Sports Team at the Roundhouse

On Friday night, indie rockers Sports Team played a high-octane set at the Roundhouse to a frantic audience. Support acts Heartworms and Fat Dog warmed up the iconic venue, which was packed to the rafters and more than ready to greet the headliners for one of their biggest shows so far.

Sports Team opened with 2019’s Here It Comes Again (following a piped-in blast of ABBA’s Mama Mia) and the Roundhouse exploded. It was chased swiftly by The Game, the first track from their latest album, Gulp (released in July of this year), which took a couple of minutes to ramp up, but all hands were in the air when the chorus hit. 2021 single Happy (God’s Own Country) had frontman Alex Rice donning a hat with horns and unleashing some of his moves in a unique style vaguely reminiscent of Mick Jagger’s lanky litheness but with a lot less vocal prowess. It was also an opportunity for lead guitarist Henry Young to show off his chops.

The next few songs were off the newest record and, judging by the response here, it’s been well received; indeed, the popularity of the band and the increase in both quantity and quality of their work has been exponential in recent months – a Roundhouse gig testament to the fact. R Entertainment and Dig! bounced along with consistent vim, at which point Rice took a breather and handed the baton to Rob Knaggs, who curated a minor hiatus mid-set that included a rendition of the relatively complex Cool It Kid, also off the 2022 album.

From here on in it was back-to-back crowd-pleasers, Rice’s infectious energy bringing the room of devotees to a frenzy of excitement, mosh pits erupting left, right and centre. At one point Knaggs leapt onto the drumkit to the apparent delight of drummer Al Greenwood (incidentally, one of the female variety, and a champion of women and girls in the industry). By the time the triplicate encore of Here’s the Thing, Kutcher and Stanton hit, the fans were positively apoplectic.

While it’s perhaps not the most innovative of sounds, it’s certainly committed, and Sports Team brought a convincing performance of raw indie to an audience completely in tune with their work.

Iris Brown
Photos: Miguel de Melo

For further information and future events visit Sports Team’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Dig! here: