RICHARD HAWLEY + TOM MCRAE – ASSEMBLY HALL, WORTHING 4.10.25
It’s been an astonishing 2202 days since we last attended a concert at Worthing Assembly Hall, this being in excess of 6 years, when we ventured to see a thrilling live set by Gary Numan on 24th September 2019 (Review HERE). In fact its been so long since we were last here, that they have erected the new 2024 Civic Quarter multi-storey car park, which is conveniently positioned virtually next door.
From its exterior, The Assembly Hall doesn’t look anything special, it’s a building typical of its time, which was given to the town in 1934 by Alderman Denton, who was Mayor of Worthing four times, it’s the youngest of Worthing’s theatrical venues. However, once inside you can see that this is a TARDIS-like open space construction with high ceiling and some upstairs balcony seating which sits opposite the main stage. Thankfully this evening’s format is standing downstairs as opposed to seating, and so we make our way to the crowd barrier. We are here in order to witness Sheffield’s finest son, Richard Hawley, perform a celebratory set for the 20th anniversary of the release of his iconic ‘Coles Corner’ album.
He joins a plethora of music stars that have played here in the past. The big hitters include The Kinks (1964, 1965, 1967 & 1994), The Who (1965, 1968, 1969 & 1971), Cat Stevens (1967), Pink Floyd (1967), Fleetwood Mac (1968 & 1969), Deep Purple (1969 & 1970), Black Sabbath (1970), Genesis (1970 & 1972), David Bowie (1972), Status Quo (1972), 10cc (1983, 2002, 2015 & 2022), Motörhead (1987 & 1989), The Fall (1996), The Damned (2015), Half Man Half Biscuit (2017 my first gig here), and Gary Numan (2018 & 2019).
‘Coles Corner’ is Richard Hawley’s third studio album and his first for Mute Records. After five years of garnering praise for his songwriting talents and heart-melting baritone voice, and steadily building a solid fanbase through his outstanding live performances, hard work paid off on an album regarded by many as his best. Recorded in Sheffield’s Yellow Arch Studios, and co-produced with his long-time bassist Colin Elliot, and Mike Timm, ‘Coles Corner’ featured fellow musicians Shez Sheridan (guitars), Jon Trier (keyboards), Jonny Wood (upright bass) and Andy Cook (drums). They conjured up an exquisite album inspired by Hawley’s love of vintage ‘40s and ‘50s sounds, chamber pop, country, blues, and rock ‘n roll, on a set of intimate love songs full of nostalgia, regret, sadness and a bittersweet atmosphere, on a collection that would cement Hawley’s abiding love and passion for his hometown of Sheffield.
In homage to the 20 year old record Richard Hawley selected a mere 7-date UK tour of which this evening’s sold out concert at the Assembly Halls in Worthing is date six, having already thrilled punters in York, Boston, Portmeirion, Blackpool, and Margate, after which the musicians will sign off in Weston-Super-Mare on 10th October. As always, he is joined by his band that includes Colin Elliot, Shez Sheridan and Jon Trier who performed on the ‘Coles Corner’ album. The full complement tonight are: Richard Hawley (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar), Shez Sheridan (6 & 12 string guitars, acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, backing vocals), Colin Elliot (double bass, bass guitars, drum, backing vocals), Dean Beresford (drums), John Trier (keyboards, laptop programming, shakers) and Bryan Dale (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals). They are joined by a string section on cello and violin and as far as I could hear, these ladies were introduced as Toni, Caroline, Josie and Liz.
This evening’s concert runs for the duration of 126 minutes from 8:48pm until 10:54pm, and in that time were are given no less than 21 tunes, with the first 10 coming from ‘Coles Corner’ in the correct tracklisting order, with closing album track ‘Last Orders’ being omitted due to the fact that it doesn’t fit the mood, or as Richard called it “a 10 minute piano tune” – it’s actually just under 5 minutes! The remaining 11 tunes are culled from his 2007 to 2024 period.
The musicians take to the stage and are greeted accordingly by the mixed aged crowd, and then Richard strolls on and is greeted with loud cheers and shouts. Clearly everyone is up for it this evening! They naturally kick-off with ‘Coles Corner’ which was named after a former department store in Sheffield which was a popular meeting place for couples. Memories of the legendary landmark have been cut into vinyl with a song that swells the heart with its sweeping strings and swooning chorus, on a universal paean to the loneliness of the city at night. Tonight’s delivery is wonderful and the crowd more than adequately rewards such a masterpiece. Clearly Richard and chums are a tad taken-aback by the sudden outpouring of love, as he states “So this is what Saturday night in Worthing looks like!”.
