SPORTS TEAM – MUSIC’S NOT DEAD (IN-STORE) AT THE DE LA WARR PAVILION, BEXHILL-ON-SEA – 19.8.2021
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team were aware that Sports Team were playing live in Brighton at CHALK, courtesy of Resident music, on 16th August as part of their rescheduled eleven date sold out Record Store Tour, but we thought instead that it would be great fun to review their concert on the roof of the iconic 1935 built, grade I listed, Art Deco De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea! So here goes……
Having developed an impressive reputation and rapidly expanding fan base over the previous two years, London-based six-piece Sports Team released their eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Deep Down Happy’ on 5th June 2020. With witty lyrics portraying life in middle England, its guitar-driven tunes combine the classic indie sensibility of Britpop with a more contemporary post-punk urgency, all delivered with plenty of youthful swagger. It was a major breakthrough for the band, reaching number two in the UK album charts and picking up a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize.
The release was originally scheduled for spring, and was to be promoted with a series of in-store performances at record shops, including Music’s Not Dead in Bexhill-on-Sea on 31st March 2020. With the country in full pandemic lockdown, that obviously couldn’t take place. There was talk of a possible socially-distanced show later that summer, but it wasn’t considered viable and the Bexhill date has finally come to pass on 19th August 2021, fourteen months after the album actually came out.
Music’s Not Dead is located within the De La Warr Pavilion, an iconic modernist building constructed in 1935. Along with art galleries and a concert venue, there is a large roof terrace with stunning sea views, which is the favoured spot for today’s show. The weather isn’t looking too promising, with thick cloud and intermittent drizzle, but the band are apparently very taken with the location and determined to play outside regardless.
The sea and sky make an impressively dramatic backdrop as the crowd starts to gather. The stage is uncovered, with some plastic sheeting over the backline amps and keyboards as a precaution. The PA speakers look pretty sturdy and are moving enough air to let the townsfolk on the landward side know there’s an event taking place.
Appropriately enough, the introduction music is ‘Get Back’ by The Beatles, famously played at another iconic rooftop performance. The band takes the stage, with some members initially bundled up in coats and hoodies, and launches into the brisk opening number ‘Here It Comes Again’.
Frontman Alex Rice is tall, angular, and very animated, an engaging and charismatic presence centre stage in a bulky green Varsity-style jacket. House left is guitarist and vocalist Rob Knaggs, whose high-slung Strat belies his indie leanings despite wearing an AC/DC T-shirt. Oli Dewdney stands before a towering Fender Bassman stack, co-ordinating nicely with beige coat, bleached hair and a white Precision. Hoodied drummer Al Greenwood thunders energetically around the toms. The first three letters of the ‘Natal’ logo on her kick drum have been obscured with tape to just show her name. House right are guitarist Henry Young, sporting a blue Telecaster and a striking pair of bleached jeans, and keyboard player Ben Mack, whose stage act involves standing impassively in a pair of wraparound shades, despite the gathering gloom. His cropped hair is ornately dyed in a two-tone pattern.
The set stays decidedly up-tempo with a flurry of singles. Recent release ‘Happy (God’s Own Country)’ is followed by the insistent beat of 2018’s ‘Margate’ and the anthemic ‘M5’. I’m grinning broadly by now, and dancing like a maniac. The massive sky is gradually easing from dusk to twilight, and this feels like a very special experience indeed: an absolute treat.
“Is anyone watching from down there?” asks Alex, indicating the seafront promenade. “Nah, we’re not that popular. We’re not Fontaines D.C.” Maybe not, but there are definitely people watching from the balconies of the flats across the road. We can see them waving the lights on their mobile phones.
‘The Game’ is a new number and sounds like an instant classic, the busy rhythm guitar giving it a pop-punk feel, topped off with a superbly catchy chorus hook. Rob takes the lead vocal for ‘Long Hot Summer’ while Alex takes over on guitar. ‘Camel Crew’ has a singalong vibe.
“We’re tired but don’t think we’re not up for this,” the singer confides. “This genuinely means the world to us.” Great songs just keep on coming, with ‘Going Soft’, ‘The Races’ and the magnificent ‘Stations Of The Cross’. The pace picks up with ‘Fishing’ and the frenetic lead single ‘Here’s The Thing’. Everyone around me is dancing enthusiastically. One young woman at the front is perched atop her partner’s shoulders, and is rewarded by getting Alex’s jacket to wear for the last few numbers.
“Remember the Sports Team promise: if you hear Alex get a lyric or a note wrong you’ll get a full refund for the night.” He’s joking, though I doubt there’d be much scope for making a claim. The drizzle is setting in, but everyone’s spirits remain undamped through an epic finale of two early classics: ‘Kutcher’ and ‘Stanton’.
The music soars into a boundless sky, the horizon by now merged with the dark waters of the English Channel. Alex stands, back to the audience and face to the heavens, arms spread wide, embracing the magnificence of the location and the occasion. It’s been quite a night.
Sports Team setlist:
‘Here It Comes Again’, ‘Happy (God’s Own Country)’, ‘Margate’, ‘M5’, ‘The Game’, ‘Long Hot Summer’, ‘Camel Crew’, ‘Going Soft’, ‘The Races’, ‘Stations Of The Cross’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Here’s The Thing’, ‘Kutcher’, ‘Stanton’
