Venturing into comfortable surrounds of the Enmore Theatre, one could have mistaken the venue for an English cricket ground hosting an Ashes test. The atmosphere was ebullient as conversations and whispers inside the Enmore were dominated by British accents. Waiting expectantly for a dose of anthemic sing-alongs and infectious pop songs, the expats gathered on a Friday night to witness one of their own heroes, Hard-Fi.

As the token Australian band opening for an international act, Starky failed to garner any sense of excitement within the crowd in an uninspired 40 minutes. Coming onto stage with the Clockwork Orange Theme eerily reverberating throughout the theatre, the Sydney four-piece’s blend of 80s new-wave synths and post-punk sensibilities lacked the intensity it normally would in a smaller venue. Songs such as fan favourite, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning were played without conviction as frontman Beau Cassidey attempted to “charm” the crowd with liberal uses of the four-letter word. Fortunately, the second half of the set saw a marked increase in the band’s urgency, as hit singles from the new album, Is This How It Ends and Triple J favourite, Hey Bang Bang, showcased the band’s radio-friendly sound. Closing with an effervescent Michelle, Starky ended the set on a belated high note. The icy crowd reaction to the band’s efforts said it all really, and one wonders whether there lies much of a future in churning out soulless and unoriginal songs.  

The future, on the other hand, seems much rosier for Hard-Fi. Emerging as the British rock success story in 2005, the four working-class lads from Staines achieved critical and commercial success as Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album, Stars of CCTV went double platinum. Embarking on their maiden tour of Australia, a clearly excited Richard Archer stormed onto stage, launching straight into a boisterous set of reggae influenced pop-punk anthems that had the predominantly British crowd in raptures.

A music critic once wrote that Hard-Fi had the big-tune ratio of a boy band and tonight I truly understood what he meant. Songs such as Cash Machine, a lamentation about working-class life in inner-city Britain are shared and celebrated by the crowd who join in on the act, passionately singing, “There’s a hole in my pocket, my pocket, my pocket”, over and over again. Archer even brings out the keyboard flute for a rare cameo!  The brashness of Gotta Reason, delivered by a snarling Archer, is followed by the everyman sensibilities of Feltham Is Singing Out, a humorously dark tale involving a petty thief, which brings a few smirks from the expats – It’s a London thing an afro-haired man tells me later.

While new song I Can’t Get Along Without You had the crowd singing along by the 2nd verse, it was the criminally infectious Tied Up Too Tight that took the crowd sing-along volume to a whole new level, as the diverse crowd from adolescent indie kids to corporate yuppies chanted “Na na na na na na”, much to the delight of a visibly pleased Archer. Top 10 hit and dancefloor favourite Hard to Beat was given its usual airing and the crowd went absolutely wild. Like any song that does well in the mainstream charts, it is incredibly simple, driven by a “pop-gasmic” melody that had the crowd jumping up and down, punching the air and screaming.

Some critics have accused Hard-Fi of being derivative and unoriginal, citing the heavy influence of The Clash and The Specials in their lyrics and sound.  And yet, despite substance to these claims, performed live with the intensity and raw passion exhibited tonight, one embraces the influences of the artist. Starky, take note. Closing the night with an encore including the acoustic album-closer, Stars of CCTV and the aptly titled Living for the Weekend, a content audience walked out the Enmore Theatre with smiles that signified the weekend was just about to begin.

View the photos from the gig here