Sheffield’s balladeer supreme came to the ornate Art Deco Worthing Assembly Hall tonight to perform his beloved ‘Coles Corner’ album in full to celebrate its 20th anniversary. It’s a modern classic that stands comparison to Frank Sinatra and Scott Walker’s most personal works, with nods to Hawley’s love of country and rock ‘n’ roll music.
The lights went down and as the band took to the stage, the already seated string quartet played the opening bars of the eponymous title track, Hawley entered in a powder blue and black 50s panel jacket, black Levi’s, greased quiff and as that beautiful baritone voice began, the room swooned. Crooning over the gentle drums, double bass, and framed by the acoustic and electric guitars of Bryan Day and Shez Sheridan, it was a complete joy from start to finish, with the audience joining in on the last “hold back the night“ line.
After the applause died down, Hawley proclaimed “so this is what Saturday night in Worthing looks like”. He then revealed that he wrote ‘Just Like The Rain’ when he was just 16 years old and explained that he’d always been a miserable fucker. The acoustic guitar was played in an uptempo, rolling Country style and beautifully delivered in a voice that could melt the knickers off the hardest hod carrier.
The first of many guitar changes saw Hawley put on his Gibson semi acoustic and introduce the “lads” in the all female string quartet . ‘Hotel Room’ was a perfect end of the night song aided by Jon Trier’s soft 4/4 piano before Hawley took a solo until the song’s end, after which he proclaimed “Thank you, goodnight“.
Before ‘Darlin’ Wait for Me’, Hawley stated that he “Don’t like looking back, so was looking forward to the past. All guitars switched to electric, including Colin Elliot’s bass and with Dean Beresford’s drum brush strokes the arrangement and delivery gave off serious Roy Orbison vibes.
Spotify came in for a slagging as he explained that he still had to walk to Lidl instead of going by helicopter, which should be a given for how many streams ‘The Ocean’ has clocked up. Always a set highlight, the strings added their magic to keep the audience transfixed, letting the words and music wash over them, the mesmeric song became a cacophony of guitars with Hawley wringing out an electrifying solo. There were huge cheers followed by a final refrain of “here comes the wave”. Hawley exclaimed “Fookin’ ‘ell” at the end, as if surprised by how good the song and delivery were.
‘Born Under a Bad Sign’ came after a listing of the frontman’s many vices, the four guitars playing with nursery rhyme simplicity, the strings adding depth and texture. The “everybody knows” line gave off a beautiful Buddy Holly ‘True Love Ways’ touch.
There’d been playful banter comparing tonight’s show with playing Margate yesterday and that continued with Hawley believing he’d heard a heckle of “Fuck off knobhead”, and faking a walk off before blaming being 58 for mishearing the Margate jibe.
Proving his country chops with a rail-riding rhythm, brushed drums and no strings, ‘I Sleep Alone’ rolled along nicely with his mother of pearl acoustic guitar with HAWLEY inlaid on the fretboard. This continued on ‘(Wading Through) The Waters of My Time’ given an old-timey cowboy campfire touch, with Sheridan on lap steel. The strings returned with panache as they shimmered on ‘Tonight’.
The band left the stage for the album’s closer, ‘Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet?’, made popular by Woody Guthrie. Hawley tells us this is his first tour as a non-smoker and that his Dad died at 63 but enjoyed a full life. He’d learned the song from his Mum’s friend and Dad’s work colleague, Joe Cocker, who’d sung it to an infant Hawley as a lullaby, so he could try to get off with his mum. During the song, sung solo with acoustic guitar, the string players looked on or listened with eyes closed to soak up the moment.
The band returned for the “family favourites “ section, kicking off with an epic ‘Tonight the Streets Are Ours’ which felt like a call to arms for these volatile times. The faster tempo is maintained on ‘I’m Looking For Someone To Find Me’ where Hawley says “You can dance to this if you’re a knobhead” and many do; the song’s false ending added to the excitement when it came back in.
We’re led into Murder Ballad territory on ‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’, drenched in reverb and full of southern gothic blues. The drums are hand patted until the band took off, with drums pounding the beat as guitars and strings united with force. Hawley crouched as he soloed, before returning to the song with all guitars wailing.
In stark contrast, ‘Prism In Jeans’ has a late 50s/early 60s coffee shop jukebox sound, with the violins and viola playing over the top of a Cliff and The Shadows-style twang. There are cheers as ‘Open Up Your Door’ begins with Hawley singing solo with strings before the band joined on this sultry swooner of a song – his silky voice, as ever, at the centre of every song.
The set concludes with ‘Is There a Pill?’ and as the crowd say “noooo” in unison, Hawley asks “Haven’t you got any second homes to go to?”. As the strings stayed seated and a guitar tech started setting up a new guitar, it was obvious there’d be an encore and what better song than ‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’, a final slice of heartfelt beauty written for Helen, his wife of 37 years.
After band introductions, Hawley gives the final score as “Worthing 2, Margate 1” (although I’m sure Margate had a similar victory over the preceding town the night before). The evening ends with the chugging Glam Rock rhythm of ‘Heart of Oak’, with Sheridan shining on his solo. Hawley shouted “You want some more?” and gifted us an extra chorus to finish on.
Tonight had been over two hours in the company of a musician, raconteur and vocalist at the top of his game, surrounded by gifted friends, once again proving that he stands head and shoulders above his peers.
Richard Hawley, Worthing Assembly Hall
Saturday 4th October 2025
