I never saw blue like that before.
The Hexagon in Reading was host to a truly stunning performance by one of New Zealand's most successful music artists. Hayley Westenra teamed up with British tenor and X Factor runner up, Jonathan Ansell, to play a few special selected dates during February, appropriately dubbed The Valentines Tour. And it happened that Reading was one of the 8 lucky venues. Being in the UK fresh from New Zealand, as soon as I found out Hayley was in town, I quickly jumped on the Internet, ordered a ticket, going as far as using my New Zealand credit card. The cost was £30, but converting it back to New Zealand dollars and including the offshore charges it came to around $82. Despite the higher cost, it was a worthwhile purchase.
Now you might be asking, “How did I start listening to Hayley Westenra?” I first saw her around 10 years ago on a New Zealand talent show, McDonald’s Young Entertainers, when she was around 11 or 12, but she had been singing a lot earlier than that. She easily won the preliminary round, but I don’t think she won the entire competition. To be honest, I didn’t think much about her at the time.
A couple of years later, she started gaining more publicity, and I was quite amazed when I managed to recognise her as “that singer from that talent show”. Somehow she did leave a lasting impression on me that time. She released a couple of successful albums, which were only sold in New Zealand. She even performed around the country, but I wasn’t really enthusiastic enough to see her sing. My parents did go, however.
But I really started to get into Hayley’s music when she released her first international album, Pure. When I heard her first single, Who Painted the Moon Black, I immediately thought WOW. I instantly fell in love with the song, still love it to this day, and had great fun playing it by ear on the piano. It was then that I really started to appreciate Hayley’s music. She has gone from strength to strength and I hope she continues to produce many more albums in the future.
It was a slightly wet Sunday night, and I arrived at the venue 30 minutes early. It seemed the other concert goers also had the same idea in mind. Inside the Hexagon, I saw a lot of people hanging around, chatting, drinking at the bar and browsing the concert memorabilia - CDs, concert programmes, copies of Hayley's biography, pictures and posters. A concert programme costs £5, a signed concert programme costs £10. CDs of both Hayley, Jonathan, and a string quartet known only as Raven were going for £15. I decided not to buy anything - instead I was quietly hoping that Hayley would meet the fans and I could get a picture of her.
Most of the good seats in the Hexagon were sold out, so in the end I chose a seat on the right side of the stalls, which was at the lower level but looking up at the stage. The stage wasn't too high above the ground, so I still managed to look at the performance with my head level. The side stalls had the seats facing the centre of the stage so I didn't need to turn my head to the left. The interior of the Hexagon seats approximately 1200 people, and it was pretty much a full house. A full house of elderly folks, mother and daughter couples, and families with musically inclined children. As one of the very few twenty-something year old guys in the audience, I felt like I was swimming in a retirement home full of oestrogen.
Finally the lights dimmed, and the atmosphere turned very intimate. The concert started with the musicians walking on stage and taking their positions - an up and coming British String Quartet called Raven, an acoustic guitarist and a pianist from New Zealand. All were dressed very smartly as the occasion required. They kicked off the concert with Un Giorno Per Noi. Jonathan walked on stage first to sing the first verse. Then Hayley quietly entered the stage behind Jonathan to continue the song. Even though they sang the entire song in Italian, they gave heartfelt performances. I definitely felt the emotion even though I couldn’t understand the words. A great start to the concert.
After the duet they greeted the Reading audience, and explained that their Valentines Tour showcases all the love songs from their repertoire. Jonathan continued the concert with a solo, but it was only in the third song that set the tone of the evening for me. Hayley returned to the stage and gave a meaningful rendition of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird. Combined with the intimate setting, she poured a lot of emotion into the melody line. Never has the line, "And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before", sounded so sincere.
The delight didn't stop there. The next song was a cover of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, one of my two favourite songs from Hayley's second album, Odyssey. I absolutely adore the slow, yet lilting, acoustic guitar rhythm, and Hayley manages to turn a melancholic Joni Mitchell song into her own happy song. At one point I even saw Hayley moving in time with the guitar, like a dainty ballet dancer doing a graceful swingy walk.
In the second half of the concert, she sang my other favourite song, Never Saw Blue. With only a piano and guitar for accompaniment, she carried the song perfectly with her extraordinary voice, as if she didn’t need instruments at all. This song never ceases to move me from within, and all of it was magnified by the intimate setting, seeing her expressions on the stage and just hearing the song in a live setting. It is one of the most romantic songs I have ever heard.