Richard then explains that he wrote the next tune ‘Just Like The Rain’ on his sixteenth birthday. He’s on his acoustic guitar for this horse trotting beat of a tune.Track three is the Elvis Presley crooning styled ‘Hotel Room’ with its repeated “Here in my arms” chorus. The slow longing number ‘Darlin’ Wait For Me’ follows, and after which we get the album’s most epic song and true fan favourite, ‘The Ocean’. This was written on a family holiday in the shadow of Cornwall’s Minack Theatre (with a video later filmed at the same location), the song features one of Richard’s best vocals; all yearning and urgency as it builds to its visceral crescendo. In short, this was f*cking epic and made my body tingle! Richard’s reward….very loud applause from the full house. Some jovial banter followed.
More balladry followed with the arrival of ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ with its notable Roland keyboard riff. There’s more approval from the crowd and Richard says “You’re amazing. You’re a great audience thank you!”. There’s crowd handclapping for the speedy ‘I Sleep Alone’ and you could have arguably heard a pin drop during the intro and outro reflective guitars on ‘Tonight’. Hawley’s love of country music is widely known and a prime example of this being ‘(Wading Through) The Waters Of My Time’. For this Shez sat with a lap steel guitar (which is also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar) and played the instrument in a horizontal position with the assistance of a polished steel bar which slides against strings whilst plucking them with the opposite hand.
The final offering from ‘Coles Corner’ came next, a solo piece called ‘Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?’. Richard explained that this is a cover version and that his Godfather is actually Sheffield born Joe Cocker…yes that one, and not the Sheffield born Jarvis Cocker, who is not related. Joe was then an apprentice gasfitter and used to come around to Richard’s house and sing him ‘Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?’ as a lullaby to get him to sleep. His father, Dave Hawley, (who passed away at just 63) later pointed out to Richard that Joe used to do this “as he fancied your mother!”. Richard then told us that he used to sing the same song to his children in order to get them asleep. He added that he was often away on tour and so decided to record the tune so that his wife could play it to the children in his absence. Bassist Colin Elliot then heard the song and insisted that Richard add it onto the ‘Coles Corner’ album. He did and tonight he delivers the track by himself which his chums had vacated the stage. It was a great way of rounding off the album.
Without a break, the band returned and they set about playing the uptempo ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ which is found on 2007’s ‘Lady’s Bridge’ album. They absolutely hit the ball right out of the park (so to speak) with this delivery and for the second time this evening I was given the tingles. This was another popular choice with the punters. Another tune from ‘Lady’s Bridge’ followed, this being ‘I’m Looking For Someone To Find Me’, with its fast foot tapping skiffle beat.
‘Don’t Stare At The Sun’ from 2012’s ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ album came next and it’s a slowish wistful summer tune which grows in its intensity and sound the longer it goes on until it reverts to a quiet ending. We next had the title song from ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ with its slow rock guitar intro. Interestingly, there’s added drumming courtesy of bassist Colin who joins Dean and this works rather well, especially the full-on big rock guitar outro with Shez holding his against the speakers, this too was a fan favourite judging by the loud applause. Another rocky number was their next selection, ‘Deep Space’ from 2024’s ‘In This City They Call You Love’ album, although the mood changed with the arrival of the bossa-nova style ‘Prism In Jeans’ from last year’s ‘In This City They Call You Love’ record with its complimentary strings accompaniment.
As ‘Open Up Your Door’ from 2009’s ‘Truelove’s Gutter’ album commenced, it was greeted by many excited handclaps in recognition. This was another truly wonderful song which made me yearn for a Haagen Daz ice cream – if you know, you know! We next had two tunes from 2019’s ‘Further’ album, these being the guitar strumming ditty ‘Alone’ followed by the slow chugging rockin’ vibed ‘Is There A Pill?’. Prior to this second cut, where Richard seriously lets loose on his guitar, he stated “It’s been an honour and privilege to play for you” and the band actually applauded us although they had done all the work! The tune had an enormous rock outro and the musicians vacated the stage at 10:35pm, there was deafening applause.
