The line to the Triffid was snaking down the road on Saturday night when I rocked up to see the sold out show from Ball Park Music, in support of their new album Every Night The Same Dream.

The hipster level was high, and the pale ale was flowing when first support Sahara Beck came to the stage. All doe eyes and curly hair, her voice seemed almost too big for her body. Her band, dressed in matching band shirts and suspenders, were tight and complimented her perfectly. She played some of her better-known tracks such as Spinning Time, Mother Mother, and her newest single Tapping On the Roof. After some banter about buying merch, ‘To help pay for the ride home,’ she closed out her set with I’m In Love. 

Next up Brisbane band The Creases took to the stage, looking like they had stepped off the set of a 90s B-Grade movie. Front man Joe was incredibly energetic and took to the stage, dancing and singing with the mic and his tambourine, whilst the rest of the band was all tight guitars and catchy pop/rock riffs. The audience anticipation for Ball Park Music was building throughout their set, and you could feel the energy in the room escalate as they played their newest single Impact to close out the night. 

Ball Park Music took to the stage at ten, flaunting their hipster vibes and opening up with the sweet riffs Literally Baby and the funky bass of Come Back To Me. Front man Sam chatted to the audience about how nice it was to be playing in their home town, before launching into a dynamic rendition of Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You, which flowed into the dissonant chords of Ever Since I Turned the Lights On.

Sam put down the guitar for an energetic performance of Sad Rude Future Dude, and worked the mic with ferocity and passion. Following that was an acoustic version of Surrender, new track Blushing, Leef, and old single Coming Down, which was modified for the stage to have an almost ethereal feel to the glorious chords in the intro to the song.

One of the highlights of the night (as it usually is with a Ball Park Music gig) was when the band members left the stage, and Sam did a solo performance of It’s Nice To Be Alive, which prompted an entire audience sing-a-long for the entirety of the song. As the band set back up, Sam asked, ‘If anyone likes the Euphoric Queensland Memes page on Facebook,’ and by the audience reaction, a fair few people (including myself) definitely were engaging in the Queensland Pride resurgence.

New single Whipping Boy was next, followed by another audience sing-a-long for Trippin’ The Light Fantastic, which was accompanied with mad strobe effects and an ace guitar solo which got the punters dancing and screaming. The grandiose, avant-garde, Pariah was a highlight in terms of musicality – the emotion conveyed in that song was astronomical.

To finish out the set they played She Only Loves Me When I’m There, and after wishing the audience a good night and, ‘Hope you all die an awful death,’ played their newest single, Nihilist Party Anthem, which was a kinda ironic finish to what was actually a really bangin' party.

The party wasn’t actually over though, and after what I thought was an incredibly brief encore break, BPM came back on to play not just one, but three more songs. They dedicated the first song, Harbour of Lame Ducks to the, ‘Semi-serious Ball Park Music fans.’ All I Wanted Was You was full of sweet guitar sounds and bittersweet emotions. Cocaine Lion, perhaps a slightly odd choice for a final song, but still incredible, finished off the set, however, Sam was having some issues with his guitar the sound guy attempted to fix. Halfway through the song he threw his guitar to the ground and instead funnelled all his energy into the mic, wrapping the chord around his body and becoming engulfed by the music, captivating the crowd. 

Ball Park Music are incredible performers, as well as amazing song writers and entertainers, and their show was no exception to the rule. No amount of pale ale could have made me forget even a second of such an incredible performance.

- Olivia Shoesmith