To put a New Zealand connection into the Valentines Tour, her next song was Pokarekare Ana, the traditional New Zealand song sung in Maori. Being a New Zealander a long way away from home, I was really happy that she included that song in the lineup. If only I brought a New Zealand or All Blacks flag to the concert, now that would have been appropriate. And I didn’t know that Pokarekare Ana was a love song; I now have a new perspective on it now.
The rest of the programme was filled with duets, solos by Jonathan, and performances by Raven. The duets included All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Amigos Para Sempre (Friends For Life) as the closing song, and Time To Say Goodbye as the encore. I really wanted Hayley to sing Never Say Goodbye as the encore; it's just a fitting song to close the concert. Only if she was touring solo I suppose.
Now to give an objective assessment of each performer…
Raven performed 5 solos, including their own arrangement of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They are a younger version of Bond. Apart from that, I'm not sure how they are different, or what newer things they bring to their performance. But having four beautiful and enthusiastic young girls playing strings isn't a bad thing at all!
I didn’t know Jonathan Ansell at all before the concert. He was the runner up of Britain’s talent show, X Factor, similar to NZ Idol back home. Being a product of a reality TV show, it’s hard for me to take most of these singers seriously; just tell me what has happened to those past NZ Idol winners. But he allayed my concerns from the very first song. Jonathan is an excellent singer with a powerful and expressive voice. I would say he is in the mould of a Russell Watson and Josh Groban. If I had to nitpick, he did have a couple of false starts - when he started singing Mario Lanza’s Be My Love, he stopped abruptly at the third word. I'm not sure if it was done for comical purposes, but if it was a genuine false start, he recovered well with grace and garnered some laughs from the audience when he apologised. I also heard him cough and clear his throat during one of the duets; I suppose he could have concealed it better. But overall I was very impressed with his singing - I think I might go and get his CDs.
However the star of the night was definitely Hayley. And obviously she was the only person I wanted to see, the reason I bought the concert ticket. No false starts, no uncertain passages, no awkward off-key notes. I felt totally safe with her singing. It was perfect, just like CD quality. There are performers who sound good on CD, but terrible in a live setting. Hayley is not one of those performers. In concert, she sounds as good, if not better, than her CD recordings. This is why going to see Hayley in concert is so worthwhile, not because she sounds as good as her CD, but her display of expression and body language and her rapport that she has with the audience. When she talks to the audience she sounds very much like a down-to-earth young kiwi girl, which I find very endearing.
After the performance I noted a small group of people congregating at the stage door in the drop-off area. I figured these guys were waiting to do some "stargazing", so I decided to look on from a distance. A couple of Raven members exited the stage door and got in the minivan, and then a few more people came out. But there was still no sign of Hayley. Just when I thought she left via a different secret exit, she emerged from the stage door. Instead of ignoring them, or getting ushered away by her entourage, she gave a surprised “hello” to her fans, and proceeded to sign autographs on concert programmes, posters and CDs. I slowly went towards the group, and got a few pictures of Hayley and Jonathan with the fans. But, was it possible for me to get a photo with Hayley herself?
Eventually she got around to me. She looked at me, and I looked at her. It took half a second to register in my mind that she was expecting me to say something, so in my nervousness and awe I basically blurted out really fast “Can I get a photo with you? I’m from New Zealand too!” Normally people would not have understood what I had said, but Hayley, being a fellow New Zealander, had a big smile on her face and replied “I could tell you’re from New Zealand”. A lady fan was kind enough to take a photo, and, on the second shot, told us to get closer together! We were happy to do that, and I managed to get not one, but two great photos with Hayley.
The Hexagon in Reading was host to a truly stunning performance by one of New Zealand's most successful music artists. Hayley Westenra teamed up with British tenor and X Factor runner up, Jonathan Ansell, to play a few special selected dates during February, appropriately dubbed The Valentines Tour. And it happened that Reading was one of the 8 lucky venues. Being in the UK fresh from New Zealand, as soon as I found out Hayley was in town, I quickly jumped on the Internet, ordered a ticket, going as far as using my New Zealand credit card. The cost was £30, but converting it back to New Zealand dollars and including the offshore charges it came to around $82. Despite the higher cost, it was a worthwhile purchase.
Now you might be asking, “How did I start listening to Hayley Westenra?” I first saw her around 10 years ago on a New Zealand talent show, McDonald’s Young Entertainers, when she was around 11 or 12, but she had been singing a lot earlier than that. She easily won the preliminary round, but I don’t think she won the entire competition. To be honest, I didn’t think much about her at the time.
A couple of years later, she started gaining more publicity, and I was quite amazed when I managed to recognise her as “that singer from that talent show”. Somehow she did leave a lasting impression on me that time. She released a couple of successful albums, which were only sold in New Zealand. She even performed around the country, but I wasn’t really enthusiastic enough to see her sing. My parents did go, however.
