“I’m trying not to get angry, but it’s very difficult”: Richard Hawley to play one final show at renowned UK venue next week

Richard Hawley has announced that he will play his final show at the Sheffield Leadmill next week. But it’s not Hawley that’s retiring, but that other South Yorkshire icon - the venue. For the Leadmill is set to close its doors for the final time at the end of this month.

The venue announced the gig on social media, saying: “One final time with the man who has played here more times than anyone else - Sheffield icon and Leadmill family member Richard Hawley joins us for one last show this June.”

The eviction of the Leadmill by their landlords was confirmed earlier this year. However, this isn’t the usual story of greedy property developers closing a beloved venue so that it can be turned into ‘luxury’ flats. The owners – who bought the freehold in 2017 - are the Electric Group, who run a string of venues up and down the UK, including Brixton’s Electric. Earlier this year, after winning a court battle to evict the Leadmill, they vowed to continue running it as a music venue: “It will continue to be a cornerstone of the live music scene in Sheffield, supporting artists, fans, and community projects for the next 100 years.”

Many though are unhappy at the way the Leadmill has been treated, Hawley included. When the eviction was first confirmed in February, the musician said: “I’m trying not to get angry, but it’s very difficult because they say I’m the musician that’s played there the most by a long, long way. It’s probably true. I don’t want that to stop, and not just for me but other people. It’s a rite of passage."

Back in 2023, when the eviction notice was first going through the courts, Hawley made his feelings clear in an interview with NME: “The upsetting thing is that if it was a failing business, I’d understand that someone would take it over. What angers me is that it doesn’t surprise me that greedy fuckers buy the land from underneath them. If they threw (the venue staff) out and turned it into flats, it would be an absolute tragedy but slightly easier to accept.”

“The fact that what they’ve basically done is bought the land from underneath them, issued them with an eviction notice, and are going to steal their business. That to me is wildly immoral. If I was running a venue, or even a chip shop, I’d think, ‘Hold on a sec, if they get away with it with these, then who’s next?’ It’s just wrong.”

The Leadmill have intimated that the name may well resurface at another venue. In the meantime the final gig at their present address will be on June 28. Tickets for the Richard Hawley show on the 18^th can be purchased here.