The first of Rough Trade East’s series of in-store live events delivered a rare treat in the heart of Shoreditch last night. Dodging the balti house hawkers and Jack The Ripper walking tours (Del and Rodney already having long since left a deserted Petticoat Lane), I arrived just 5 minutes from kick-off and squeezed past some shuffled CD racks to secure a vantage point. Luckily, my limited camera skills were given a boost as Richard began his appearance by asking for the house lights to be left up on full – apologising for wearing shades indoors having forgotten his normal glasses (being as ‘blind as f**k’ and at least with the lights on looking less of an idiot) and needing to see the sheet lyrics for his new songs (memory addled by ‘too much acid in the eighties’). What followed was a glorious fifty minutes of his timeless tunes – his real art being to pen simply worded songs that have the grace of old standards – where rhymes might be predicted, but they fall softly and perfectly into place like the best Buddy Holly. Compare and contrast the Beatles and Oasis if you want to understand how difficult this is to pull off properly, and the reason why I can barely listen to the latter.

There’s nothing studio-enhanced about Mr Hawley’s resonating voice, and with great backing from upright bass and a second acoustic guitar, the sound was fresh and the guitar work intricate. The lush string arrangements that envelop and caress many of the tracks on album weren’t missed at all. This was their first live outing since December, but it was impossible to tell even though Richard kept remarking how much they appreciated the chance of a workout before the UK tour kicks off. He had a nice line in Northern working mens club patter throughout. Introducing Born Under A Bad Sign as a song about the day after the night before, he told of how reading a recent article about the affects of heaving drinking had shaken him up badly. So much so that, starting from tomorrow he had made a resolution: no more reading.

The performance drew from both previous treasure Coles Corner and the upcoming Lady’s Bridge (another Sheffield landmark). Pick of the new songs on first listen was Valentine – with all the melodrama of a classic from Roy Orbison in lower register. A dash of variety was provided by the western swing of Roll River Roll (I think – don’t hold me to that), with some nifty lap-steel support work being the only change in instrumentation throughtout the set, give or take a capo or two. If you liked the mood of Coles Corner then the new album will similarly hit the spot. The heat of the crowd added to the humidity of the evening in the stuffy ex-warehouse – and fifty minutes was just about enough for everyone. I was tempted to get a signed CD single, but that would only have been a couple of quid wasted when purchase of the album is a no-brainer. A week or so to wait for that. So instead, I made a symbolic thankyou to Rough Trade by having a quick browse and picked up a couple of purchases. I’ll be back.

Links
Richard Hawley [official site] [myspace]
mp3:> Richard Hawley: The Nights Are Cold (acoustic)
[From Late Night Final; out now on Setanta]