Christmas Presence - Sheffield City Hall 8.12

[grant]

Hi Thomas and Tony


Only 23 hours to go to more Hayleywowing

See you soon!!

Grant

[grant]

Christmas Presence, Sheffield City Hall
Part 1

I had been looking forward to this one for some time – Hayley with an orchestra and a choir would be a new experience for me – but also because, for the first time, I was taking someone with me; Teresa, a long standing friend and mum to my brilliant 12 year old Goddaughter Katherine and her sister Helen.

I had decided we would drive to the outskirts of Sheffield and go ‘up town’ by tram, as it turned out not one of my brightest ideas considering Friday evening rush hour traffic. The M1 was solid all the way and what should have been a 45 minute journey took just under two hours.

Consequently, the quiet dinner in JD Wetherspoons turned out to be a bag of crisps, a bottle of water and some chocolate éclairs!!

The important thing is, we got there in time for the concert and managed to meet up with Thomas for a chat, before it was time to take our seats for the concert in the magnificent Irwin Mitchell Oval Hall. For the first time at a concert with Hayley, there are lots of empty seats and this was commented on at one point by the Master of Ceremonies.

We had to wait 40 minutes whilst the choir and the orchestra did their bit and then it was time for Hayley’s introduction and out she came, wearing a gorgeous smile and the black diamanté dress. Chatting initially with the conductor about the weather and the fact that it will be summer when she goes home in a couple of weeks.

Like Swansea, she opened with Schubert’s Ave Maria and then sang Mary Did You Know?, which I don’t think I’ve heard her sing live before. From then on her repertoire was ‘Christmassy' and new to me from a Hayley perspective.

Gabrielle’s Message followed and the, the highlight of the night for me, Oh Holy Night. Not a common one this because it’s quite difficult for the regular church congregation or band of carollers. Hayley sang it with tremendous feeling and power, sending shivers down my spine with every note – absolutely brilliant!!

O Come All Ye Faithful with choir and audience followed and the first half was over. Time now to stretch our legs and meet up with Thomas, who had found Drew, and discuss our strategy for seeing Hayley afterwards. No sign of Tony though (where did you get to?)

[grant]

Part 2

Back in our seats for the second half, there were more offerings from the orchestra and choir before the master of ceremonies returned to introduce a young tenor by the name of Damian Wileman; a Sheffield lad making his debut. Damian sang one song and then it was time for Hayley to return. This time (looks like you’re going to be in luck Mark) wearing the yellow dress with gold decorations and the same delicate silver sandals she wore in one of Dave’s pictures from Swansea.

Opening with “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire”, Hayley then sang “Silent Night” which is one of my all time favourite carols and one I have never heard before “Who would Imagine A King?” – a quite beautiful little number!

“This next one”, Hayley said “is probably the first carol I ever learnt” It was, of course, “Away in a Manger” (well it was the first one I ever learnt as well!). Next came “Do You Hear What I Hear?” before Hayley invited Damian to join her on stage.

For their duet they sang “The Prayer” and I have to admit to never having heard it before! Hayley was trying desperately hard to sing to Damian as she had done with Nicky Spence at Telford, but I guess the poor guy was nervous, anyway, it came over very well and their voices did complement each other nicely.

With Damian out of sight and trying to recover his composure, Hayley sang “Hark the Herald Angels” with choir and audience, leaving the stage to rapturous applause and ensuring an encore. As in Swansea, she returned to sing “White Christmas” and, such was the applause as she left the stage, she was obliged to return once more, still with microphone in hand. For a moment, I thought we were going to get another one, but it was not to be and we filed slowly out of the auditorium to meet up with our friends.

[grant]

Part 3 (The best bit)

It was a cool, windy night and we are grateful that the stage door is below pavement level and sheltered from the wind. We waited whilst hoards of orchestra and choir people exited to meet up with family friends or taxis. Apart from Drew, Thomas, Teresa and I, there are a few others waiting.

Eventually, after about half an hour, I caught the eye of City Hall official and asked him if he could get a message to Hayley to say there were some people from HWI who would like to say “hello”. Whether he did, or whether it was coincidence, Hayley appeared a few moments later.

