Whether it’s the overpriced food, the merchandise or the cheesy tourists, for better or worse, the Hard Rock Café has a particular stigma attached to it. However, the new Café at the Hollywood and Highland shopping center in Los Angeles has been trying to rebrand itself as a home to live music. On Tuesday night, as part of her month long residency at the restaurant/venue, Lucy Walsh dazzled a crowd consisting mostly of fans, with a few scattered tourists who were visiting the famed chain restaurant.

Backed by a seven-piece band, Walsh sat behind her Nord keyboard and showed off the familiar vocals that got her noticed in the first place. Throughout the set, the singer was very comfortable on-stage, often mingling and interacting with the crowd, which was well received. The songstress played a bunch of songs off her upcoming EP, which is going to be released next month on David Letterman’s record label, Clear Entertainment.

A failed stint at Island Def Jam didn’t seem to affect Walsh’s songwriting or confidence. Lots of artists could take her experience with a major as deterimental to her career, but Walsh has seemed to rebound quite nicely. Many of her new songs had a familiarity to them that enabled the crowd to participate and bob to the music, even though they may not have known the words. In addition, the singer’s energy was something that was echoed by the audiences’ participation, which like the singer was in great spirits all night.

One of the highlights of the night was “Lullaby” a song that Walsh wrote in tribute to a friend who lost his life to cancer. Before the number, she explained that the song was about living life to it’s fullest and the crowd reacted very strongly to the singer’s emotion throughout the song. This was one of the few songs where only an acoustic guitar backed the singer and the power of her song’s message resonated with everyone.

Though the venue’s sound was very sterile and certainly not conducive for live music, Walsh and her band made the best of this potentially problematic situation to make this intimate venue feel like a living room jam session.