Face Of Cheam

Went to Hard-Fi this week. Decided to go twice as one of my friend couldn't go on the Tuesday so after booking this, agreed to go with him for the extra date. Tuesday first - I was delighted to see that Billy Bragg was the support for Hard-Fi so I decided for the first time in ages to get to a venue relatively early. I was not disappointed. Armed with just an electric guitar Billy did a solo best of set for forty five minutes, including Levi Stubbs Tears, Sexuality, and Great Leap Forwards where he sang 'how long do you give McLaren, he'll be out by December'. His fantastic set ended with 'A New England' which despite being written and recorded by Billy, was made famous by Kirsty MacColl. Really must invest in his double CD best of which is under a tenner on play.com. Hard-Fi followed coming on at 9.40 and were what you would expect drawing on nearly all of their excellent Stars of CCTV album. There were a couple of new songs thrown into the mix and a cover of Big Audio Dynamites 'E=MC2' before the encore. The youngish crowd did not seem that enthusiastic and we managed to get a decent place near the front without the need for a mosh. For the encore Billy returned to join the band for a great rendition of The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. After which they ended somewhat predictably with the title track of the CD and 'Living for the Weekend'. The show ended at 11.02pm which meant a quick can of beer purchased from a dodgy newsagent on the Stockwell Road.
Wednesday - Met my friend in the Priory Arms, a real ale pub near Stockwell about 6.30. Having got a seat perfect for the TV we decided to stay here whilst working our way through some german lagers we've hadn't heard of previously. Actually the cider was braved and instead of being poured out by a tap, a strange china pot was produced to put it in a pint glass. Whilst watching the TV, Gabby Logan came on to present the football and was looking slightly scary with far too much make-up, in fact it was suggested that she was 'Avril Lavignes Mum’! By this time the place was rammed and you could not help but feel we were in someones regular seat. Half time we left and walked to the Far Side, a place halfway between Stockwell tube and the Academy. This is always a good place and I was pleased to see Barcalona get two late goals to win a bet at 28-1 with Arsenal leading at half time and Barcalona winning at the final whistle.
Off to the show and musically it was identical except the singer seemed a bit pissed. The crowd were a lot more hyper though (assume all had been beering it for the football) and it was another great show.

Hard-Fi Set (both nights) - Middle Eastern Holiday / Gotta Reason / Surburban Knights / Tied Up Too Tight / Feltham Is Singing Out / You And Me / Unnecessary Trouble / Better Do Better / E=MC2 / Cash Machine Hard To Beat ///// Move On Now / Wont Get Fooled Again (feat Billy Bragg) / Stars Of CCTV / Living For The Weekend