But I really started to get into Hayley’s music when she released her first international album, Pure. When I heard her first single, Who Painted the Moon Black, I immediately thought WOW. I instantly fell in love with the song, still love it to this day, and had great fun playing it by ear on the piano. It was then that I really started to appreciate Hayley’s music. She has gone from strength to strength and I hope she continues to produce many more albums in the future.
It was a slightly wet Sunday night, and I arrived at the venue 30 minutes early. It seemed the other concert goers also had the same idea in mind. Inside the Hexagon, I saw a lot of people hanging around, chatting, drinking at the bar and browsing the concert memorabilia - CDs, concert programmes, copies of Hayley's biography, pictures and posters. A concert programme costs £5, a signed concert programme costs £10. CDs of both Hayley, Jonathan, and a string quartet known only as Raven were going for £15. I decided not to buy anything - instead I was quietly hoping that Hayley would meet the fans and I could get a picture of her.
Most of the good seats in the Hexagon were sold out, so in the end I chose a seat on the right side of the stalls, which was at the lower level but looking up at the stage. The stage wasn't too high above the ground, so I still managed to look at the performance with my head level. The side stalls had the seats facing the centre of the stage so I didn't need to turn my head to the left. The interior of the Hexagon seats approximately 1200 people, and it was pretty much a full house. A full house of elderly folks, mother and daughter couples, and families with musically inclined children. As one of the very few twenty-something year old guys in the audience, I felt like I was swimming in a retirement home full of oestrogen.
Finally the lights dimmed, and the atmosphere turned very intimate. The concert started with the musicians walking on stage and taking their positions - an up and coming British String Quartet called Raven, an acoustic guitarist and a pianist from New Zealand. All were dressed very smartly as the occasion required. They kicked off the concert with Un Giorno Per Noi. Jonathan walked on stage first to sing the first verse. Then Hayley quietly entered the stage behind Jonathan to continue the song. Even though they sang the entire song in Italian, they gave heartfelt performances. I definitely felt the emotion even though I couldn’t understand the words. A great start to the concert.
After the duet they greeted the Reading audience, and explained that their Valentines Tour showcases all the love songs from their repertoire. Jonathan continued the concert with a solo, but it was only in the third song that set the tone of the evening for me. Hayley returned to the stage and gave a meaningful rendition of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird. Combined with the intimate setting, she poured a lot of emotion into the melody line. Never has the line, "And I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before", sounded so sincere.
The delight didn't stop there. The next song was a cover of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, one of my two favourite songs from Hayley's second album, Odyssey. I absolutely adore the slow, yet lilting, acoustic guitar rhythm, and Hayley manages to turn a melancholic Joni Mitchell song into her own happy song. At one point I even saw Hayley moving in time with the guitar, like a dainty ballet dancer doing a graceful swingy walk.
In the second half of the concert, she sang my other favourite song, Never Saw Blue. With only a piano and guitar for accompaniment, she carried the song perfectly with her extraordinary voice, as if she didn’t need instruments at all. This song never ceases to move me from within, and all of it was magnified by the intimate setting, seeing her expressions on the stage and just hearing the song in a live setting. It is one of the most romantic songs I have ever heard.
To put a New Zealand connection into the Valentines Tour, her next song was Pokarekare Ana, the traditional New Zealand song sung in Maori. Being a New Zealander a long way away from home, I was really happy that she included that song in the lineup. If only I brought a New Zealand or All Blacks flag to the concert, now that would have been appropriate. And I didn’t know that Pokarekare Ana was a love song; I now have a new perspective on it now.
The rest of the programme was filled with duets, solos by Jonathan, and performances by Raven. The duets included All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Amigos Para Sempre (Friends For Life) as the closing song, and Time To Say Goodbye as the encore. I really wanted Hayley to sing Never Say Goodbye as the encore; it's just a fitting song to close the concert. Only if she was touring solo I suppose.
Now to give an objective assessment of each performer…
Raven performed 5 solos, including their own arrangement of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They are a younger version of Bond. Apart from that, I'm not sure how they are different, or what newer things they bring to their performance. But having four beautiful and enthusiastic young girls playing strings isn't a bad thing at all!
