David Gray – Live Review – The Piece Hall, Halifax
By Steve Crabtree, July 2026
When you’re winding down the weekend and someone like David Gray is appearing in your local town, it just makes sense to go along. He was bringing his Past & Present World Tour to Halifax, and it felt like a decent way to spend a Sunday night.
Now, I normally like to tell you why I like a band or artist that I’m there to review. Some sort of backstory or connection to a reason I’m there. But I don’t with David Gray. Like millions of others, I owned his White Ladder album back in the day, enjoyed it and still have it—but I hadn’t really kept in touch with his music since.
But that’s the thing with The Piece Hall summer season; sometimes you just fancy heading down to see a quality performer right on your doorstep.
So that’s what I did…
“Deeply appreciated”
I caught the last couple of songs from The Divine Comedy, before Gray and his band walked out at 8.40pm sharp.
The frontman was dressed in a sand-coloured suit that perfectly matched the Piece Hall stonework, and from the off, we were given a set that gave fans a proper chance to watch and admire a massive back catalogue.
His unique voice is deeply appreciated, and it hasn’t lost an ounce of its power. And where I’m not familiar with absolutely everything he’s done over the last thirty years, the majority of this packed courtyard certainly were.
“Driving percussion”
The vibe for the evening was nice and laid back, with a few upbeat tunes cleverly thrown in here and there to keep things moving. The crowd was treated to a blend of well-known classics and deep fan favourites, including ‘The One I Love’, ‘My Oh My’, ‘Be Mine’, and ‘White Ladder’. We also got fantastic airings of ‘You’re The World To Me’ and ‘This Year’s Love’.
‘Please Forgive Me’ was fantastic, and by far my favourite tune of the night. I wasn’t alone either, and throughout there was this unmistakable, driving percussion that always stands out on David Gray songs. Seeing his drummer keep up with that intense rhythm live was quite an eye-opener.
A nice surprise to me was a cover of Depeche Mode’s ‘I Just Can’t Get Enough’, but the undisputed moment of the night came towards the end, as thousands of voices united for a really special, hands-in-the-air singalong to ‘Babylon’ to close the main set.
“Incredible cover”
Nobody was ready to head home just yet, and Gray didn’t disappoint when he returned for his encore. That began with an incredible cover of Soft Cell’s ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’, a song I love more and more the older I get, and his version was brilliant. A nice, soulful nod to a classic that had more people singing along than I thought.
And to wrap things up, he brought down the curtain with a stunning performance of ‘Sail Away’.
It was another great night at The Piece Hall. You don’t need to know every single lyric to a bloke’s discography to have a fantastic evening in this venue. Sometimes, a top-tier voice and a cracking band are all you need to round off the weekend just right.
Images: Cuffe & Taylor.
Give Steve music, give him food, give him theatre, tech or travel… and he’s a happy man. He’s been writing professionally since 2003, turning to journalism in 2017 when it offered him the chance to enjoy a lot of his existing passions, and learn some new ones at the same time. Steve can be found spending many of his summer nights watching bands at The Piece Hall in his hometown of Halifax, or enjoying a bite to eat and a drink with his wife anywhere in Yorkshire at any time of year. Random fact: He does the best impression of Zippy and George from Rainbow that anyone has ever heard.
