It's OK to like Sports Team

When one of your favourite bands announce that they are hosting an album launch party at a brewery in Blackhorse Road, it is a tough proposition to turn down. And turn it down I did not. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, we rallied to north London to witness London's premier six-piece in all their glory. 

The band

Sports Team are a band like few others. A six-piece consisting of Cambridge grads, Sports Team have been on quite the journey. From headline shows at Brixton's o2 Academy, to supporting Supergrass across Europe, to being robbed by armed thieves in America, not many other bands can boast such a diverse voyage through the music industry's choppy waters. With a fierce and loyal following, Sports Team have seemingly been on the cusp of both smashing through whatever glass ceiling is preventing them from hitting the big time and, at times simultaneously, imploding by way of break up. This blend of chaos, honesty and laughs is what makes many of us adore them. 

Their first (and possibly only) hit Here's the Thing is perhaps the ultimate Sports Team song, in that it summarises their style and ethos. Witty and realistic lyrics, a great riff, a catchy chorus and vocals from their lead vocallist, Alex Rice, and occasional vocallist, Rob Knaggs, Here's the Thing does provide you with a quick education of who and what Sports Team is. 

 And with this in mind, the rogue nature of the event should be of little surprise. 

 The venue

Hosted at Signature Brew's brewery and headquarters, this was a great venue for such an event. A large outdoor/courtyard space hosted revellers and their pints, while the stage area was very small and intimate. These large brewery/bar spaces are becoming increasingly popular and while the beer can be a mixed bag, the spacious outdoor seating and vast indoor bars are great drinking spots, particularly in the summers as the evenings draw long.

The performance space also had its own dedicated bar through another doorway, so you could see the show through a window without having to bellow at the bartender over loud music. A very good idea.

Food was quite slow to come, but the beers were very good and I will be looking out for Signature Brew in the future. I don't know why Sports Team picked this venue and partnership, but it was a great idea. 

The event

An itinerary for the evening had circulated via DICE (the ticket purchasing app):

• Hotdog eating contest 

• Album playback

• Live performance

• After-party and DJs 

Image speaks for itself

I hadn't been to an album launch party before, but I am unsure how many would involve a hot-dog eating competition. However, Sports Team's night celebrating the release of their third effort, Boys These Days, involved such a display of human endurance. A few brave souls prevailed with the competition, which was ultimately deemed a draw between two sausage and bun consumers. All good fun. However, as is so often true with Sports Team, the hotdog eating contest was late, meaning the album playback immediately followed it with no rest time.

As such, with everything delayed, a very brief break followed the playback before Sports Team launched into their performance, leaving several concertgoers stuck in the queue to enter the concert space as they launched onto their opening number with little to no warning.

The show

This was my sixth time seeing Sports Team, all of which have come in a range of settings:

• o2 Academy Brixton: my first viewing. Riding the crest of a wave, Sports Team played a triumphant show to adoring fans in southwest London's premier live spot. However, the band later admitted they had spent any money made from the show on the pyrotechnics. They were also supported that night by a relatively unknown Wet Leg, who we mocked mercilessly pre-show for their hilarious, only to be completely blown away by Chaise Longue. I wonder what happened to them. This show was in November 2021, so considering the backdrop of Covid-19, it was a real release of energy and a true victory for Sports Team. Drinks were spilled, hugs delivered, and choruses belted with all those nasty memories of lockdown banished for a stolen few hours.

  
  

• The Roundhouse: this show was promotion for their second album, Gulp! A promised afterparty at The Elephant’s Head was a classic Sports Team affair – absolutely no sign of the band, only to be told two hours later that they were in fact in a pub over the road, The Oxford Arms.

  
  

• Victorious Festival: despite being regular fixtures on the festival circuit, Sports Team really are one of the perfect festival bands. Lots of energy and positivity is what you want on a sweltering summer’s day, with mosh pits galore. You can just imagine them in a sweaty tent delivering a brutal education in how to sweat as much as possible. Victorious Festival was no different, with Alex Rice’s customary ‘getting in the crowd’ antics going down a treat with seasoned Sports Team heads and new fans alike.

  
  

• Omeara: after a brief break, Sports Team returned with this show in London Bridge’s tiny Omeara (owned and founded by one member of Mumford and Sons, but let’s not hold it against the venue too much). New songs were debuted in what was possibly the sweatiest concert of all time to a tiny, but feverish crowd.

  
  

• Kentish Town o2 Forum: another o2 venue came calling, with singles from upcoming album Boys These Days on the agenda. One of the key highlights from this show was seeing Alex Rice and Rob Knaggs in The Pineapple pub around 20 minutes before the show was slated to start.

  
  

This show at Signature Brew was truly fantastic. The small venue wasn’t the only thing which lent itself to a great atmosphere, but also that the crowd was largely a collection of superfans. This event not the usual concert or even album launch show. The intimacy of the performance space but also the accessibility of the band themselves created a real connection between Sports Team and the fans tonight, but also on many other nights. And this is ultimately why Sports Team have such a feverish fanbase. Their fan contact is always on point, with a fairly active mailing list, Instagram broadcast channel, going to local pubs before and after shows and generally encouraging fans to engage in banter and in-jokes with them via social media. No matter where Sports Team go, you know an army of loyal followers will show up.

The brilliant auxiliary bar

The setlist featured old favourites and new tracks off the upcoming album. Opening with Bang Bang Bang, the country infused rocker, the energy was high from the off. The highlight of the show was Camel Crew, a fan favourite which I hope never comes off the setlist. A blistering chorus and hilarious lyrics have often set this one apart from many of their other offering.

A brief interval halfway through the show for a human pyramid (seemingly a regular fixture of Sports Team shows now) saw a strong run towards the closer, Stanton. One would imagine Stanton will be the closer for as long as Sports Team have a career but, controversially, it’s not even in my top 10 of their songs. Tradition prevails in this instance. And on the subject of tradition, the show closed with Robbie Williams’ seminal hit Angels blaring over the PA system. Bringing the house down as usual, a blend of nostalgia and post-show adrenaline mean this is still the perfect post-show ditty to blare as people slowly shuffle out of a venue.

We left the venue via a pitstop with each member of the band for them to sign a sheet of the itinerary. A bunch of true charmers, as experienced in previous meetings with them all. Some were more up for a chat than others, but you cannot bemoan the exposure you get to them post-show.

The new album releases this week (at the time of writing), on the 23 May. If the singles are anything to go by, this will be a new and exciting direction for the band. They seem to be taking the album promotion more seriously than during the Gulp era; appearing on breakfast television shows, a Sofa Session with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 and a large run of record store shows across the UK. The Sports Team wheels are turning wildly and screeching loudly, much like on a rallying Subaru. The future is exciting for this group, but I can’t wait to see where else the journey takes us. All I know is, a mosh pit at a future Sports Team show calls my name, like a siren on a stormy sea – and I will heed its call. Recently announced shows for an autumn/winter tour in Europe are just the dog whistle I need.