Hardcore Superstar Ignite Crowd With Mixture Of Old & New
Published
Hardcore Superstar are that random band who wrote one album ten years ago that I kinda liked, then completely disappeared from my radar. Whether they stopped touring the UK, took a break or simply faded out of the media’s eyes, they popped up again more recently, and I decided to go check them out.
Walking into Rock City’s humble basement, I was greeted by the sounds of a song I hadn’t listened to in nearly a decade. Hardcore Superstar had just come on stage, looking as odd as ever, and kicked things off with "We Don’t Celebrate Sundays", the song which initially put the band on my radar all those years ago and suddenly, as if by magic, the room kicked off, all the weirdos moving in unison, myself included.
I always forget how much I enjoy hard rock gigs, but more importantly I always forget how well the genre translates. The kind of stuff that would probably bore me on a normal day can easily leave me with the cheesiest of smiles when heard live. "My Good Reputation" is a nice little example; even with its infectious chorus, I’d never listen to it on record yet I find myself sporting a contented smile and singing every single alongside the other 250 weirdos attending the Basement show tonight.
Having just released a new album, the band used this opportunity to showcase a bunch of material from it, and just like the majority of the band’s catalogue, the new tracks are just as riffy and jumpy and happy and singalongy as expected, with the obligatory ‘party’ song – "Party ‘Til I’m Gone" – falling near the end of the main set. These new tracks fell in between some Hardcore Superstar classics such as "Last Call For Alcohol" and "Guestlist", and almost surprisingly, the crowd’s energy did not dwindle in the face of the new material. Always a reassuring sign that the band haven’t gone down a ‘boring’ path, people still moshed, quickly learned the choruses and sang along.
"Moonshine" acted as the ‘crazy’ song of the night – opening the basement floor and bringing out a piece of everyone’s violent side; it’s probably a good thing that they didn’t play it sooner, lest there be some casualties among the crowd. Alas, the band’s relatively short set was met with positive vibes, happy faces, and a strong feeling of comradery.
To find out more about Hardcore Superstar click here.
To visit the Hardcore Superstar Facebook page click here.
Words by Blaine Marshall