Our little group stood back whilst Hayley did her usual thing with the ‘first timers’ happy, as Peter says, just to be close to her. Drew had a present for her, Thomas had some things to be signed and wanted a photograph taken with her and, our ‘first timer’, Teresa had yet to meet her.

I introduced Teresa to Hayley, who asked if they’d met before. I reminded her that she had signed a DVD for Teresa at Tewkesbury Abbey last year and she seemed to remember. Hayley happily posed with Teresa for a photograph and then signed her copy of “The World at Her Feet” with the words ‘To Helen and Katherine, Love Hayley xxx’ Hayley even asking to use the pen that Helen had sent specially for the purpose!

Hayley was really chatty and we must have spent 15/20 minutes with her; even learnt a few things! It seems there are some quite heated discussions going on in the background regarding the title of the new album which seem to amuse Hayley.

Also discovered that she is only going home for two weeks meaning she should be back early in the New Year, BUT she is going back to New Zealand in April to promote the new album!

For most of our time with Hayley so far, the just ‘being there’ feeling has been enough for me, but I had decided that, if I felt the moment was right, I was going to deliver a personal message to Hayley on behalf of all you great people, the Forum members who are not going to be lucky enough to have this time with Hayley just before Christmas.

And the time was right, so I have Hayley’s undivided attention, and said to her that I would like to say something on behalf of the Forum; on behalf of everyone who could not say it personally.

“Hayley, we love you, we wish you a safe journey home and a wonderful Christmas with your amazing family”

I am so glad I did that! The look on Hayley’s face said it all “That’s so sweet” she said “Thank you so much” she was so appreciative and Teresa commented as much on the way home in the car. I don’t think she had expected Hayley to be so down to earth.

There was going to be no way to top that moment, we watched her get into their Range Rover and waved goodbye as we headed for the tram stop and home.

At midnight, in a deserted Tibshelf motorway services, and enjoying hot bacon Ciabatta rolls and huge mugs of hot chocolate and tea, I asked Teresa, what had been the highlights for her “…the black dress, “Oh Holy Night” ….and Damian” (well, she is a girl!!)

[Martin]

Morning Grant
Thanks for the great review. For those not able to attend it is the next best thing, painting a superb picture of the evening. Also, thank you for passing onto Hayley the forum members' festive thoughts and message.

Looking forward to the photos
Best wishes
Martin

[Richard]

Hello Grant!

Many thanks for your great review, and especially for your very thoughtful Christmas message to Hayley on behalf of HWI. I'm glad you had another great time, and I'm looking forward to seeing the photographs. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes,

Richard

[roger]

Hi Grant,

Thank you for a superb review and for delivering the ideal Christmas message to Hayley which, I am sure, is echoed by us all.

Roger

[Steve H]

Hi Grant,

Your review had me spell bound, it was the next best thing to being there. Thank you so much for delivering a Christmas message to Hayley on behalf of the forum. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Hayley is so special isn't she, i am glad you enjoyed yourself, it will take a while to come down from that high!

God Bless you,

Steve H

[george]

Hi Grant

Thank you for your review. Sounds like you had another great night.
Thanks also for you lovely message you passed to Hayley from us all. I guess she knows how we all feel about her but it's nice to keep reminding her also.

George

[grant]

Hope we're not going to disappoint you, but I only took two photographs, both of my friend Teresa with Hayley.

From where I was sitting and with only a DSLR, I didn't try to take pictures during the concert and afterwards, it didn't seem appropriate.

Hopefully Drew or Thomas may have taken some

Grant

[mariannek]

Hi, Grant
no need to apologise... you did a most wonderful job giving us so many pics of Hayley looking so natural and happy !!! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Thank you for your great reports, reading them felt like being there with my heart.....so glad you could give her our well-wishes !!!!

Hayley is the most appreciative person I've come across myself....that look on her face is just unforgettable !!!

Have a blessed Christmas, Grant
lots of love , Marianne

[thomas]

Hi all!

