as fresh as that first moment she walked onto stage almost three hours before. Not only that but she never rushes her time with anyone, nor will she be rushed herself and, having been part of this ritual so many times before, I know that for those few moments that particular person is the only one she is paying attention to. It does make it very special and no one does it better than Hayley. Slowly the queue diminished whilst several times the staff used the loudspeaker system to try to hurry things along a bit with statements like “The National Concert Hall will be closing in 15 minutes”. Did it work? Naah! All the while the NCH staff stood by patiently – they were very good actually and I wish that some had stayed around at the end so they could have been thanked personally. They deserved to be. Once the queue got down to the last 20 or so people they did block off the end of the queue but it wouldn’t have done much good as the only people remaining outside it were staff, a few HWIers, Ash, Valerie and Tim and us photographers. Eventually, a distinguished looking man whom I thought might have been the manger appeared, the barriers were taken away and the rest of the staff disappeared. Crickey, I thought, realising that it was fast approaching 11.30. The loudspeaker system announced that the NCH would be closing in 5 minutes. Fat chance I though! But it was now just us and Hayley for those few final moments that we all cherish so much. And this is what I mean about the way Hayley reacts to each and every one. Even though we had been there with her for almost an hour, taking pictures or waiting to one side, it wasn’t until we were there actually “with” her, that she acknowledged us individually and that is a very special moment. But, it is late, Hayley has been signing, posing for photos and chatting for almost an hour and we, better than anyone, know that we have to let her go. I thanked her for a wonderful evening and congratulated her on her marriage. The last thing I said to her as we were packing away our things ready to leave was “Don’t forget your Kate Bush concert ticket”. The glass doors closed behind us as we walked out into a rainy night thinking, as we always do, how is Hayley going to improve on such a fantastic performance? But we know she will. I will get around to pictures soon, promise!  |
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Post by mihizawi on Mar 30, 2014 15:40:13 GMT
Hi,
I am back at home in Barcelona, and am still in a heaven-like state. Anytime this week, when I have the time to gather my thoughts and put them into words, I will try to write a proper report, and maybe post a few pics too. For now, I'll just say it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Thank you to Hayley, to the amazing RTÉ orchestra and to the HWI members for making it so much fun.
Michał
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