Alan Dearling shares some images and words
I caught up with ‘Hope & Social’ at their penultimate gig on their current UK tour. They were performing in the Albany Arcade at Halifax’s famous historic Borough Market…
It was organised by the local Grayston Unity venue and well attended. The band is very hard to categorise. They are part-brass band, and part ‘entertainers’, almost akin to the vaudeville entertainers who used to tour around the UK’s seaside piers and music halls. They performed a cheerful, naughty-but-nice set of songs, jokes, ad-libs and other forms of ribaldry. The stage was built in what is normally the indoor market food hall, surrounded by cafes and food stalls. The Hope & Social musical mobsters ad-libbed a lot of market hall quips about the menus, food – “mega breakfasts” and mild insults directed at vegetarians! “What’s a vegetarian breakfast? Answer – four eggs.”
It all kicked off with: “Have you had a good day? We’ll spoil that for you…We’ll start off with a sad song.”
And H&S obviously brought out a lot of their ardent fans who were loudly singing along with their songs. Lots of laughs, a lot of quite wordy, almost ballad-like tunes. They are a very lively ensemble of musical clowns… Here’s how they were described in their promo material. It pretty much sums them up:
“Hope & Social and their blue-jacketed joyousness returns in 2026 with their trademark life-affirming show to win over the hearts and minds of gig-goers across the land. Hope & Social gigs are an emotional rollercoaster mix of chaos and superlative musicianship, built on some of the finest songs you’ll ever hear, and garnished with generous portion of Northern, self-deprecating humour. With a 3-piece horn section and 5 part harmonies, Hope & Social make a massive sound that draws influence from soul, indie, folk, disco and art rock. You’ll sing, you’ll dance, you’ll smile so much your face will hurt.
Continually striving to be the best band you’ll ever hear, playing their bloody socks off. Think Dexys. Think The Hold Steady. Think the grooviest, fun-est bar band you can imagine!”
Here are some more of the pics from my time at the gig… plus one or two around the market and Corn Market near the venue where the police had cordoned off a large section and were using a drone above the roofline.
Hope & Social describe themselves as: “Genre spanning Yorkshire heroes. Sounds like the E-Street Band meets Elbow at a party, rowing over who gets to snog David Bowie.”
“Just a band… but so much more than ‘just a band’.”
https://linktr.ee/HopeandSocial
“Rousing, joyous” – The Guardian “…a big sound from this impressive outfit…inspired, anthemic, great” – Q magazine “Brilliant, uplifting and inclusive. That was amazing, here’s your cheque”– Michael Eavis, Glastonbury Festival
“Extraordinary songs, virtuoso performances, beautiful moments and music hall bonhomie!” – Tom Robinson, BBC6Music
Hope & Social’s web world (includes a link to the Jigsaw’ album, with ‘Northern Time’, their latest tight-harmony song, including whistling!!!): https://www.hopeandsocial.co.uk/
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