It was 2a.m. (1a.m. GMT) on Friday morning when the alarm clock rang to tell me clearly it's time to get to the airport. So I grabbed my things and made my way to the UK. Again. Haven't been there for a while! :rollin The flight to Heathrow was in time and also my train from St. Pancras to Sheffield.
After I'd checked in at the hotel I made my way to the City Hall to check the venue and its many doors. One of those was the Stage Door! Somebody waited there already with a camera. I spoke to him and he said his name was Phil, a regular guest of HWI but not a member yet. Maybe that changes soon! After a long time of waiting for Hayley's arrival somebody of the staff came out of the Stage Door and said that we have to wait very long for her because she arrived already 3 hours ago. That means that she must have come there at 12p.m. more or less. We decided that we won't see her there anyway prior to the concert and so we left after we had frozen to blocks of ice already.
Later in the evening I came back to the venue and was happy to meet Grant and Teresa about 30 min. prior to the beginning of the show. They had some trouble with the traffic like Grant has already reported.
After I took my seat in the hall somebody tipped on my shoulder and said in German "Guten Abend. Wie geht's?" (Good evening. How are you?) I turned around and there was Drew coincidentally sitting directly behind me.

The show started and like Grant reported it was a lovely event. The orchstra, the choir and of course Hayley were superb!!! It was lovely to hear her sing the Chistmas carols, so different to her other performances. She opened with "Ave Maria" and then came "Mary did you know?", "Gabriel's Message" (my favorite because it sounded quite celtic the way she sang it) and "O Holy Night". After those songs the orchestra played a "Christmas Overture" and then Hayley came back on stage to sing "O Come All Ye Faithful" with the audience. The lyrics were in the Chistmas Presence programme which I haven't bought yet. But I grabbed me a copy in the interval to be better prepared for the second part. i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

In the interval I had a chat with Grant, Teresa and Drew and we decided to head to the Stage Door as soon as the concert has ended.

A highlight of the second half was Damian Wileman who sang a beautiful song called "You Raise Me Up" and came back on stage later to sing "The Prayer" with Hayley. Hayley sang "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire", "Silent Night", "Who Would Imagine A King", "Away In A Manger", "Do You Hear What I Hear" and the before mentioned "The Prayer".
Now it was time for us to sing again together with Hayley "Hark The Herald Angels Sing". This time I was prepared and it was nice to sing along with her. A real privilege!!! Although my voice is not appropriate to raise some Christmas feelings! :rollin I hope I didn't ruin the sound too much! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

After the concert has ended we headed straight to the Stage Door where we met Hayley after a while of waiting. She was again very lovely as well to the "first timers" as to us. She looked at everybody when she came out of the Stage Door and she opened her eyes wide when she saw me. I hope she still appreciates that I go to the UK from time to time. But maybe she also thinks I'm crazy. I'm afraid that maybe she could be right with the last point! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
We chatted a while, took some pictures, received some autographs and some new informations Grant already wrote about. So the name of the new album isn't decided yet or like Hayley said "There was a heated discussion, a HEATED discussion". It really seemed to amuse her how an album name can create quite a controversy. We were also told by her that she will be in NZ in April. So watch out for details Belinda!
The moment with Hayley went as quick as it came and Hayley had to leave.

After the concert the "Hayleywowed" Grant, Teresa, Drew and me took the tram back and it turned out that Drew booked a hotel directly next to my hotel. So we chatted a little bit more at the bar with a glass of wine for Drew and a beer for me before I fell asleep in my hotel room. It was 1a.m. again!!! A 24 hours day but what a day!!! Hayley is and stays my Christmas Angel!

Thomas

[roger]

Hi Thomas,

Thanks very much for you report. It sounds as though your journey, and your long day, was worthwhile!

Don't worry, I'm sure Hayley doesn;t think you're crazy. Well, no more than the rest of us anyway!

Have a safe journey home... or are you there already?

Roger

[thomas]

Hi Roger!

Thank you for your response! I'm back in Germany already. Haven't unpacked my bag so far. I'll do that tomorrow. I'll also edit my pictures. They are just a few but nice ones.
The night will be short again.

Thomas

[mariannek]

Hi, Thomas
so lovely to have your report as well...great reading !! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
What a wonderful time you had making that special trip to see Hayley.... lucky you !!!
How I would love to sing with her !!! But you wouldn't hear my voice.... I can not !!!! sing !

Well, September cannot come quick enough for that extrodinary feeling and pleasure Hayley leaves you with....

Alles Gute und froehliche Weihnachten, Thomas

Love, Marianne