Hayley at Savill Court, 30th June 2006

[gareth]

Hi All,

At www.countryconcerts.co.uk/ currently Katherine and Hayley are featured as having intimate concerts at Savill Court near Windsor Great Park.

At any rate, the concert for Katherine has never been confirmed, and her management company Bandana has issued a warning NOT to buy tickets, but seek an immediate refund.

In Katherine's case, only an enquiry was made for the possibility of a concert, but it was never confirmed....

I have no information about the status of Hayley's concert, but it would bear checking out very closely before ordering the hideously expensive tickets (expensive because the include dinners - the price range is £80 - £170)

Gerrit

[roger]

Thanks for the warning, Gerrit. I have emailed Steve Abbott for confirmation of Hayley's event.

Roger

[roger]

Hi Gerrit and everyone,

Steve Abbott has confirmed that the Savill Court event IS genuine. It isn't "dinner with Hayley, though" as the promo implies, but she will be performing after the meal.

I will add it in to the full schedule!

Roger (already getting hungry!)

[stevemacdonald]

... the price range is £80 - £170)

Holy cow! Platinum now tops out at £175. I could live on £175 for months on end.

I know she's worth it, and many times more, but you won't find a pauper like me at anything that swanky.

[Steve H]

Hi All,

Looks like the event is undersold, masses of offers on ebay, gold package for silver price etc..

cgi.ebay.co.uk/Buy-Gold-for-Silver-Dinner-with-Hayley-Westenra_W0QQitemZ220002030959QQihZ012QQcategoryZ109204QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

But it still looks expensive to me! There is a make me an offer option, if any of you local guys are not busy, offer them £50 !! they can only say NO,

Steve H

[Jeff]

No, I'm afraid my pockets aren't deep enough for this one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Autumn though. Hopefully there'll be a UK tour.

[graemek]

Well everybody, she triumphed again:click below.

bb01.mer.uk.vvhp.net/hayleywestenra/YaBB.pl?board=live;action=display;num=1151951928;start

Hi everybody

I thought you might be interested to hear about Hayley's performance at Savill Court last Friday the 30th June. For those of you who don't live in England, the Savill Court Hotel is located on the outskirts of London, not far from Windsor Castle. It stands its in own beautiful grounds in a typical english setting. It has a small and quite unique auditorium with an intimate feel, just perfect for listening to Hayley's perfect voice.

The event was billed as "dinner with Hayley Westenra" and I was lucky enough to secure tickets seating myself and my wife just a few feet from the small stage. So as not to get caught in heavy Friday night traffic, we arrived during late afternoon and while having a drink in the bar, Hayley could be clearly heard doing a sound check. Of course, we had to sneak a look into the auditorium to watch her and listen for a few minutes, an extra treat !.

We were seated at 8pm and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. At around 9.45, Hayley was given a very warm welcome by the 300 or so guests and she looked as lovely as ever as she put her glass of water down on the stage (it was a very warm day). We were then treated to an hour of non stop songs. Hayley was supported once again by Ian Tilley on piano and the fantastic Fiona Peers on electric violin. The performance started with Pokara Ana and included some of my very favorite songs like May It Be, Never Saw Blue, Ave Maria, The Waters Wide and In Truitina. Her encore was Amazing Grace, which she sang without any musical backing. I can only say it was fantastic !!

Following the performance, those of us (some 40 guests) who were lucky enough to have the premier tickets, were treated to a Champagne reception with Hayley. This was only the second time I had met her personally and I found her absolutely charming. She was kind enough to have a photograph taken with me (many thanks to my wife for taking the picture, see my avatar - I had to squash it in). It really is a lovely photo of her and one I shall treasure always.

In all, it was a very special evening, I didn't ever think that I would have the chance to see Hayley perform at such close range and then to meet her in such a relaxed atmosphere afterwards.

Having read many of the comments on this site, I know that a good number of you have not had the chance to meet Hayley and perhaps have not yet seen a live performance. I really do wish that you could have all been there last Friday !!

Regards to you all
Marke

PS- If anyone knows how to add photos to this report, I have a few of the performance !

Enjoy, Graemek

[Richard]

Thanks for posting the link, Graeme!

