Music > Live Reviews

Richard Hawley - Get Cape Wear Cape Fly

The Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

05/10/19

Back in the nineties an indie band called Longpigs, fronted by vocalist Crispin Hunt, bruised the charts with a couple of singles and two albums before splitting up seven years later. Hunt went on to be a successful writer and producer for artists such as Ellie Goulding, Gabriella Cilmi and Jake Bugg, whilst their guitarist joined Pulp for a while before writing and releasing his first solo album in 2001. His name was Richard Hawley.
 
Eighteen years and seven albums later, Hawley has a legion of loyal fans who love his rich baritone voice, an ear for a good tune, and lyrics often often inspired by the landscapes of his Sheffield roots.  He has twice been nominated for a Mercury Prize, and once for a Brit Award, and he makes no secret of being well chuffed to see his latest album, Further, climbing to number three in the charts. Unsurprisingly, tonight's show at the Nick Rayns LCR showcases many of these new songs in the set. Therefore, with Hawley and his band taking the stage to the vintage strains of The Very Thought of You they kick off with the rocking Off My Mind, the stomping Aloneand the sensitive title track, a trilogy of tunes cunningly demonstrating the breadth of his songwriting prowess.

 
Tonight's UEA audience seems a tad sparse on undergraduates, but when Hawley does get to banter with a fan who is admits to being twenty-two he cannot resist quipping that he has 'got peas in his fucking freezer that are older than that'. Certainly most of the audience will fondly remember the epic Standing At The Sky's Edge, from the 2012 album of the same name, and its projected video of high-rise flats strongly reinforces the song's strong political metaphor. I'm Looking For Someone To Find Me, from 2007's Lady's Bridge, also finds a receptive audience.
 
The love song Emilina Saysis preceded with a gentle tease about us Norfolk folk, but then Hawley reveals that he spends quite a bit of time down here - his mother in law lives just outside of Diss. The song provides the excuse for couples in the audience to slip their arms around each others' waists, who mostly remain entwined for the beautifully uplifting Tonight The Streets Are Ours, a song of hope about dreams coming true that is jokingly introduced as I've Won A Million Pounds.
 
Next comes Doors, followed by the sentimental Coles Corner, yet another slow one for the couples but which leaves me feeling a bit of a muppet, stood on my own and with tears dripping into my pint. Fortunately, after the Midnight Trainhas departed, Hawley straps on his beautiful red 1956 Gretsch 6120 (originally owned by his father) and rocks us into Galley Girl, yet another stonker of a song from the new album, before hitting us for six with the epic Don't Stare At The Sun.
 
Time Ishas us clapping along – 'Come on, you've got fuck all else to do', he urges. And that leaves just enough time for two more classic tracks – Open Up Your Doorand Down In The Woods, the latter assuming hard-edged magnificence with the excellent backing band fully unleashed and Hawley's growling vocals sounding uncannily like the great Jim Morrison. The main set concludes with Is There A Pill?
 
Before a well-deserved, albeit inevitable, encore Hawley thanks us for coming to the show, a tour that it he claims celebrates twenty drug-free years. '1999 since I last had a paracetamol' he quips, 'but at least the band can still afford to buy alcohol and cocaine'. They leave us with Not Lonely, There's A Storm Coming, and finally Heart of Oak. Joking apart, this was a precious evening of magnificent songwriting, professionalism and performance, all served up by one of Sheffield's finest.
 
Support came in the form of Sam Duckworth (aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly), performing a solo acoustic set of mostly new material. It was a welcome return to Norwich for the Southend songster, who I last saw at Norwich Arts Centre a few years ago. I am pleased to report that he has lost none of the political edge that endeared me to him back then, with him also giving a worthy shout out to  he Norwich Soup Movement, and to the defunct Ferry Boat Inn, recognising the efforts of the 'Agent of Change' campaign to protect music venues closing as a result of objections from the residents of new neighbouring residential developments. Good to see you back, Sam.