WORDS AND IMAGES SAM HOLT
It May Only Have Been Thursday But It Felt Like We Were Living For The Weekend!
Hard-Fi are back on tour to promote their recently released EP, Don’t Go Making Plans, which dropped just a week ago. This is their first new release in ten years. After a long break, they played only two gigs in 2022, leading to a tour in 2023 with the promise of returning in 2024—and now they’re back, this time with fresh music!
The four-piece from Staines are perhaps best known for their spectacular debut album, “Stars of CCTV“. It’s often said that a band struggles to match the quality of their first recording with follow-ups, but judging by the number of people who turned out tonight, they still have a strong following—the venue was packed.
Tonight’s support came from Better Joy, an alternative band from Manchester led by Bria Keely. Described in various ways, I was particularly drawn to their blend of soundscapes. Their songs were appealing, and my favorites were “What a Day” and “Waiting on Time”. They made an effort to interact with the Cardiff crowd, but I felt the response was lukewarm—the band deserved much more. I definitely want to see them again.
As the lights dimmed at 9:15, Hard-Fi took the stage, opening with “Middle Eastern Holiday”. The crowd was enthralled. Though the song was written during the Iraq war, its message remains just as poignant today as it was in 2005. Much of the setlist drew from Stars of CCTV, which is no surprise, given it’s their biggest hit.
The Welsh audience responded favorably to vocalist Richard Archer’s red top. As he spoke about how grateful they are to the fans who have supported them over the years, he mentioned their new EP and performed “Almost Forever”. Their last performance in Cardiff was back in 2008, and after an energetic rendition of “Cash Machine”, Rich exclaimed, “That was f****** amazing!” He tried to remember how many shows they’d played on the tour so far, but confidently declared that this was the best crowd they’d had.
With such fantastic audience participation, they continued with “Suburban Knights” from the Once Upon a Time in the West album. Rich and the crowd were in full swing together—could it get any better? Ending the set with “Hard to Beat” was a high point, with the crowd singing along in fine voice.
A few moments later, Rich returned solo for the encore, singing “Move On” as the crowd joined in unison. The rest of the band followed for “Stars of CCTV”, and Rich cheekily remarked, “Thursday is like the new Friday.” They ended the night with “Living for the Weekend”—clearly the song many had been waiting for.
The encore closed with “Living for the Weekend”, and even though it was only Thursday, it felt like we were all ready for the weekend. Tonight, Hard-Fi were on top form. After hearing the new EP, it’s clear the band is back. Hopefully, it won’t be another sixteen years before they return to Cardiff. Cardiff loved them, and they loved Cardiff.
SET LIST
1/ Middle Eastern
2/ Gotta Reason
3/ Stay Alive
4/ Tied Up Too Tight
5/ Good For Nothing
6/ Better Do Better
7/ Always And Forever
8/ I Shall Overcome
9/ Don’t Need You
10/ Don’t Go Making Plans
11/ Cash Machine
12/ Suburban Knights
13/ Hard To Beat
ENCORE
14/ Move On
15/ Stars Of CCTV
16/ Living For The Weekend
FOLLOW HARD FI
FOLLOW BETTER JOY
Returning to gigs and live music after a short break, and love being able to combine that with photography. For me I’m happy to make a road trip out for the right band/artist. I enjoy all genre’s of music, but a huge Gary Numan, Rival Sons and more recently Dirty Honey fan, but I’m always up for checking out all new music, and its just as important to catch support acts, during a gig, as one day they could be headliners themselves.
