Hard-Fi

+ tom a. smith

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Following the overwhelming response to their live return last year, HARD-FI have announced a full nationwide tour of the UK.

The influential band returned to the stage in October 2022, selling out the O2 Kentish Town Forum in under 10 minutes while also playing Manchester's Neighbourhood Festival before headlining Stand Up To Cancer's annual charity show with an intimate set at London's Union Chapel at the start of 2023. 

Now Hard-Fi have confirmed they will hit the road for a full, 13 date UK tour, their first in over ten years.

The dates include shows in Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Birmingham, before rounding things off with a Saturday night date at London’s Troxy on Saturday 21st October, HARD-FI's first live appearance in the East End.

Additionally, the band are confirmed as Special Guests at Portsmouth's Victorious Festival on 27 August, and the revered Sunday afternoon slot will be HARD-FI's exclusive UK festival appearance of 2023.

“We’re really excited to be heading back out on the road and playing venues up and down the country for the first time in too long," declares HARD-FI frontman Richard Archer. 
many years. 

"When we announced we were playing some shows again, so many people asked us when we were coming to their town, so hopefully everyone will be able to get to one of the shows. We’re really looking forward to seeing our fans again and maybe meeting some new ones. We will of course be playing the tunes they've been desperate to hear, but everyone should keep their ears out for something new too."

Though regularly heard over the years, calls for HARD-FI's return became particularly vocal during the 2020 lockdown after Richard Archer staged a solo, livestream show for charity from his home, performing the group's acclaimed debut album, Stars Of CCTV in full.

Once live music returned, a show with the full original HARD-FI of Archer, Kai Stephens (bass), Steve Kemp (drums) and Ross Phillips (guitar) seemed a logical next step, not only due to the fan's clamour but also down to way in which the Staines-based group’s
influence has been increasingly being felt on a new generation of artists who similarly fuse dancefloor-friendly grooves and beats with words that candidly chart modern life. 

In addition, supporters of Brentford FC were regularly regaled by the band’s 2005 single, Hard To Beat, as the team made its way up to the Premier League for the first time ever.

A full UK tour from HARD-FI is a welcome addition to the fixture list. 

Having made their debut with the Mercury Prize-nominated Stars Of CCTV in 2005, the four-piece proved progressive yet accessible, as with its tales of high street life, club-driven weekends and keeping your head above water on the breadline, the album yielded five Top 40 singles. 

Stars Of CCTV itself reached No.1 and has since gone double platinum in the UK alone. 
Second studio LP, Once Upon A Time In The West, also topped the charts, while its lead single Suburban Knights became a Top 10 hit and a firm life favourite at festivals around the globe.

Third album, Killer Sounds, boasted tracks produced by Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers, Dua Lipa), Greg Kirsten (Lily Allen, Beck, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters), Andy Grey (Paul Oakenfold, U2) and Hard-Fi’s long-term producer and collaborator Wolsey White. It too was a Top 10 hit.

Having played one of the longest residencies at O2 Academy Brixton (a feat they share with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Clash and The XX) after the band performed at the landmark London venue for five nights straight in 2006, Hard-Fi’s shows have been consistently praised by critics and gig-goers alike for living up to good times invoked by their anthemic single, Living For The Weekend. 

Their first full UK Tour in over a decade promises to be one of the hottest tickets of 2023.

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Tom A. Smith

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