It may be a Thursday but Hard-Fi, a band for indie ladsladslads, are Living For The Weekend tonight in Cardiff’s Tramshed. Their debut album Stars Of CCTV – whose songs make up the majority of tonight’s set – was released in 2005, to critical acclaim and a Mercury Prize nomination. Fair to say that their subsequent material did not set the world alight in the same way, but after reuniting in 2022, the band are back on tour again, off the back of new EP Don’t Go Making Plans.
Main support tonight comes from the very good Better Joy, who have been tipped for bigger things already, and it’s no surprise from hearing this Manchester outfit’s indie rock sound, with the likes of Sledgehammer going down very well indeed tonight. The main event, though, is… disappointing, to say the least.
The band are fine, but Hard-Fi singer Richard Archer is very much not good this evening. Indeed, it’s rare you’ll find a band whose singer does so badly to hit the notes of their own songs, to the point where they could likely pull an audience member up to do better, but here they are. Ennio Morricone’s Man With A Harmonica plays, as the band enter the stage and kick into Middle Eastern Holiday; even this early in, Archer sounds painful.
Nevertheless, we persevere. Gotta Reason, Stay Alive, and Tied Up Too Tight are aired with diminishing returns, as Archer reveals that tonight he’s worn “red for Wales” and “blue for Cardiff”. Chants of “Bluebirds!” echo around the room in response, but Hard-Fi’s onstage banter feels cringingly forced: bassist Kai Stephens says, at one point, “It could be a noisy one tonight! You’re not gonna let me down, are you Cardiff?”
Finishing the main set with Hard To Beat before returning for an encore comprising (a particularly dreadful-sounding) Move On Now and Stars Of CCTV, Hard-Fi close out the evening with Living For The Weekend, of course – but nights like tonight remind you that sometimes, past glories are in the past for a reason.
Hard-Fi + Better Joy, Tramshed, Cardiff, Thurs 21 Nov
words JOSHUA WILLIAMS photos SIMON REED
