Hard Fi - Live at the Electric Ballroom

31st October 2005
Hard-Fi are a band on the rise to stardom. Not long ago they were going nowhere in mundane jobs, now thanks to an album recorded for under £300 in an old taxi office in Staines they are becoming household names. Tonight they performed at one of the live scene's coolest venue, the Electric Ballroom, Camden. Boosted by recent success of their singles and Nationwide Mercury Music nomination, the four-piece stormed on stage to give an assured performance to the packed audience.

One of the main attractions of going to see live music is that you are able to drink lager whilst jumping around singing and acting like a kid. Hard-Fi were well aware of this and did not disappoint.

Front man Richard Archer had an air of confidence as he went straight into the opening song, Middle Eastern Holiday. This proved to be a great opening track, the energy levels on and off stage were high as Richard and the guys put on the performance that blasted the stage to deliver a tight, energetic set that showcased their debut album.

The cameras were also rolling as Hard-Fi were not only performing for Camden but the web, with a live webcast broadcasted from their own web site to fans around the world.

They moved straight into the second track 'Gotta a Reason', keeping the tempo high and the crowd dancing soon the beat was slowed as they launched into 'Unnecessary Trouble' and 'Better do Better' bringing the crowd in on the chorus' 'Better do Better' was belted out with emotion and hate, the crowd feeling the full force of the passion from the stage.

The biggest cheer of the evening so far was the intro to 'Tied up Tight', the crowd really began to rock with a capital 'R'.

Then came some chat from the front man, his beloved Staines, the armpit of Middlesex, A wasteland of All-bar-ones, and Heathrow backwash with the youth of today ending up in young offenders institutes, then he launched into 'Feltham is singing out'.

The surprise entry to the set, expecting the peaches cover or Ghost Town cover but instead we got to hear their rendition of the white stripes 'Seven Nation Army' and what a way to cover, using the blow recorder to give a whole new feel to the song, a great cover and a great adaptation to the song.