They returned to play the romantic ‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’ from 2009’s ‘Truelove’s Gutter’ and Richard told us the background to the track and that it was penned for his wife. The final song was ‘Heart Of Oak’ from 2015’s ‘Hollow Meadows’ album with its tremolo action from Shez, but before this Richard informed us that they had had a chat backstage and that the final result was in…. “Worthing 2 Margate 1”. This had been a running joke during the performance in order to ascertain whether we were a better audience than the previous concert’s punters in Margate. So there you have it! The performance finished at 10:54pm and I’m sure that virtually every soul in the building went away with a big smile on their face.
Richard Hawley:
Richard Hawley – lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Shez Sheridan – 6 & 12 string guitars, acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar, backing vocals
Colin Elliot – double bass, bass guitars, drum, backing vocals
Dean Beresford – drums
John Trier – keyboards, laptop (programming), shakers
Bryan Dale – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
?Toni –
?Caroline –
?Josie –
? Liz –
(cello & violins)
Richard Hawley setlist:
‘Coles Corner’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Just Like The Rain’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Hotel Room’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Darlin’ Wait For Me’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘The Ocean’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘I Sleep Alone’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Tonight’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘(Wading Through) The Waters Of My Time’ (from 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?’ 2005 ‘Coles Corner’ album)
‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ (from 2007 ‘Lady’s Bridge’ album)
‘I’m Looking For Someone To Find Me’ (from 2007 ‘Lady’s Bridge’ album)
‘Don’t Stare At The Sun’ (from 2012 ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ album)
‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ (from 2012 ‘Standing At The Sky’s Edge’ album)
‘Deep Space’ (from 2024 ‘In This City They Call You Love’ album)
‘Prism In Jeans’ (from 2024 ‘In This City They Call You Love’ album)
‘Open Up Your Door’ (from 2009 ‘Truelove’s Gutter’ album)
‘Alone’ (from 2019 ‘Further’ album)
‘Is There A Pill?’ (from 2019 ‘Further’ album)
(encore)
‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’ (from 2009 ‘Truelove’s Gutter’ album)
‘Heart Of Oak’ (from 2015 ‘Hollow Meadows’ album)
Support for this came from Tom McRae who according to his social media is a “Song-writer, performer, friend of chickens”. We last bumped into Tom when he was warming up the punters at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea for the John Cale concert on 27th March (Review HERE). Once again this evening, it’s merely of Tom out front with his acoustic and electric guitars and flight cases behind him with his name emblazoned on them. Luckily for Tom, the venue is packed for the start of his performance, which is a rarity these days, but I guess the folk of Worthing and surrounding areas certainly want to get the most out of their Saturday night’s entertainment. This evening Tom has been allocated a half hour set in which to plunder his 25 years worth of album material. The lighting is solid and even those seated folk at the very back of the balcony opposite the stage can clearly see Tom. The sound in the venue is crisp and clear and so every word and note is clearly audible, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise to those that are in the know, as The Assembly Hall has been named the second-best acoustically equipped concert hall in Britain, beaten only by Birmingham Symphony Hall. I wonder if Tom was aware that literally beneath his feet is the largest Wurlitzer organ in Europe, and there is a lift beneath the stage which raises it in order to be played during regular concerts by leading organists.
Tom is a Mercury and Brit nominated songwriter with 8 studio albums and 3 live albums in the bag. Check out his releases on his Bandcamp page HERE. Tom is also a composer for film and TV, as well as a producer and obviously a performer.
As well as being a solo artist, Tom also performs with a full band and they are heading out on tour in November with 11 dates in the bag. Sadly none of these are local and there’s a single UK date which is taking place in London on Thursday 20th November at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – Tickets HERE. The remaining concerts will be taking place right across Europe, including Brussels, Amsterdam, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Paris.
Tom McRae probable setlist:
‘For The Restless’ (from 2005 ‘All Maps Welcome’ album & 2017 ‘Underneath The Arches’ album)
‘A & B Song’ (from 2000 ‘Tom McRae’ album & 2014 ‘From The Solo Lands’ album) or ‘Let Me Grow Old With You’ (from 2015 ‘Did I Sleep And Miss The Border’ album)
‘Half On My Mind’ (from 2024 ‘Étrange Hiver’ album)
‘Hidden Camera Show’ (from 2000 ‘Tom McRae’ album)
‘Walking2Hawaii’ (from 2017 ‘Underneath The Arches’ album)
‘Silent Boulevard’ (from 2005 ‘All Maps Welcome’ album) or ‘The Boy With The Bubble Gun’ (from 2000 ‘Tom McRae’ album & 2017 ‘Underneath The Arches’ album)
