Sports Team – Roundhouse, London (21/10/22) – Gig Review

Over the last few years, London-based indie rockers Sports Team have grown into the band they always deserved to be. Their debut album, Deep Down Happy, showed all of the signs of a band heading in the right direction. Massive tracks like ‘Here’s The Thing’ and ‘Kutcher’ were filling an Arctic Monkeys-shaped gap in the alt-rock scene, and provided those who agree that The 1975 are probably the worst band of all time with a timely alternative.


This year, Gulp! proved that Sports Team had found their own sound, legions of well-deserved fans, and a serious gift for melody writing.

Their intentionally over-relatable lyrics are soured slightly by their not-so-relatable Cambridge education and formation, but no one has time to overanalyze that when you’ve got this many hooks.


Their headline show at London’s Roundhouse is one of their biggest yet. The iconic room is absolutely packed after support sets from Heartworms and Fat Dog, and the band are met with adulation from the get go. I’ve been to a lot of metal gigs, and I can say with certainty that Sports Team have somehow ended up with one of the most persistent mosh pits I’ve ever seen. A seriously healthy number of people are giving it their all for the entire set.

The triple threat of ‘Here It Comes Again’, ‘The Game’, and ‘Happy’ is a stupidly strong opener, and the band have so many bangers in their arsenal that they’re able to dispatch ‘R Entertainment’ and ‘Dig!’ almost immediately after. As had to be the case eventually, we’re hit with the mid-set lull, in which lead singer Alex Rice departs the stage and lets Rob Knaggs front some less-ridiculously-catchy tracks, but we’re still treated to my two personal favourites: ‘Cool

It Kid’ and ‘Unstuck’. The effortlessly intricate melodies of these two tracks twist and turn out of the Roundhouse’s speaker system. This is clearly a band who care about sound – they’ve been able to almost perfectly replicate their studio work with crystal-clear precision. It’s very impressive.


‘The Drop’ and, one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard, ‘M5’, bring the rambunctious set to a temporary end and the manic audience is given about two minutes to catch their breath. But by the time ‘Kutcher’ and ‘Stanton’ roll around, chaos has ensued. The energy of encore-opener ‘Here’s The Thing’ was almost too much for some, and now we’ve got a mosh pit full of people who are either flagging, or using up every ounce of their remaining energy to charge in circles.


At one point Alex Rice jumps in for a bounce around, someone hurls themself straight at the drum kit (it doesn’t have the same impact as it did in the 70s but it’s a nice touch) and, correct me if I’m wrong, but someone in a horse mask was playing tambourine? Great energy, great sound, and most importantly, great songs, make for a great night. With

Gulp! under their belts and a live energy this memorable, Sports Team might be peaking right now. Catch them while
you can.

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Set List
Here It Comes Again
The Game
Play Video
Happy (God’s Own Country)
The Races
R Entertainment
Dig!
Cool It Kid
Camel Crew
Fingers (Taken Off)
Going Soft
Unstuck
Fishing
Light Industry
Lander
The Drop
M5
Encore:
Here’s the Thing
Kutcher (with Smoke On The Water riff)
Stanton