As this event was clearly another triumph for Hayley, I have just changed the title of this thread. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes from London,

Richard

[graemek]

Thanks Richard,
I felt a bit funny posting a triumph under a
warning title!!
Graeme

[Richard]

This post has been moved from the 'German Tour Cancelled' thread.

martin said:

Somewhat off this track but in response to Peter's request for comment on Savill Court I am happy to provide a very belated review to compliment Mark's earlier posting:

It was a barmy hot summers evening on 30th June and I arrived early with my wife to see around and have a drink overlooking the picturesque grounds. It was magnificent timing as we arrived just as Hayley started her warm up. I sneaked into the dining area and had a free preview together with some of the waiters and waitresses!! This was my first time to see Hayley live and, excuse the cliche, but I was blown away. Never had I heard such a pure and beautiful voice.

The evening was a new venture for the promoters, providing a dinner in wonderful surroundings and of course a cabaret from our Hayley. The tickets were very expensive particularly the platinum tickets which sadly I could not afford. These tickets not only enabled you to sit a few feet away from the stage but also, at the end of the evening, allowed you to meet Hayley at the post concert reception (I'm sure the HWI team would cringe at the thought of having to pay to meet Hayley!!!) . However, on the way to the private room for this reception several of us intercepted Hayley and we spent several minutes chatting before she had to leave. This again was a wonderful example of how she values her fans as she was totally oblivious to the fact that there was a room full of people waiting for her and she would have been quite happy to talk to us all evening.

Mark has covered the concert itself but suffice to say it all went far too quickly. Although a little nervous at first (the setting was very intimate with as many as twenty full tables, all close to the stage) Hayley quickly overcame her nerves and launched into an unforgettable 50 minutes of pure heaven (sorry for the pun!). She performed several of her tracks from Odyssey together with Amazing Grace and Pokarekare Ana. All this admirably supported by Ian and Fiona. Her warm personality came over as she chatted between songs (and many sips of water) and she went to great lengths to explain the background to each.

At the end there was a standing ovation and cries for more as she left the stage. Hayley then returned for an encore giving a different rendition of Ava Maria to the one on Odyssey (I'm sure Peter or Roger would know what this was).

Since seeing Hayley live for the first time I have vowed to see as many concerts as possible. Sadly so far work commitments have prevented trips to both Newmarket and Canterbury. I did however go to Gawsworth and sneaked an autograph from Hayley when no one was looking!!

[Richard]

From the 'German Tour Cancelled' thread, but regarding the above review:-

postscript said:

Thank you Martin... A superb report Martin that gave the full flavour most succinctly. Well worth the extra sharing. Glad you had a great time.

Regards

Peter S.

[postscript]

Hi Graeme.

Sorry, now that I have re-looked at that thread due to Martin's post, I recollect your earlier contribution for which apologies for not remembering at the time.

Peter S.

[Mark]

Hi everyone

I hope no one minds me reviving this thread for a moment. Its just that I have finally made a start on sorting out all the items I have collected from various Hayley concerts - the intention being to log them properly into albums.

I came across some items from my second ever Hayley concert - Dinner with Hayley at Savill Court - alright, we had dinner first and Hayley performed afterwards i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Wishful thinking You remember this one don't you Martin

Anyway, you can see my report earlier in this thread, so I wont go over old ground but, I thought you may be interested to see some of the items that I will add to my scrap book.

Flyer advertisng the concert




Here is the Savill Court Hotel






This was the menu - which my wife discreetly put in her handbag for Hayley to sign later









It certainly brings back some wonderful memories of meeting Hayley and a wonderful performance. Although we had eaten dinner by the time Hayley performed, we remained seated at our tables and as our table was right in front of the stage, we had a fantstic view. The tables were lavishly set, with candles burning all through the performance - very romantic The setting combined with Hayleys voice was just majical

Best regards
Mark

[Martin]

tinky3344 said:

You remember this one don't you Martin

How could I forget - this was my first Hayley concert! A bit like your first day at school (but a lot more enjoyable).

Funnily enough I was thinking about this concert the other day and in particular the classical singer who appeared before Hayley for a short set.

If I'm not mistaken it was a totally unknown (at the time) singer called Paul Potts.

Martin

[Stephany]

Hi Mark & Martin,

Thank you very much for sharing your Hayley items and comments on this concert. It looks as though it was a very interesting dinner concert

Stephany