Richard Hawley with the NASUWT Riverside Band
Durham Cathedral
16th July 2022
The Most Northern Gig You Could Possibly Imagine!
Another long rescheduled and long-awaited gig finally took place in the interior of Durham Cathedral – “Welcome to Hawley Communion;”
were the opening words from the man himself, the king of the dry pun.
I’ve seen RH in various musical guises over the years – a duo, trio, with strings, with a saw player and normally with a full band – but this was a first.
Hawley has worked with brass bands in the past – check out the recorded version of “Our Darkness” for one – but this time it was a full concert with the multi-award-winning NASUWT Riverside band, placed physically behind the usual line-up of Sheridan, Elliot, Trier and Beresford and the man himself.
Support Katie Spencer, in a thoughtful acoustic set that sonically benefitted from the surroundings commented that she had a guitar pedal with a “cathedral reverb” setting – but obviously she didn’t need it under the circumstances – the reverb tail in Durham is huge, which is both an advantage in some ways, but a drawback in others (mainly technically for the sound crew as there are so many reflections that make it difficult to get constant clarity – but credit to Joe Rusby on the desk – brother of Kate – who did a fine job ).
Still on matters technical – the environment aside, was also a musical challenge for everyone involved – take a tight band who know each other’s roles instinctively; but add in an extra orchestra/Brass Band who’re playing off dots, and have to tie in with the tempo of the band – there’s got to be a clear link and communication between the band’s conductor and the band members in front of them, setting the tempo, or things could quickly go out of sync – and discipline and listening from all concerned.
Credit therefore must go in particular to Dean Beresford and Jon Trier along with the Riverside Bands conductor (embarrassingly I didn’t catch his name) for keeping a tight ship.
Set-wise, the addition of brass brought a few changes to the setlist – there was a revival of “Soldier On” which was so powerful with the added brass at the climactic shift in the song that it scared a couple of bats from high up in the cathedral, who shot speedily straight along the nave over Mr Hawley’s head!
The aforementioned “Our Darkness”, with its recorded arrangement worked beautifully, as did “Coles Corner”, where the brass intro took the part normally occupied by Jon Trier’s keyboard/strings and brought a lump to the throat; in a way that Kate Rusby achieved with the brass on her song “My Young Man”.
I suspected before the gig that the more balladesque songs from the Hawley repertoire would suit brass arrangements especially songs like “What Love Means”, “Oh My Love” and “For Your Lover Give Some Time” certainly proved this, adding a sentimental melancholia and stridency that only brass bands can give – but it was on the more uptempo songs where the real joy and surprise for me lay.
“Alone” benefitted from a bottom end rhythmic thump that was enough to wake the venerable Bede; as did “Is There a Pill?”
Elsewhere, “Roll River Roll” and “Tonight The Streets Are Ours“ and “Don’t Stare at The Sun” were given more of a 60’s Bond film edge – but the highlight out of all for me was the final number “Standing At The Sky’s Edge” which featured incredible dynamics and power, with both bands letting loose and yet as one, with ferocious interplay.
There really was no following that – and indeed nothing did.
Everyone on stage said their thanks and took their bows – there was no need (and it wasn’t really practical given the number of people on stage and the difficulty of getting them on and off the stage) for anything further.
I don’t know if the hermit St. Cuthbert whose shrine is in the cathedral would have approved of it all, but the smiling faces leaving the cathedral definitely did.
There were a few bats flying out when the doors were opened who might not be back for a while though…
Photos – https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzYptW
Photos & Review by Nick Barber
The Rocking Magpie 