Gig Description

Without doubt one of the best gigs I've ever been to. This was Richard Hawley's Christmas homecoming show, his first time headlining at Sheffield City Hall and the final show of the Coles Corner tour which had taken him around the world under his own name for the first time.

Coles Corner, Hawley's fouth album was released in September 2005 and launched the same month with a gig at the Leadmill in Sheffield (which I was also at), followed by shows in Europe, the USA, a string of festival dates and many gigs up and down the UK (I caught a couple of those too). The album was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which was ironically won by fellow Sheffielders Arctic Monkeys, but it did win the South Bank Show's music award. All in all, a busy year or so and one in which Hawley's solo career finally took off.

This homecoming show was a big deal for Hawley. He'd grown up seeing bands play at Sheffield City Hall, played there a couple of times as a support act but never in his own right. The show was a sell out, and on the night there was no support act or special guests, instead, Hawley did two sets, effectively being his own support act. For the first set (Hawley dressed in double denim) he and his band played a selection of rarely-performed songs from his earlier solo albums.

After a short break (and a change of clothes) Hawley was back, with a set that drew on the Coles Corner album with a smattering of tracks from his second and third albums, a few covers and a preview of a brand new (and at that point as-yet unrecorded) song (Serious).

The finishing touch on what was already a special night was the song Coles Corner itself. The City Hall is just a few minutes walk from Coles Corner (already long gone by then) and directly opposite Cole Brothers' (a.k.a John Lewis) current location in Barker's Pool. For the intro of the song, the stage lights dimmed and old black and white images of Sheffield and the original Coles Corner were projected onto a screen at the back of the stage. There was barely a dry eye in the house, an enormous sense of pride coming from the whole audience, which included many of Hawley's family and friends (he talked about his dad, who was too ill to attend and sadly passed away a few weeks later).

At that moment it became clear that this show was a life's ambition realised and a culmination of Hawley's career so far, from playing the pubs and clubs as a kid with his dad, to C86 indie pop with Treebound Story, a first taste of fame with Longpigs and a stint with Pulp in their last few years to breaking out on his own, making the music he always wanted to make and finding success with it. Not to mention the journey he'd been on with the Coles Corner album itself - recorded in Sheffield, launched at a well-attended (but not sold out) gig at the Leadmill, to selling out Sheffield City Hall, no more than 10 minutes walk from both the studio where it was recorded and the Leadmill.

After the show, as we filed out of the City Hall, we were given a special commemorative 1-track CD to mark the occasion - Hawley's version of Silent Night, a Christmas gift to us all.

That night has become legendary among Hawley fans, and as someone who grew up in Sheffield myself, going to shows at the City Hall and being part of the local music scene (crossing paths with Hawley a few times over the years), I felt privileged to have been there. It was a special night that I'll never forget.

FIRST SET
I'm on Nights
The Motorcycle Song
Darlin'
Naked in Pitsmoor
Bang to Rights
Coming Home

SECOND SET
I Sleep Alone
Born Under a Bad Sign
Dark Road
Hotel Room
Darlin’ Wait for Me
The Ocean
(Wading Through) The Waters of My Time
Just Like the Rain
Something Is...!
Oh My Love
Tonight
Coles Corner
Serious
The Only Road
Run for Me

ENCORE
Long Black Train
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
That's All Right Mama