Live – Richard Hawley at Worthing Assembly Hall

Richard Hawley, Worthing Assembly Hall, 4th October 2025

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and sharp-witted raconteur Richard Hawley is currently playing a series of special shows, complete with string quartet, celebrating the 20 year anniversary of his revered album Coles Corner. Veering from some of the more usual big city locations, the run has hit the seaside for a couple of nights, visiting Margate on Friday and Worthing on Saturday, with Weston-Super-Mare to follow at the end of this week.

Set firmly in the shadows of Hawley’s home city Sheffield, the tracks on Coles Corner none the less slot perfectly into the coastal landscape, Worthing Assembly Hall providing a fitting theatre style venue for the acoustics of the classically enhanced full band experience. It’s unsurprisingly a sold out show and although some of the audience have travelled to be there, it’s always a boost to have big-pull artists coming to town instead of staying on the A27 for a few more miles and performing in Brighton.

Diving straight into the album’s impressive tracklist, the melodies of the title track followed by Just Like The Rain and Hotel Room are soon wafting through the room. Ever the entertainer, Hawley fuses the songs together with tales of his life growing up and how the songs came to be, each splattered with humour and reflection. As he ponders the fact that if The Ocean had as many hits back in the day as it does now on ‘that bastion of fairness’ Spotify, he’d be ‘flying to Lidl in a fucking helicopter’, then starts the track with the smoothest of vocals, it’s a little like listening to a tag-team between John Cooper Clarke and Glen Campbell, and that can only be a good thing. His ability to flit between musical styles is seamless and offers up something for everyone. Always a crowd favourite, Tonight The Streets Are Ours sounds like a mix of the best bits of The Smiths, Phil Spector and The Divine Comedy, and closing track Is There A Pill would sit happily amongst the great crooners of the 60s. A short break before the entourage return to sing the night out with For Your Lover Give Some Time and Heart Of Oak, leaving the crowd still hoping for more despite the 2 hour set. A really quite remarkable performance.