Sick Of It All | Hard-Fi

I didn't get to go see Hard-Fi play at Bowery Ballroom last night. As I left work, it was a gametime decision whether to head home or go to Bowery and see if there were any tickets left at the door. I chose the former. It was raining.

All over London this summer were billboards stating that Hard-Fi is the greatest British band. Ever. I like the album but it didn't blow me away. And I can assure that they are not the greatest British band ever. Let's not exaggerate too much now.

I made certain people promise they wouldn't have fun at the show and wouldn't rave about it today. They obviously didn't listen. The reviews are in and many are mixed. I probably would have said it was a blast, fun to be there, but nothing spectacular...in case you were wondering.

Central Village over at Gothamist: "To their credit, they don't sound like everyone else. They have their own thing going on...perhaps best described as The Clash meets, um, the Backstreet Boys? But hey, they've got some songs and they can get a crowd to move, so I'm not one to judge."

Heart On A Stick:"What’s English for 'nothing particular special?'"

I Rock I Roll:"Every time awesomely psycho lead singer Richard took out the keyboard flute, Nicole screamed, and when they played Hard To Beat, the entire room went INSANE. No one yelled at me for dancing this time, thank goodness."

A VC (who managed to get FREE tickets at the door. Dammit!):"The lead singer was super high energy and I couldn't help but think he was the punk rock version of Joshua Schachter. He played this cool instrument that was like a recorder with a keyboard on it. No idea what it is called, but it makes that great sound at the begining of many of their songs."

Jerry Yeti:"Halfway through the set, I saw that to our right, there was a group having an absolute blast and I wanted to join them. I thought that once Cash Machine or Hard to Beat is played, it. is. on.That never quite happened. It never reached the point when everyone gets wrapped up in the maelstrom of rocking out. It stayed tame and well-mannered. Ho-hum."

So it was like I was there, kinda.


[picture via A VC]

Hard-Fi - Sick Of It All