Review: Richard Hawley at Perth Concert Hall

May 27 2008 by Alison Anderson

“LET’S ballad!” was the trademark invitation by the King of Retro, Richard Hawley, to a surprisingly small, but enthusiastic, Perth Concert Hall audience on the opening night of the Perth Festival.

Surprising because, although Hawley may not be a household name, he did play the Royal Albert Hall in London two nights before his Perth gig, and the Arctic Monkeys admitted they had committed robbery when scooping a Mercury award in 2006 from fellow nominee Hawley. It was a fantastic coup for the Perth Festival to bring him to Perth Concert Hall, the acoustics of which fully did the man and his band justice.

Hawley is former Pulp guitarist who has successfully carved a niche in the Noughties music scene by going Retro in looks and sound. He ladles on lush by the tonne, producing with his four-strong band a velvet-rich, round sound which strokes his audience and envelopes them like a warm summer breeze.

Hawley balladeered his way through a night of songs abundant with romance and sparkle, the latter courtesy of a large glitter ball – another Hawley trademark. Rockabilly numbers featured in the set, but it was Hawley’s slower-paced songs which were most appreciated – rewarding existing fans and gaining new converts to the Hawley sound.

Themes of water flowed through the performance: rain, rivers, floods all taking us to the swell of ‘The Ocean’, the waves of which would have washed over the audience for longer if they had their way! But 11pm had tolled and no sooner had the Hawley set played its final note that the concert hall chose to serenade us out with some ill-chosen musak to break the spell cast by the star of the night.

Talking of stars ... The audience was treated to a stellar set by the support act, Luva Anna. This rough-edged, high energy foursome from Dundee mix fun and entertainment with some damn good rock music with a folkie tinge. Quirky they may be, but their songs are well constructed incorporating unexpected changes of rhythm without losing impetus, and they produce some excellent harmonies.

Luva Anna thoroughly deserved the enthusiastic applause at the end.

Alison Anderson