Ball Park Music at the Metro Theatre 5/4/14 - Live Review

Lately I've spent a lot of time listening to one album... Okay, 'a lot' is probably an understatement - listening to Puddinghead on repeat 24/7 could be classified as unhealthy and dangerous, but for me, it's healing.

Hearing the new album has been like crawling up into a warm, fuzzy, familiar blanket, Sam Cromack's songwriting, though mature and developed from what I've known, feels like home to me.

Over the past 3 to 4 years I've grown very fond of a little ol' Brisbane outfit called Ball Park Music. Their happy but insightful, lyrically intense, summery but analytical works have given me hours and hours of a fuzzy feeling that I've come to love dearly - so walking up the stairs into the Metro was like when you take a trip back through a town where you once lived; I was excited to see all my old memories, but deep down I was hesitant and scared of some unimaginable drastic changes.

Holy Holy were a pleasant surprise. I've seen their name popping up around the place but I've never made the effort to look them up. Timothy Carrol and Oscar Dawson met while working as volunteers in South-East Asia, and thank the lord they did because the world would be worse off without their wonderful Holy sounds. A few tracks seemed distantly familiar which I later realised was probably from their spins on Triple J - which this talented band deserve more of. I can't wait to see them again.

"He looks JUST like Harry Styles!" Thomas Rawle, Papa Vs Pretty's lead singer, didn't have to do much to win the heart of the girl next to me in the crowd, but it didn't take long for her to change her mind. She seemed off-put by his onstage ego, "he's a wanker, he's talking about quotes and shit and it's so annoying ugh, your face is pretty, don't make noises with it" - but despite his 'wank'ery One Directionishness - Papa Vs Pretty were entertaining. Tracks like Smother, One Of The Animals and My Life Is Yours were favourites though during the quieter songs you could hear the audience's disinterested mumbles - overall, they were well-rehearsed, but egotistically irritating.

BALL PARK FUCKING MUSIC. By the time they were due to begin the crowd was, well, - bonkers. At one point my face was being squished between a tall man's elbow and someone's boobs (if you are that girl, I am very very sorry, but also not really) and I have a few other injuries. I have bruises on my chest from when I was semi-punched in the ribcage - the nail on my big toe split in half - I have no idea how that happened - and I have a bunch of odd-shaped bruises on my back. I don't remember much of the beginning because I was trying not to die but I do remember being ridiculously happy.

I surrendered to the death-trap that you could call a mosh after about 3 songs when opening chord of Surrender kicked in (it was a beautifully ironic moment that I will cherish forever).

Standing up the back with free room to dance and be merry, I was able to really take the show in, and very quickly that warm fuzzy feeling I've become accustomed to, creeped back - stronger than ever.

Their energy was carefree but they were clinically perfect in their flawless performance. Even the songs from Puddinghead that I didn't know were inexplicably precise. Alligator, ifly, Tripping The Light Fantastic and Fence Sitter were perfect but I have to admit, my body was NOT prepared for the encore.

After a very short amount of time, the 5 members returned to the stage to greet a screaming, squeling and hollering sold-out Metro Theatre and the opening words "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy " sent everyone into a frenzy of 'omg omgz and holy shit holy shitz is this even really omg happeningz?'

Singing along and gesticulating every lyric was a religious experience and while Ball Park Music played Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, the souls of 1350 people combined for an extravaganza of passion and excitement. I've never seen and will never see a better encore performance.

Driving home it came to me that Ball Park Music were, and will always be right. No matter how cliched it sounds, it really is Nice To Be Alive.

SET LIST:

Struggle Street

Literally Baby

Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You

Surrender

It's Nice To Be Alive

Alligator

She Only Loves Me When I'm There

High Court

IFLY

Tripping The Light Fantastic

Sad Rude Future Dude

Happy Healthy Citizen

A Good Life Is The Best Revenge

All I Want Is You

Fence Sitter

Coming Down

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Bohemian Rhapsody

Review by Geneva Valek

Photos by Josh Groom view more here

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