I got to
Darren arriving.
Darren arrived and Adey grabbed him for a picture. I wasn’t really paying attention but Darren apparently said he would come back out and say hi. Darren came back out in his shirt and sunnies and posed for some more pics. Adey was hilarious, Darren signed his arm and grabbed another pic ‘the other one was dreadful’ and they played ‘let’s pretend the paparazzi are chasing us’. People got pics and things signed. Darren was very kind and excited to see us and when Cathy said ‘we should go’ Darren stayed a little longer. Kelly’s been a life long fan since SG and has never got a pic with Darren, I knew this was her chance so I asked Darren ‘can Kelly have a picture please?’ Darren was very kind and lovely and as I held the camera up to take the pic he spotted my new hoodie and said ‘I’m loving this’ and pointed at my hoodie. I kindly said thanks and took the pic. I don’t think my hands have ever shook so much. I took a few pics then swapped with Kelly for a pic. Darren smelled exactly like I remembered him. It was the first thing I noticed.
Sound check.
Hilary had won Sound check and very kindly asked me to be her guest. I am humbled by her generosity and blessed to given the chance. I was so excited when I found out.
Before Darren came out we spoke to his manager Cathy. She is amazing. I can’t tell you how lovely she is. She asked me about the album poster I’d seen in the tube and said the rest would be up by next week. She was really excited about the show and passionate about Darren and his talent. It was lovely to see her so enthusiastic. She really believes in Darren.
Darren came on stage and started sound checking To The Moon and Back. My first thought was ‘Ashwin is gonna FREAK’ then Darren asked to check the head mic and sound checked Taken By The Sea. I always thought Taken By The Sea would be the opener. We’d seen the guy with the umbrella before Darren came on stage and when Darren held his arm up like someone holding a brolly I put 2 +2 together and made 4. Darren joked that he was talking to the sound desk but we couldn’t hear them (via his ear monitors) and then started sound checking stupid mistake. I didn’t grab me at the listening party but I hoped it would grow on me live.
Darren said he was gonna come down and take pics and then we had to leave as he wanted to do the secret things we weren’t allowed to see. He came over to Hilary and I first as we were closer. He made a joke to Cathy ‘them two sneaked in’ and I told him that Hilary had won a competition and very kindly invited me. I stood there, my camera was off and on the wrong setting and I made some comment about not being ready and Cathy said ‘we’ll do you last’. Embarrassing LOL. It was lovely to see Darren with the other competition winners we didn’t know and see how much it meant to them. I took Hilary’s pic with Darren and I wasn’t sure it came out so I took another. ‘yeah that one is ok’ I said. Darren grabbed the camera and declared ‘I will be the judge of that’… ‘oooh we look good’ HeHe. Then he gave my camera to Cathy. Poor cathy didn’t know how to get it back off the viewer. I was amazed how quickly Darren worked it out LOL. I’d taken my hoodie off to get a nice pic with my top and Darren said ‘you look amazing’ and I said thanks and then we took the pic. It’s a real shame that all I managed next was ‘you’re freezing’. Darren’s hand was so cold on my shoulder. He just replied ‘yeah’. God one day I won’t make an arse out of myself. So far today, I’ve stood there shaking outside long after D left and then said the most boring observation to him when I could have said something profound.
Early entry.
We went back outside and the early entry queue had been arranged. We could hear the sound check through the gap in the door but couldn’t make out what the songs were. Becky came to check us in, PHEW we were on the list OK, and the steward came to the door to get us ready to go in. She was lovely, interested in Darren and his fans and although she thought we were mad, checked all our bags early so we could go in straight away at
We run up all four flights of stairs and took our places in the middle of the front row. Then it began to seem real. I have to say the early entry from the FC was a big help, we got great places, we weren’t cold and stood outside and we got to listen to the preshow music and chat to those around us. It’s a shame the bar wasn’t open until
I wasn’t paying much attention to the pre-show music until just before Gabe came on: Rhianna’s ‘we found love’. I love that song, such a party anthem. So much fun.
Gabe Dixon.
Gabe came on and he was brilliant. I refered to him afterwards as a bit of a poor man’s Michael buble and that might have been a little unfair. I liked his voice and his songs. He was quite charming and funny too.
setlist:
1. Losing you
2. Even the rain
3. Release me
4. Running on fumes
5. I can see you shine
6. My favourite.
Half way through the set, Gabe took out his iPhone to check the time and said ‘they tell me I’ve got half an hour’ and left the iPhone on the keyboard. I love how casual he was about it.
