Project Description
BALL PARK MUSIC + SAN CISCO
@ NEX
(Live Review)
15/09/18
By Jess Moog
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What’s better than a great headliner?? Yep, you got it, a great panty liner! Ha no, obviously TWO great headliners is better than one! And that’s exactly what I got treated to the other night as I attended the sold out San Cisco and Ball Park Music (affectionately referred to by me as San Park Music) gig at the Newcastle Exhibition and Convention Centre. The double-headed tour showcases two of Australia’s most soul-fulfilling bands, so of course I went along to pump out a few booty shakes. In fact, I had such a wonderful time that I probably could’ve used a couple of great panty liners, but we’ll get to that later…
Shortly after the exquisitely grungy Ruby Fields left the stage, San Cisco popped on. The first song on the agenda was old tune ‘Beach’, from their self-titled debut album. The room was instantly blessed with the Fremantle band’s signature indie sounds, and by the time they played ‘SlowMo’, the crowd had expanded quite considerably. The guitar tones were groovy as hell, and I was super impressed by drummer Scarlett’s ability to play interesting off-kilter beats while still providing sweet back-up vocals. Jordi’s voice also stayed chill and flowy throughout the entire set, with his beautiful throaty tone consistently complimenting the rest of the music.
Good ol’ Scarlett’s multi-tasking skills blew my mind once again as the band performed ‘Magic’; a song which involves a lot of ‘chicka chicka’s’ and fun voice noises. The audience was clearly enjoying the spell-bounding vibes dripping from the NEX’s stage, with enthusiastic dancers appearing here and there. The movements on stage weren’t as crazy as the ones on the floor, but the musos were still shuffling along appropriately to their own sounds. The five-piece were reasonably spread out across the large platform, which made it hard for them to interact with each other, but their subtle sways and genuine smiles were still pleasing to witness!
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San Cisco @ UOW Uni Hall // photo by JohnnyD Photography
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San Cisco continued to smash out numerous tunes such as their new single ‘When I Dream’, ‘About You’ and everyone’s all-time fave ‘AWKWARD’. Their nice simple backdrop was clearly inspired by their latest release, but it also gave me some hectic indigenous vibes with the red and black colour scheme (I dunno if that was intended or not so don’t hold me to that). It was obvious they still had some major songs to perform, but just as they began playing their next piece, the sound cut off and they just kind of walked off stage… I was bewildered, shocked, pissed even, because I’m pretty sure the venue just turned off their sound. WHAT THE HELL MAN WE WANT MORE!!!! But off they went unfortunately, and the wait for Ball Park ensued.
After a hearty forty-minute interlude (plenty of time for San Cisco to play a couple more tunes but whatever, I’m totally over it) ((I am obviously definitely not over it)), the dimming lights signalled the entrance of our next act. Ahhh yes, our good friends Ball Park Music! Geez, what a band they truly are. The room was absolutely chockers by this point, so when they jumped up and started banging out ‘The End Times’, bodies were moving EVERYWHERE. The set just got better from there, with absolute soundgasms ‘Everything Is S**t Except My Friendship With You’, ‘The Perfect Life Does Not Exist’ and ‘Nihilistic Party Anthem’ directly following one another. This ridiculously perfect opening playlist already had me panting from excessive grooving, but I pulled up my socks and violently chugged my free water in preparation for the rest of the night.
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Ball Park Music
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And wow, it was a good thing I kept that water, because I definitely needed something to help me flush down the giant platter of bloody belters that Ball Park threw at us next. ‘Surrender’ hit the crowd hard, with a chorus of ecstatic show-goers accompanying the already unmatchable harmonising of singer Sam and bassist Jen. The atmosphere became sombre as they performed ‘Coming Down’, but was instantly uplifted by an acoustic rendition of the bloody incredible song ‘It’s Nice To Be Alive’. I could see people hugging friends, swaying with strangers, kissing their loved ones; it was a truly glorious spectacle!
Ball Park were enjoying themselves just as much as the audience though, with each band member vibing the music in their own way. Drummer Daniel was going nuts on his kit, while Brock the guitarist looked like he’d just discovered potato bake for the first time as he looked out at Newcastle’s humungous, rowdy crowd. Their artsy backdrop complimented their dynamic sound nicely, and the colourful lighting made me feel like a disco queen.
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Ball Park Music @ UOW Uni Hall // photo by JohnnyD Photography
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Everyone’s energy peaked as they spat out bangers such as ‘Fence Sitter’, ‘I Am A Dog’, ‘She Only Loves Me When I’m There’ and the song that never fails to bring tears to my usually dry eyes, ‘Exactly How You Are’. When Sam ditched his guitar, it was evident the night was coming to a close, but the atmosphere was still rife with ridiculous amounts of love. On came ‘Sad Rude Futuristic Dude’, and off came a few crowd members’ shirts. The band left the stage for a swift, sad moment, before violently running back on to play awesome encore ‘Literally Baby’.
They finally walked out of the room for the very last time to a NEX-t level roar from the pit, and off I went for a well-deserved wee.
Thanks San and, Park Music, I enjoyed every bladder-strained moment of it!
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Follow BALL PARK MUSIC @ OneBigLink!
Follow SAN CISCO @ OneBigLink!
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