The Hard Ground launched their stellar new E.P Triptych: One in Whelan’s, Dublin on Wednesday night.
As the lowlight and intimate atmosphere of the venue set a deftly held ambience over the crowd, the Hard Ground took to the stage with the sudden jolt of blues-rock tinged track, ‘Ashes’.
With the Cork-based group establishing the tone and expansive stylistic spectrum of their sound from the outset, the band were able to shape performances heavily populated by dynamic peaks and troughs, passages of deep beauty and high tempo grooves.
Indeed the Hard Ground gave little respite as they kept the show’s momentum by blending several songs into one another. Performances of Triptych: One’s stand-out tack ‘Two By Two’ and the previous album’s ‘Bad Faith’ showcased the group’s ability to relate their booming, broad studio sound to the live realm with little becoming lost in translation.
However, the high water mark of the night came from ‘Spies’ a brooding, slow-burning track from the Hard Ground’s latest E.P. Taking on a new aesthetic and feel through a powerful live performance, the song’s sweeping atmosphere captured the imagination showing the Hard Ground’s ability to not only translate but transcend their studio work.
Closing the show with a full-bodied rendition of the group’s new single ‘Belles and Beaux’ and the raucous crescendo of encore ‘Mr Boom’, the Hard Ground identified themselves as a group more than capable of exceeding their already stellar studio release with a captivating live performance. More importantly the band seem to deeply consider their live aesthetic, exploring and expanding the boundaries of each song to great effect.
Triptych: One by the Hard Ground is out now.