Running on fumes was brilliant, Gabe said he needed some backing singers and asked the crowd to sing along as guys and then the girls. He said the lyrics were a bit difficult, they were ‘woah’ and the crowd sung SO LOUD. I was impressed. I knew then it was gonna be a great night.
Gabe told a story about how his wife had come up to him in the kitchen one day and said ‘hey so how come you’ve never written a song about me’, and I said that a lot of my songs are influenced by you and she said ‘yeah but you’ve never written a song about me’ and I realised she was right and started about the task of writing a song for her. We were getting married and I was gonna sing it as she walked down the aisle and everyone was gonna cry and it was gonna be this beautiful moment and sadly it didn’t happen as it kept coming out cheesy, but when I realised I couldn’t write about how I felt about her in a song I wrote this song’ (my favourite).
The first song after Gabe’s set was Hurts – The Water. There was also Jordin Sparks - Battlefield and Claire Maguire’s The Shield and The Sword. I worked out the theme pretty quick.
Darren’s Setlist:
1. Taken by the sea
We’d saw the guy check the blue light on the umbrella in sound check and Darren hold his hand up while singing Taken By The sea so we’d guessed the brolly was gonna be used for this song. What we didn’t know is that the little blue light the guy had checked in sound check could make the whole umbrella light up blue. It was a WOW moment. I still adored this song since the listening party and it was the amazing opener I knew it would be. The audience screamed so loud. I love how half way through the song Darren holds the brolly out to his side, and moves it like it is creating waves, or a storm.
This is the song that got the place up for a good time. It’s the thumping beat that gets everyone going, everyone clapping. Great party starter.
This was when the audience really went wild. Clapping, dancing, having a good time. Singing along,
Chat.
Darren explained that he had a new record coming out called secret codes and battleships. ‘whose idea was it to tour the week an album is being released? *puts his hand up* it was mine’ *laughs*
I adore this song. I did at the listening party and my feeling hasn’t changed. It’s an anthem. It’s got an amazing beat, I love its vibe. It makes me wanna dance and clap and jump up and down and sing.
It’s an open secret that I’m not an insatiable fan. But I loved it tonight. It was just gorgeous. The crowd sang along, they made a connection it and you could see Darren was really enjoying it. It sounded perfect.
This song is just gorgeous live. I loved it. Darren sung it so flawlessly, yet with so much emotion.
7. Strange relationship
I will always love this song. It was the song that brought Darren’s solo career to my attention. It’s a rarity live and I love it. ‘do you love me?’ the audience will always scream yes. This song took me back to a long time ago. My first thought was the first night I saw it, the first night I saw Darren, dark/light.
8. The animal song
*Darren claps the rhythm*. The audience tried to clap it back and it was a train wreck. Darren stopped the song and said ‘now listen up naughty naughty audience, I’m gay so I can’t catch but I should be able to clap’. The audience tried again, Darren had this look of I give up on his face and just started singing. I loved the line ‘animals and children tell the truth they never lie, which one is more human there’s a thought now you decide’ and He pointed his index finger at the corner of his lip, looked up and done this angelic look as if to say hmmmm. I laughed. At the end of the song D was folded in half and laughed. Total highlight of the night. I loved seeing Darren laughing and so happy.
The music to billie Jean starts and everyone cheers. Darren spins round like MJ used to, then starts singing break me shake me. The audience cheered and laughed and no one was sure where it was going. Darren singing break me shake me to the tune of billie jean is just genius. And that thing MJ used to do, popping his shoulders, Darren can do that perfectly. I was very impressed. Darren then beckoned steve over, and was holding onto his leg, playing up to the guitar.
