Sheryl Crow – Live Review – The Piece Hall, Halifax

By Steve Crabtree, June 2024

The mid to late 90s were my formative years. They were good years, ones that I look back on with the hugest fondness. And everyone in my age bracket can count themsleves very lucky, because back then we were given an abundance of brilliant music.

Indie, rock, Britpop and other guitar-infused music had pushed pop music out of its way, making sure that a lot of talented bands and artists received the adulation and the rewards they deserved.

Sheryl Crow was a huge part of that era. For a 16-year-old like me when ‘All I Wanna Do’ was released in the UK, she was great on the eye and great on the ears.  We all loved her in my year at the then Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School. And a lot of her songs are forever etched into the soundtrack of our sixth-form lives.

So, when it was announced that she’d be headlining a show at The Piece Hall in Halifax, going along to see her for the first time was a no-brainer for me.  And, as it happens, a lot of my classmates felt the same… it was great bumping into so many of them there.

“Got the evening going”

Yet again, the rain had dominated the Halifax skyline for much of the day.  However, this time it had stopped by 8pm, and stayed away for the rest of the night.

My wife, my friends and I found our spot, and it’d quickly got to 9pm. Then, without any great fuss, the lady herself and her band appeared on stage, she flashed a smile, and got the evening going.

Opening up with ‘Real Gone’ she wasn’t keeping any of her bangers up her sleeve until her encore. Oh no.  ‘A Change Would Do You Good’ came next, and that went down an absolute storm in Halifax.  In fact, it was nice that the only storm to appear at The Piece Hall tonight was the connection between Sheryl Crow and the crowd. And that had started early.

‘Run, Baby, Run’ was song three of the set, before the one we all know and love so much ‘All I Wanna Do’ appeared as song four.

Did I say there wasn’t any great fuss as she began the night? I take that back. Four songs in, and Sheryl Crow had well and truly introduced herself in a big way.

“Dancing, smiling and singing in unison”

With a full capacity crowd of around 5,000, every one of us were absolutely loving the show.  You looked around at hundreds of people dancing, smiling and singing in unison. This huge feel-good factor was compounded by a set that, for the most part, was upbeat and executed with shiny, polished precision. The band behind her were brilliant, and the music wasn’t stopping.

The cover of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Digging In The Dirt’ was beautiful. As was ‘The First Cut Is The Deepest’ – the Cat Stevens’ song, covered by many others before Sheryl Crow.

Crow, like anyone performing here for the first time, loved The Piece Hall too. A “Crazy beautiful place’ was her accurate description of the venue, and no-one is able to argue with that. She also announced that Lionel Richie had told her the secret to a great live show was as simple as playing the hits.  And why would anyone argue with him?

“What a blast”

As the skies darkened, the show headed for its close, but it was then that we realised she hadn’t got all her big tunes out of the way too early.

An immense final three tunes of the main set meant that we were treated to ‘If It Makes You Happy’, ‘Soak Up The Sun’ (I’d forgotten about this one!), and ‘Everyday Is a Winding Road’.  I think that could well be my favourite Sheryl Crow record.  A two-song encore followed before she left the stage, with her name adorning the backdrop in true showbiz-country music style.

Did she make us happy? Certainly.

What a night, what a blast. What a fab show, and what an incredible name to bring to our town.  Summers in Halifax with the wife, our friends, and the biggest and best names in music is one of life’s greatest things.  And Sheryl Crow more than made her mark on the town tonight.

Images: Cuffe & Taylor