Live Review: Ball Park Music

Supports Jeremy Neale and Eagle and The Worm charmed us to begin (an updated '50s-type style with a twist for the former and some '80s goodness for the latter), but it could have gone downhill from there for Ball Park Music. Two great supports are a dangerous game; both were familiar but solid, and each clearly brought it for their existing fans while winning the rest over. Couple this intro with a very crap footy match being played at the same time (sneaky multi-taskers kept giving themselves away by shouting at their iPhones during Wallabies on- field fuckups), and by headliner time Ball Park did have a river or two to cross. It was a little after ten when Ball Park Music kicked off this Thank Ewes tour with Abba's Thank You For The Music, but from there they had us. It sounds dicky to call it a 'happy' set, but then, to be fair, it really was. This is a band that clearly loves what they do, and the result is infectious - making sure to give enough of the 'hits' (Surrender, All I Want Is You, It's Nice To Be Alive and Fence Sitter) as well as some lost tracks from earlier releases (Teenager Fit and Glass Jar), and some unexpected Hanson MMMBop, just because they could. While it's hard to choose a fave, it's also hard to go past iFly, with its mixture of sweet sweary lyrics- “I fucking love you, I think you're pretty ... I remember the first time I got to kiss you sober”- and it was a sentiment that was brought to life with a drunken marriage proposal onstage. The punter couple, led by a Dutch courage-d groom, slurred his way to the point (“Check this shit, I love you baby - will you marry me?”), and as he crashed slightly to his knee with ring in hand, even the hardest of hard hearts melted just a little. The band played ringmaster (pun intended) with the right amount of ceremony - just enough to let them have their spotlight - and then back on with the show. As the set progressed (nearly 20 tracks, not bad kids), they made it back to the end with some Beatles 8 Days A Week, and they had to be knackered, but again, happy. Ball Park Music, Thank Ewes, too.