By Ollie Newing

So, it’s the final night of Richard Hawley’s week-long residency at the iconic Leadmill, and what a week it has been. Four sold out shows, four fantastic special guests, four absolutely fantastic nights of live music. But before get into the legend that is Richard Hawley, I need to talk about the support for the evening because, my god, what an incredible choice.

Teah Lewis was the support for the final night, delivering a brilliant set from start to finish. Her voice is absolutely next level; a pure songstress even without her full band to back her. Despite the change in setup, she absolutely stole the show with songs inspired by real-life experiences, and a particular favourite of mine about the morning after the night before. Ending on a cover of Why Does it Always Rain on Me by Travis, it provided a great sing along to end her set on.

What is really great about the likes of Teah opening for an indie legend such as Richard Hawley is that it’s a refreshing world away from the support you would usually get when you go see bands such as the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines etc.. Teah isn’t some indie wannabe; she’s created her own sound through her own vibrance and personality and it’s safe to say, she’s smashing it! I caught up with her after her set for a quick chat and she is as delightful off stage as she is funny on it. We talked about her set, how she thought it went and she remarked that this show was the largest crowd she had played in front of. Despite her playing at this years Tramlines festival, she told me she had never played such a packed out venue as this before. A truly great achievement for someone deserving as herself.

Now, talking about support in general I think Teah (and all the support across the four nights) was truly refreshing for such a hugely anticipated residency. What I mean is, usually when you have an artist like Richard Hawley (or the bands I mentioned earlier) you usually find support slots filled with the likes of the Reytons or Larkins or other Poundland wannabes lacking in personality and individual sound; it’s just recycled tunes that have been done over and over for the past few decades.

I think this washed up excuse of ‘marketability’ in the music industry is what’s really killing the indie scene, keeping bands with true originality and quality at the bottom of the barrel while acts with money in their pocket or acts with a safer, more familiar sound are still put on a pedestal. Not to mention the obvious race and sex issues here as well- it seems to be that as long as you’re a cis white male, you’ve got the easy ride. Route 66 all the way to the top. However, if you’re slightly queer, non-white or not a gender conforming male, then you’re on the dirt track facing a much harder time getting where you deserve to be. Now I know there’s obviously exceptions to what I’ve said, however, I still think it very much rings true. If you look at all the major serials this year from Coachella, to Glastonbury to even Tramlines, you should be able to count on one hand the amount of female/non-white/queer headline artists and really? It’s disgraceful.

Now, back to the gig and on to the main attraction, Richard Hawley. What a master of the stage he is. With his plethora of albums and writing credits he has an absolute arsenal of bangers to pull out and I really didn’t envy whoever had to decide the set list at all. As he walked out on to the stage with his recognisable swagger he walked up to the mic and with a simple “ya alright”, grabbed his guitar and got on with playing, opening with Off my Mind. Then addressing the audience, he talked about how they’re gonna decide which is the best night of the four, “so you better be fucking good”, to which the audience laughed.

From Standing at the Sky’s Edge, Tonight the Streets are Ours, Coles Corner and even Down in the Woods, he played all his truest hits. Halfway through we had the final special guest of the residency, and although this guest isn’t of a musically legendary status, their legendary status in their own field isn’t any less valid. Someone that was not only the first Britain in their field, but the first in their gender AND in western Europe to achieve this feat, Helen Sharman. The first British person to ever go to space could hold her own in a room filled with legends from across the country, let alone just Sheffield. Beautifully speaking to the crowd about her life and how we must hold dear the causes we take up in life whether social, political or cultural is how we define life; it’s never something we should take for granted. After her speech, Helen jumped on the keys and belted out a cover of Bowie’s Space Oddity with Hawley which was just fantastic to witness; a beautiful cover with a lot of weight to it.

For me personally, as a big Hawley fan, this setlist was my perfect ensemble- an absolute banger fest full of hits and ‘best of’ material but I don’t think I could have prepared myself at all for the Bowie cover or the encore. They left the stage after the song Is There a Pill and thanked everyone for coming and I did almost think that was it. Thinking the gig was finished and I stood around finishing my Leadmill IPA but then the lights re-dimmed and they sauntered back on to play one last song, and by god did they save the best till last. The Ocean- probably my favourite track. However, Hawley being the man he is couldn’t play it without throwing in a good four minute solo in and christ it was like heroin for my ears. I was sat there giddy as a kid trying not to well up listening to my favourite track from one of my favourite artists. It really put the cherry on top of the cream on top of the icing on the cake.

In short, Richard Hawley still has every bit of a rockstar in him and still lives up to it every time he walks out on stage. Whether solo, or with his many friends, he will always have a hold over Sheffield that very few will ever get close to, an irreplaceable genius that’s done way more for music than I think people give him credit for. Long live Richard Hawley and Long live the Leadmill!

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