“Oh, I’ve been working all week, I’m tired.
Yeah I’ve been working all week and I’m
Just living for the weekend”
And for this weekend Hard-Fi plays Bristol’s 02 Academy, albeit on a Sunday evening.
Opening tonight is Tom A Smith, a young singer songwriter from Sunderland who I’ve come across opening for The Charlatans a few years back. Amongst Tom’s set tonight is his latest hit Wierdo. I believe Tom is heading out on his own headline tour very soon.
I first discovered Hard-Fi at a Green Day gig, when they were the opening act for Green Day’s Milton Keynes Bowl gig in 2005. As I walked into ‘the bowl’ I was greeted with the intro to Cash Machine blaring out from the PA. I’ve since discovered played on an instrument called a Melodica, it’s something I’ve never come across before but is very effective, they put on such a fabulous set that day, I went out and bought their debut album ‘Stars on CCTV’ the next day and it’s been on regular play since.
Tonight, the majority of the set comes from Stars on CCTV, but does include songs from Once Upon a Time in the West and Killer Sounds.
Middle Eastern Holiday kicks off the gig in great style, the song itself, an analysis of war, questioning who it is who really benefits from it? At the time of writing, it referred to a different war but with atrocities around the world right now is still very poignant.
Stars of CCTV was such a great debut album that it was difficult to follow up, but Hard Fi followed up with several albums. Most people are always drawn to this one, an album released 18 years ago. Across this tour I’ve heard the comment ‘the last time I saw them was….’ Or’ I’m bringing my son/daughter along this time’, and to see such a great diverse audience is always encouraging for any band. According to someone who went to the Cambridge gig at the beginning of the tour, tonight’s audience is a much younger demographic.
The band manages to slip a new song Always and Forever that’s well received by the audience, and as the evening went on the crowd were in find spirits, vocalist Richard Archer encouraged them to sing along especially during Suburban Knights and they were in fine voice, Commenting on Bristol Richard claimed it was Hard to Beat, a great if somewhat corny introduction to the final song of the evening, or was it?
The encore was made up of three songs Move on Now, Stars of CCTV and Living for the Weekend. The latter proving a rousing audience singing along, but it was Stars of CCTV that left me thinking as the audience in fine voice sang ‘we’re the stars of CCTV’ it left me thinking of how much surveillance culture has increased significantly in recent years…..
Words and pictures: Sam Holt