Quirky, energetic and immensely talented character Hamish Hawk continued his A Firmer Hand tour with a visit to Nottingham's Rescue Rooms, bringing a breath of fresh air and wowing the appreciative crowd...
Rich of voice and imagination, Hamish Hawk has been dazzling avid music guzzlers since his tenure in 2018 with From Zero to One. Seen as a reincarnated spirit of Leonard Cohen with Jarvis Cocker's lyrical field to match, Hamish Hawk is a spirited breath of fresh air in the world of quirky alternative numbers. Jolted by an impressive third record in the shape of A Firmer Hand - which is arguably his greatest yet - Hamish Hawk has taken to the stage this year, performing for an open audience eager to take him in.
The Rescue Rooms night kicked off with a fiery duo who call themselves GANS, a band who are very much riding on the coattails of today's punk - chaotic, loud and plenty of energy to let go off. Playing their slew of IN TIME and DIRTY COWBOY through their brazen bass - no doubt inspired by Royal Blood's Mike Kerr and his ferocious tones - and drums accompanied by a drummer who also sang the lyrics, GANS earmarked the anticipation for Hamish all the more.
It can be said that Hamish was perhaps a theatre kid in his adolescence. Projecting a quirky character who is studious and serious at one moment and guffaws sprightly the next, Hamish gleefully made the stage his own as his prancing became the perfect accompaniment to his chamber pop anthems.
Hamish's moodier affair of A Firmer Hand was released in the summer of last year, and its music set the tone from the get-go. The setlist followed the record track listing as beautifully poetic Juliet as Epithet was introduced, followed by the volatile piano-cradled Machiavelli's Room, before the funky Big Cat Tattoos and catchy euphoria with Nancy Dearest spiked excitement.
The record transmission ended with Autobiography of Spy before he spanned into familial favourites. His country-western inspired biopic of Rest & Veneers was certainly popular within the crowd, as was Elvis Look-alike Shadows, an uptempo art-rock staple from his 2023 record, Angel Numbers.
As each track came and went, Hamish became more and more comfortable in his self, his endearing persona and manner shining through as the polite Scot he is. We were jettisoned back to his new record with fast indie-beat Men Like Wire before he played Caterpillar and his biggest "hit" in terms of algorithmic numbers with The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973. The 450 folks here belting "And I call out, 'isn't this living?'" marks it a truly cathartic anthem and worthy epilogue to the night. But he wasn't done there.
Met with rapturous response, Hamish and co came out and ticked off another successful routing on tour with the Rolling Stones' classic (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - a perfect nod to Hamish's apparent inspiration to the classic alternatives.
A true connoisseur of showmanship, Mr Hawk is a natural performer without overdoing it and is a true champion to the magic of music.
Hamish Hawk performed at Rescue Rooms on 17th February 2025.
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