This unofficial site features his current and recent events and tours
Review of Tony Hadley - Kew - 18th July 2003
If you have just read my review of Swindon in 2003 you will see that I'm completing reviews of all Tony's shows I have seen. I'd had such a brilliant time in Swindon and meeting Tony as well, I just had to go again. I'd found the Official Site and knew he was playing Kew Gardens a couple of weeks after Swindon.
My daughter had finished school so would be able to join me, my one problem was that only working part-time money was a bit tight. I'd overspent by staying in a hotel in Swindon. My only option was to go to work in the morning of the show and to drive back afterwards. The next day was a Saturday, so I wouldn't have to go to work.
I'd never been to an outdoor, picnic style show. I got my daughter to pack a blanket, some egg sandwiches, crisps and some drinks. I finished work and went home to pick my daughter up and I drove for the longest journey I had ever done. I had never driven to London before - it was a bit scary. I decided to drive up the A30/A303 and it was fine until we got to Richmond, but after driving round a roundabout twice, it was into the leafy suburbs around Kew and we found a free parking space in one of the side streets.
We joined the other concert goers. I was surprised how much stuff they were actually bringing. Deckchairs, tables, cool boxes, hampers, trollies to carry all this, the list goes on. We just had our bag with the blanket and egg sandwiches! There was a path in front of where they had set up the stage, a grass area where chairs were banned and an area behind where you could set up your table and chairs. There were also stalls where you could buy various bits and pieces to the side.
We picked our way through the people to the front grass area and found a small area to put our blanket down. The people around us seemed to have been to most of the Kew concerts that year and had bought up the deli counter in Waitrose and M&S. The people in front of us even had their own ice cubes! It made our egg sandwiches seem very dull, but we sat down and started to eat.
Soon it was time for Tony to come on stage. It was still very early and light and people were still munching their way through their enormous picnics. It also seemed that the people around us weren't there to see Tony and carried on chatting to each other - very rude I thought.
As far as I can remember the set list was very similar to Swindon and was also an acoustic and rockier set. Kew is on the flightpath to Heathrow and quite a few aircraft were flying quite low overhead and I remember Tony looking up and pointing to one of the planes. By the time the second half arrived, it had started to get dark and some of the people at the front got up and stood on the path in front of the stage. We abandoned the blanket and went to join them. It was an excellent show again and I was glad that I went. I really enjoyed my second helping of seeing Tony.
As it was an outdoor gig, the no stage door thing was a problem. Had it been a gig nowadays, I would have tried harder to find a place to wait and would have eventually been thrown out, but would have probably managed to speak to Tony. I now know that several of my friends I have met through Tony were at this show, but at this point I didn't know them.
We made our way back to the car, I was on a real high as the show had been brilliant. The only thing I had to do was to drive 190 miles back home. Having worked that morning I was really tired, but playing Tony's CD and keeping the windows open, I managed to arrive home in the early hours, although I'm not sure how I managed the last 70 miles. I can't believe that it would be another 6 months before I would see Tony again and the gig after that before I would speak to him again.
Denise