Josh- If by true delight you mean he wore his contempt for each and every one if us on his face and displayed it through his actions and with every flutelike utterance of his weird little voice, despite years of being tipped generously, then yes, Hammer was a true delight.
That was a sad day, but all things must end. And lest we remember an idealized past rather than the whole, let's remember all of the things that sucked about the Fireside too.
It wasn't impossible for a good but relatively unknown band that wasn't in the Cool Club yet, to get on a bill at the Fireside. Unlike other venues I could mention. And so, loads of kickass bands played there early in their careers, and kept coming back as they got better-known.
Pure essence of punk right there.