This was a song that sent the audience wild again. And my god has Darren got the moves for this song. Ermm…… ;)
11. Stupid mistake
I wasn’t really a fan of this song at the listening party but I was excited to see it come to life on stage. It was growing on me. Then there was an instrumental bit and Darren disappeared behind two white sheets on stands with
12. Popular
Popular to the tune of Bros’ ‘when will I be famous?’. This was just cheer genius. The light up blue glasses and the blue stick was just brilliant. It was so much fun. HOW the hell does Darren remember that routine with the stick so perfectly? It was brilliant. My favourite bit will always be the cheeky face he pulls when he puts the stick between his legs. TOO funny. I loved the little series of questions he has in the middle pointing the stick at people. ‘do you wanna have a sex tape?’ HeHe. Popular was too dark to see Darren’s face properly, but there was a little black heart drawn on Darren’s cheek just below his glasses. No one had twigged the rest of the make up before now, but they were about to…
This is pretty indescribable. Darren sat down on a stair in the middle of the stage and a light was placed on his face. Now for the first time we saw the make up he was putting on behind the silhouette. There was Darren, with a completely white face and huge eyebrows pencilled on. It had been a clown that was singing popular. There was something so ironic about that. This song was a bit of a shock. I didn’t think Darren would ever sing we are smug live. It was fun, it was funny, it was pretty haunting. I won’t ever forget the clown’s piercing blue demon eyes staring into mine. I loved it, but there was something unnerving about it. I looked away, I looked back, and those blue eyes were still watching. It was a magic moment. Darren can play the drunk so so well. Reeling around in his chair, slumped over the back of the chair. My favourite bit was “She's got hot tub blues, Red hot shoes, Need for some fun, Beer and guns” and Darren was drunkenly conducting the voice (I’m assuming Rob’s voice). Then there was the ‘Ma'am, I'm gonna need to see some ID’ bit. Darren points at himself, turns up his face and does this ‘who? Me?’ Face. Genius. There was a moment during hot tub blues when I thought, how is Darren gonna get all the make up off again. He can’t stay like that for the rest of the show. And then another genius idea was revealed…..
Darren sat down at the table at the right had side of the stage that we had wondered why it was there, He folded out the dressing room mirror lights (without the mirror so we could see) and Darren wiped away his make up from hot tube blues and also wiped away the tears. Very real tears. It was very emotional watching him cry like that. I was so close to tears too. But his voice never faltered and I adored every single minute of it. It was beautiful.
This was a real highlight for me. I had the biggest grin on my face. I was transported back to the very first time I saw this song on dark/light. Only this version was the album version and it was gorgeous. Darren put his jacket on and attached to the breast pocket was a light up purple heart that was flashing. Darren placed his protective hands around it, then held his hands up in the heart shape he used to do with savage garden. Darren was so grateful, you could see that. It was a real moment for me, I never got to see savage garden live and I was aware that this was the closest to it.
This was gorgeous. Kelly made an observation after the show, we’d never seen Darren sing the album version before. It was wonderful to watch.
------ Encore ------
17. Crush / spin
This was the moment I almost DIED. I was been wishing to see crush live since that amazing live version on top of the pops in early 2003. I was acutely aware that my wish was coming true. That ‘dance baby, you know your gonna have such a good time’ I just ADORE. I always have. So much fun. Then there was a lyric ‘last night a DJ saved my life with a song’ and it launched into spin. Very clever. The two blended so well. I loved it. The loved the mash up.
So much fun. The crowd were loving it, it’s always fun live this song.
I was so close to tears. I became aware that there I was, looking up at Darren on stage, and I remembered the 10 year old girl I was, who used to Dance to truly madly deeply song in the kitchen and want to be the one who stood on the mountain, or bathed in the sea. I could draw you the very picture that 10 year old had in her head, if I could draw. I got very emotional. Tears filled my eyes but I didn’t cry. So proud to have survived, and be standing at a Darren Hayes show. Again it was an album version we hadn’t seen Darren sing before. I felt really blessed.
Chat.
“Thank you so much, see you soon
I freaking adore this song. A lot. I can’t explain to people the connection I felt to that call at the listening party. But I knew that I felt it and could return that call. I just GET it. I was so excited it was on the setlist. There was one lyric I identified with straight away ‘a hundred demons clambering, they chase away my harmony and make love afraid to call’. And in stark contrast to that, there was Darren, grin on his face, arms folded, taking in the applause and the cheers. It was a beautiful moment to see him soak it all up and look so happy and so blessed. He felt it too. It was a bit of an abrupt end to the show, but that was what it was meant to do. It was 1000 people singing that call back to him before the end. It was a beautiful moment.
After the show
I remember turning to Kelly after the show and all I said was ‘this was the performer Darren was born to be’. It was more magic than I’ve ever seen him before. It was an absolutely amazing night. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
After a dangerous decent down the steepest and narrowest stairs ever to leave the venue, we headed on the drive straight back to Hilary’s. There was the moment the sat nav was called a ‘freak’ and the moment I pretty much fell out the car to stop off for some crisps and coke at the service station. Those are the memories when it’s not just about the show, it’s about friends too. Thank you Kelly for continuing to be my partner in crime and a HUGE Thank you Hilary for driving us back, let us stay at yours and being so much fun to be around. I LOVE YOU both girls. I wouldn’t want do it without you.
Wonderful review Hails, as usual you capture the show so beautifully. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLovely blog. Thank you so much for writing it. :)
ReplyDeleteLove the blog Hails. :) Thanks for sharing your awesome night.
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