Weekly > Reviews
Hard-Fi - The Irish Centre, Leeds
When the tickets went on sale for this gig I tried to get some for it, however due to the increased popularity of the band from last time I’d seen them they sold out straight away, no great surprises really as saying the venue isn’t the biggest in Leeds is something of a big understatement.
So disappointment initially as these are a band I’ve been well into since the release of the Cash Machine single, still it’s easy to look for other people to blame, at the end of the day I should have been quicker off the mark. Help was at hand though in the form of one of my trusty promotions companies I deal with through the site, while we operate on a non-profit basis generally, it’s a nice perk to get free tickets for all the work we put into it and I wasn’t about to turn these down!
The day of the gig comes and I’m at work, it’s been unbelievably hectic and busy and I’m more than ready for a beer by the time 4pm comes. A couple of hours drinking with work colleagues before my mate arrives and we head off to Leeds and I’m more than Living For The Weekend by 7.30pm!
Most of you reading this probably won’t have been to the Irish Centre in Leeds for a gig, it’s a bit out of town and has an almost working mans club feel to it, the last time I’d been was over ten years ago to see Oasis perform (the night after Noel had been punched in Newcastle) and the venue didn’t seem to have changed a bit.
It’s fairly small (probably holding about 700), has three bars meaning service is quick and efficient no matter where you stand (lets be honest that’s pretty important) and the atmosphere is always decent. Oh and if I’d have had to rely on a tout as I was planning to do the going rate was £25 for a £10 ticket!
- Hard-Fi
- The Irish Centre, Leeds (28th October 2005)
- Category: Live
- Label: Necessary Records
- Support: Director
- Reviewed by: Kev
- Published on: 08 Nov 2005
- Photography by: Philipp Koenig
- Comments: 0
- Beat Surrender Rating:
Weblinks
Add to favouritesAnyway the band bound onstage and the gig is off and running after a couple of decent yet generally uninspiring support acts. Archer is the centre of attention throughout, gurning and pulling various faces, he looks completely wired (we don’t have lawyers here so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to put allegedly in at this point!) but he’s on form, talking to the crowd, having a laugh and loving every minute of it.
The band don’t let him down either, the playing is tight and the energy from them all sparks the crowd, the highlights within the set are fairly obvious the singles obviously go down the best, but Feltham Is Singing Out is a surprising favourite. Then they have a card up their sleeve, it’s a cover of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, it’s a decent stab at it as they do attempt to make it their own, it’s fun and brave but ultimately it sounds weaker than their own material that they are obviously more comfortable with.
An encore is deserved and they respond accordingly, this addition to the set being closed with Living For The Weekend (what else on a Friday night in Leeds?) and it’s that song that raises the roof the highest and confirms them as a definite party band.
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