I didn’t know Jonathan Ansell at all before the concert. He was the runner up of Britain’s talent show, X Factor, similar to NZ Idol back home. Being a product of a reality TV show, it’s hard for me to take most of these singers seriously; just tell me what has happened to those past NZ Idol winners. But he allayed my concerns from the very first song. Jonathan is an excellent singer with a powerful and expressive voice. I would say he is in the mould of a Russell Watson and Josh Groban. If I had to nitpick, he did have a couple of false starts - when he started singing Mario Lanza’s Be My Love, he stopped abruptly at the third word. I'm not sure if it was done for comical purposes, but if it was a genuine false start, he recovered well with grace and garnered some laughs from the audience when he apologised. I also heard him cough and clear his throat during one of the duets; I suppose he could have concealed it better. But overall I was very impressed with his singing - I think I might go and get his CDs.
However the star of the night was definitely Hayley. And obviously she was the only person I wanted to see, the reason I bought the concert ticket. No false starts, no uncertain passages, no awkward off-key notes. I felt totally safe with her singing. It was perfect, just like CD quality. There are performers who sound good on CD, but terrible in a live setting. Hayley is not one of those performers. In concert, she sounds as good, if not better, than her CD recordings. This is why going to see Hayley in concert is so worthwhile, not because she sounds as good as her CD, but her display of expression and body language and her rapport that she has with the audience. When she talks to the audience she sounds very much like a down-to-earth young kiwi girl, which I find very endearing.
After the performance I noted a small group of people congregating at the stage door in the drop-off area. I figured these guys were waiting to do some "stargazing", so I decided to look on from a distance. A couple of Raven members exited the stage door and got in the minivan, and then a few more people came out. But there was still no sign of Hayley. Just when I thought she left via a different secret exit, she emerged from the stage door. Instead of ignoring them, or getting ushered away by her entourage, she gave a surprised “hello” to her fans, and proceeded to sign autographs on concert programmes, posters and CDs. I slowly went towards the group, and got a few pictures of Hayley and Jonathan with the fans. But, was it possible for me to get a photo with Hayley herself?
Eventually she got around to me. She looked at me, and I looked at her. It took half a second to register in my mind that she was expecting me to say something, so in my nervousness and awe I basically blurted out really fast “Can I get a photo with you? I’m from New Zealand too!” Normally people would not have understood what I had said, but Hayley, being a fellow New Zealander, had a big smile on her face and replied “I could tell you’re from New Zealand”. A lady fan was kind enough to take a photo, and, on the second shot, told us to get closer together! We were happy to do that, and I managed to get not one, but two great photos with Hayley.
Hayley was extremely nice and personable. She just doesn’t sign her name on something or take a photo with you, then move on. She actually talks to you individually too. She asked me which part of New Zealand I was from. I replied Auckland, and she called me a JAFA. She’s from Christchurch so I just laughed. She also asked how long I was in the UK for. I replied for 3 years, and that it’s been 3 months so far. She then had a surprised look on her face, and stammered “wow… fresh!” Again I laughed and agreed with her. The word “fresh” has many meanings, but I knew where she was coming from. Unfortunately there were a few more fans for her to greet, so our conversation couldn’t continue any further. It was already nearing 10:30 p.m. and I had missed my bus home. Instead of waiting another hour for the next bus, I endured an hour long walk from the Hexagon to my house. But it was worth the wait to meet Hayley in the flesh and get a picture with her.
Hayley has been performing for a very long time. She has released multiple albums and done countless performances. She is one of New Zealand's most successful music artists over the last 10 years, and she's only 21 years old. Despite having known about her from that talent show, and listening to her music seriously since her first international album, this was my first ever Hayley concert. And I was not disappointed at all. Hayley makes just about every song she sings “special”, regardless of genre. If she did a country song, and I’m not a country music fan, it would be quite likely that I would enjoy the song. She is truly a remarkable talent. If you are a Hayley fan, you have to see her in concert!
And if you're not a Hayley fan yet, do check out the music video of Who Painted the Moon Black, the song that first got me into listening to Hayley seriously. There's a chance you might just fall in love with the song, as I did when I first heard it.
10/10
Hayley has been performing for a very long time. She has released multiple albums and done countless performances. She is one of New Zealand's most successful music artists over the last 10 years, and she's only 21 years old. Despite having known about her from that talent show, and listening to her music seriously since her first international album, this was my first ever Hayley concert. And I was not disappointed at all. Hayley makes just about every song she sings “special”, regardless of genre. If she did a country song, and I’m not a country music fan, it would be quite likely that I would enjoy the song. She is truly a remarkable talent. If you are a Hayley fan, you have to see her in concert!
And if you're not a Hayley fan yet, do check out the music video of Who Painted the Moon Black, the song that first got me into listening to Hayley seriously. There's a chance you might just fall in love with the song, as I did when I first heard it.
10/10
