Richard Hawley preview

Richard Hawley
Abbey Pub, Chicago
Thursday, December 6, 2007

If Richard Hawley wants to keep singing to his hometown, that’s fine by us. But it’s nice if he comes to Chicago once in a while to do it.

Sheffield, England sticks out because of Def Leppard, Arctic Monkeys, and The Full Monty, but also has dubious distinctions as a burnt-out steel town and the site of one of the worst sports-stadiums disasters in the Western world. Though he was once a touring member of Pulp (also from Sheffield), Hawley doesn’t approach the city as Jarvis Cocker did, detailing ennui and making pithy social commentary. For his second album devoted to it (2005’s Cole’s Corner being the first), Hawley’s Lady’s Bridge (Mute) sees it much the way young Bruce Springsteen saw the New York skyline, a place where dreams are born and sometimes die.

Where Hawley differs from Springsteen (aside from a lower octave in his singing voice) is the music to go with it, which here responds mainly to ’50s vocal pop and the kingdom of Roy Orbison. That’s not to say there’s no rockin’ up on Lady’s Bridge, as “Tonight The Streets Are Ours” would make a fantastic E Street workout. But Hawley’s booming bass was made for lush strolls like “Roll River Roll,” “Lady Solitude,” “The Sea Calls,” and the title track.

Ferraby Lionheart opens.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly