Richard Ashcroft review: Bittersweet Symphony for sold-out crowd at Piece Hall

The balmy August Friday night show was set to be a scorcher and I can confirm Richard Ashcroft brought his A game and had the crowd in the palm of his hand hands belting out new and old hits note perfect. Ashcroft took to the stage at 9pm with screams from the crowd as his band walked on first to huge applause.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter delivered a set packed with era-defining classics that covered both his time with The Verve and across his stellar solo career.

Ashcroft kicked off his night set in the famous cloth hall with Space and Time from The Verve’s Urban Hymns and during the course of the set he also delivered the likes of Weeping Willow, Sonnet and a beautiful soulful rendition of Lucky Man - it almost felt like we had been transported back to the 90s.

Let me tell you it was pure nostalgia, with a mix of his up-to-date songs and plenty of The Verve classics thrown in for good measure.

The set list had something for everyone to sing along to but it felt like the evening had been leading up to the final song, the anthem 'Bittersweet Symphony' - seeing Richard Ashcroft sing it live was something else. For the duration, I stood still taking in the atmosphere. It really was one of the moments when you look around and think 'wow what a time'. I think everyone has to see the classic played live once in their lifetime - it was amazing.

Richard told the 6,000 capacity crowd: “It’s such a pleasure to be here. I’ve not been to a place like this since I was in Verona. Such a beautiful place.

“It’s a great part of the world around here – just beautiful.”

TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall has already broken records for ticket sales with more than 170,000 tickets sold across the series. Outside of events in London and the south coast, only Glastonbury and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium will welcome more gig goers to outdoor shows in England between June and August – confirming The Piece Hall as one of the nation’s leading live music venues.

The summer continues at TK Maxx presents Live at The Piece Hall on Thursday with Jess Glynne (August 8th).