Hard-Fi

Hard-Fi’s comeback has already proved to be a roaring success. Last year’s UK tour proved that the love of their devoted fans has never waned with a string of sold-out shows across the country and this is now being followed up with a 10 day UK tour ending triumphantly with another sold-out night at Camden’s 3,000 capacity Roundhouse.

Tonight’s gig at Dingwalls was as last-minute addition to the tour, partly to give the chance for more London fans to see the band live in a far more intimate setting, but primarily as the official launch of their new EP, ‘Don’t Go Making Plans’.

‘Don’t Go Making Plans’ is the first release since ‘Move Over’ which came out on a Hard-Fi hits compilation back in 2014. The EP was recorded in the band’s own studio back in Staines with the help of long-term collaborator Wolsey White. The title track was released in May and proves that frontman Richard Archer and the rest of the band have lost none of their creative juices.

The fact that Hard-Fi are playing this gig almost 20 years after the release of their iconic and evocative first album, ‘Stars of CCTV’ is reflected in the age of the crowd but that certainly doesn’t dampen the tangible excitement felt inside the venue.

We kick off with energetic ‘Middle Eastern Holiday’, but it’s a bit of a false start with an emptiness in the sound and a lack of tightness in the band themselves. The London crowd also seems unusually tame for a Friday night and slowly but surely the band work themselves into a rhythm and the crowd starts to warm up.

‘Better Do Better’ lights the touch paper after which, Rich announces they are going to play all four tracks of the new EP starting with ‘Always and Forever’, the most characteristic of the new tunes with little riffs very much reminiscent of their early sound. The pick of the new ones on the night for me is ‘Don’t Need You’, a punchy punk, dance anthem with a strong drum beat underpinning the uncompromising vibe of the song.

The gig is now very much in a crescendo and the atmosphere is further fuelled with a trio of stone wall classics, ‘Cash Machine’, ‘Suburban Knights’ and ‘Hard To Beat’ as the set gets dominated by the brilliant ‘Stars of CCTV’. The night comes to a magical end with the fuzzy guitars and anthemic raw energy of ‘Living For The Weekend’ with the whole crowd fist punching the air and shouting out the chorus line, ‘Pressure, Pressure, Pressure!’

It ends up being a great night and the new tunes certainly enhanced the gig from the galvanised 4-piece. Hopefully there will be a lot more to come!