Paul Heaton w/Billy Bragg – The Piece Hall, Halifax: Live Review

By Kevin Stanley on 23rd July 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

Paul Heaton, alongside Rianne Downey, deliver a career spanning show of the highest order. Support comes from singer, songwriter and activist, Billy Bragg.

THE PIECE HALL

What a venue the Piece Hall is. This 18th century cloth hall sits in the valley of Halifax with a beautiful courtyard and ornate clock tower reaching skyward behind the stage. This is the first of two sold out nights for the British pop music treasure Paul Heaton.

BILLY BRAGG

Protest singer Billy Bragg has been mixing pop and politics since 1983 and tonight he’s playing support for Paul Heaton. They’re well matched in terms of politics and they’re both men of the people. They love music and they love their fans. Both singer-songwriters are also well known for their poetic lyrics.

Early in the set Bragg plays an old classic She’s Got A New Spell. It’s a firm favourite with fans. Bragg talks almost as much as he sings, whether it’s stories about football or political musings, it’s a bit like attending a musical lecture. In recent years Bragg has altered the lyrics to one of his biggest hits – Sexuality – to make it not only about supporting gay rights but a song of allegiance with all LGBTQ+ people. It sits next to I Will Be Your Shield in Bragg’s setlist.

Bragg discusses the issue of male violence against women and trans-women before he plays Levi Stubbs’ Tears – an exquisitely crafted song that examines domestic abuse. Welcome to the New Brunette and The Great Leap Forwards complete Bragg’s set. Bragg has never had the finest of voices, but his lyrics remain as barbed as ever and over
the years his voice has matured and he has commented in recent years that he thinks it has improved. He’s right. Bragg has played a great warm up slot and taken the time to educate the crowd on a few matters of political interest.

PAUL HEATON

Paul Heaton is unassuming but charming, his wit is dry, but his songs drip with deliciously penned lyrics. He is authentically Northern and true to his roots. He’s here to entertain his fans – that’s first and foremost in his mind and he sings the songs they want to hear. He extends that respect for his fans by ensuring that tickets for his gigs are fairly priced. And if that wasn’t enough his penchant for visiting local pubs before his gigs to stash cash behind the bar to pay for drinks for fans is often rightly lauded. Those lucky enough to meet him on these occasions always speak positively and warmly of him and clearly with good reason.

The band arrive, Rianne Downey amongst them bouncing onto the stage, wearing a vintage dress with a flower print in green, orange and yellow. Heaton walks out onto the stage with minimal fanfare, he has no ego and he wears his habitual anorak. He has an enormous back catalogue of songs from which to draw – from his days with The Housemartins, his global success with The Beautiful South, to his collaborations with Jacqui Abbott. His setlist pays tribute to each of these eras.

RIANNE DOWNEY

Since Jacqui Abbott is taking a break from performing due to illness and to care for her son who has autism Heaton’s current musical partner is the aforementioned Downey – a Glasgow-born singer discovered by Heaton while she was busking. She has an excellent singing voice and she works well with Heaton who has of course had several wonderful female singing partners over the years.

Downey adds real spark and vivacity – she dances all night long and adds lead vocals to several songs including Song For Whoever, Don’t Marry Her, and Rotterdam (Or Anywhere). She smiles her way through the entire set and is evidently ecstatic to be on stage with Heaton. She’s so eager, and willing to perform that on several songs where she doesn’t sing it’s very evident that she wants to, having to visibly hold back from doing so, mouthing the words whilst stepping back from the microphone. She’s obviously a fan as well and the crowd adore her for it.

A STELLAR DISCOGRAPHY

Heaton has never taken too long of a break from the studio. His list of albums stretching across the years and decades, too many to mention. He’s less animated, but he’s still keen to regale the fans with a few stories of when he last visited Halifax, his favourite names for pubs – in this case Halifax’s Three Pigeons and of course which football team each of his band (the affectionately named “Lucky Giros”) support. Giros of course, for anyone too young to understand is a reference to the fact that they would be (in 1980s / 1990s lingo) would be claiming a giro (benefits) if they weren’t playing in his band.

A GAME OF TWO HALVES

The setlist is a perfectly curated mix of Housemartins and Beautiful South songs, blended seamlessly to create something really special. Old Red Eyes Is Back is a poignant song about an alcoholic, Song for Whoever is Heaton at his most witty as he sings about the real women who are often anonymous in love songs and Sail This Ship Alone is a
pragmatic yet twisted love song.

If the first half of the set including the likes of Bell Bottomed Tear, Five Get Over Excited and Fish ’N’ Chip Supper and was impressive then the second half, after it gets dark, sets the Piece Hall truly alight as the hits just keep coming – Perfect 10, Let Love Speak Up Itself, Good As Gold (Stupid as Mud) complete the main set before, not one but two
encores made up of One Last Love Song, You Keep It All In, and Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) – before a final a cappella version of Isley-Jasper-Isley’s Caravan of Love – sends everyone home after an astounding gig in the highest of spirits./sep