PHOTOS: Paul Heaton & Rianne Downey – The Piece Hall, Halifax – 22/07/2025

With as on-the-ground as he’s remained throughout his decades-long career, you almost forget that Paul Heaton is quite the legend in British pop. That’s not too up for debate, either, between work in The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and a solo career, with numerous recorded and live collaborations with his Beautiful South bandmate Jacqui Abbott. More than that, his speaking out on industry scruples and maintaining price caps to keep his shows at an affordable rate has kept Heaton even more well-loved. (It’s a little odd, therefore, to see some of this evening’s crowd taken aback by opener Billy Bragg’s political openness, but what can you do?) His exceptional populism finds Heaton—and his current creative partner Rianne Downey—taking to Halifax’s Piece Hall for two nights, the first of which was captured for us by Dean Cavanagh.

---

Billy Bragg

---

Paul Heaton & Rianne Downey

---

Photos by Dean Cavanagh (Instagram)