A regular visitor to these shores, Richard Hawley this time brought his lush balladry and deft 1950s guitar stylings to the pastoral “secret garden” behind Harcourt Street, in the heart of the city. And no better place for it: a balmy summer’s evening with not a breadth of wind ensured that the PA sounded as near to perfect as possible and Hawley’s sumptuous melodies and rich velvety vocals wafted through the trees to often magical effect.
Opening with the upbeat, ‘Which Way’ from his recent Hollow Meadows album, the Sheffield crooner continued with a jaunty, ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ which he dedicated to, “the pricks who voted for Brexit” – to loud cheers. ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ made for a more ambient experience with the layers of fuzzy, textural guitars competing with his vocals.
But it’s fair to say that the more romantically inclined ballads and slow-burners went down better with the crowd – with even some slow-set dancing breaking out among couples in front of the stage. With his trademark quiff and spectacles Hawley – fronting a terrific band – wasn’t as talkative as usual apart from a couple of comments, including asking the crowd whether “the Guinness was nice” (probably unaware that he was performing in what was once a Guinness family property!)
He packs a lot of emotion into songs such as the aching, ‘I Still Want You’ and the lovely, cascading ‘Open Up Your Door’ while the Smiths-like ‘Down In The Woods’ gets things rocking again. It was all over too soon, but he ended on a strong note with an encore that included the gorgeously sentimental ‘Cole’s Corner’ a stunning version of ‘There’s A Storm Coming’ and his epic, seafaring ballad ‘The Ocean’.
Support was from the truly legendary Wilko Johnson of Dr Feelgood fame – known more recently as the man who cheated death – who rocked the venue with his stripped-down, ricochet blues. With ex-Blockhead Norman Watt Roy on bass and a solid drummer holding down the beat, the trio made a formidable racket and the crowd lapped up Johnson’s Telecaster attack on Feelgood classics such as, ‘Roxette’, ‘Back In The Night’ and ‘She Does It Right’, among others.
• Colm O’Hare