After the overwhelming success of Modern Baseball’s first UK tour back in May supporting Real Friends, the band returned for their first ever UK headline run. Kicking off the night was a solo set by Liam, the frontman of Losing Sleep [7/10]. The electro-acoustic set had the potential to struggle since the songs were relatively unknown, however the quality of the songwriting combined with his natural stage presence combined to a really enjoyable performance.
Pennsylvania’s Spraynard [5/10] had their frontman suffering from a virus that caused what the band described themselves as “a B minus vocal performance”. The stage banter was cringe-worthy at times and the shortage of quality songs meant the set was very lacklustre.
After releasing one of the best albums thus far in the pop punk genre, and being one of the highlights of last year’s Slam Dunk festival, Modern Baseball [10/10] surfed their tidal wave of momentum tonight. In a set that leaned heavily on this year’s album You’re Gonna Miss It All as well as choice cuts from Sports blended to make a fantastic setlist. The growth of this band who are still in their infancy is incredible, and they retain a certain degree of quirkiness; as demonstrated by the amusing stage banter and occasional silly.
Songs such as ‘Re-Do’ and ‘Broken Cash Machine’ was met with equal enthusiasm by the crowd as even the lesser known tracks such as ‘Notes’ and ‘Going To Bed Now’. It was surprising how well the band coped with the extended playtime of being headliners, after spending most of their career as a support act. The highlight of the show was without doubt the final one-two punch of ‘The Weekend’ and ‘Your Graduation’ which incited mass sing-alongs and multiple stage dives.
In front of a sold out crowd, Modern Baseball proved once again that they are a band on the rise. It will not be surprising to see them headline far bigger venues in the future, particularly with the large number of high quality songs the band have.
