Richard Hawley

Britain’s finest balladeer shouted out a provocative “who’s gonna ‘ave it?” before gifting us with a couple of superbly executed tender swooners from his new album. The tempo was briefly upped for an anthemic ‘Tonight The Streets Are Ours’ but the evening was all about Hawley’s stunning repertoire of contemporary heartbreaking classics. ‘Open Up The Door’, a standard for our times, delivered by his rich, deep baritone, exemplified this perfectly. He strapped on his Rickenbacker for a few trippy Byrdsy psychedelic freak outs and left an ecstatic crowd with a heartfelt thank you and gorgeous old favourite ‘The Ocean’.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 19 September 2012

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