Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

UK band Sports Team had a rough introduction to America – a day after landing while getting Starbucks in Vallejo they were robbed at gunpoint and their gear was stolen. They could have been angry and cynical as they played their second date of the tour at The Chapel in San Francisco on the night of December 7^th, but they took the show must go on to heart and delivered a great set that the fans loved.

This was an all-ages event, meaning there were kids and septuagenarians and everyone in between, all out for a night in the city for a chance to see a very popular UK band play an intimate San Francisco club. Highlights of the evening were singer Alex Rice’s charisma, Ben Mack’s persona (just on stage? or in life too?) of stoic keyboarding mixed with turning his back to the crowd and standing in the corner, and an elementary school-aged girl in the front row holding a sign that said “Fishing,” and then being invited onstage to sing along for that track.

The 14 song set went on for about an hour twenty, with some fun banter from the band mixed between tracks, and some standouts were “The Game,” “Bang Bang Bang,” and “I’m In Love (Subaru)”. No encore this night which always seems startling when they don’t happen, but are so silly in concept (unless there’s a bonafide benefit? feel free to chime in) that it wouldn’t be so bad if they just started to evolve their way out of live performances entirely.

This North America west coast Boys These Days Tour is about two weeks long, so get out and see this Mercury Prize-nominated band while you can before they head back to the UK. And if you’re lucky, rest of America, they’ll come back for a leg through your area later this year. Keep your eyes peeled for news and info at www.sportsteamband.com.