To celebrate the easing of lockdown measures, Britain’s most rambunctious band Sports Team release a special, limited edition B-sides & Rarities Vinyl, Plant Test, available only at Independent retailers in the UK. Independent retail has been at the heart of Sports Team’s output, having had the biggest vinyl sales for a debut British artist in 2020, and number 1 on official vinyl chart week of release. The six piece have also announced their rescheduled tour dates, and will bring the dizzying chaos of their live show to Manchester Academy, SWG3, Rock City, University Stylus, Whelans, SWX, and culminate at O2 Academy Brixton on 25 November 2021, for many nights to remember. See below for the full list of the “Red Hot Rock Show” dates and festival performances.
It will be the band’s first time performing songs from their debut, which battled it out with global superstar Lady Gaga for the number #1 spot in the UK charts last June. It was a chart race which broke Twitter; from fashioning a Lewis Capaldi summoning circle, to Sam Fender & TV fisherman Jeremy Wade, wading in, with the band missed out on the top spot by only 500 sales. Described as “a debut as wry, energetic and charismatic as their inexhaustible live presence has always promised”(L&Q) and “an album soaked in teen spirit, Sports Team are the complete package” (DORK), the record went on to become the biggest selling album of the week in Independent Retail, and was nominated for the prestigious Hyundai Mercury Prize, alongside Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Laura Marling, and winner Michael Kiwanuka.
For a band on the cusp of stardom, the only venues Sports Team entered in 2020 was their local pub The Nags Head, an empty Oval for their Sunday Brunch performance, and an empty Coliseum Theatre, headlining GQ’s virtual Men Of The Year Awards. With touring back and festivals going ahead, this might just be the year we get to be Deep Down Happy.
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES
Fri 09 Jul 2021 Glasgow TRNSMT Festival
Sat 24 Jul 2021 Oxfordshire Truck Festival
Fri 13 Aug 2021 Leicester 110 Above Festival
Fri 27 Aug 2021 Reading Reading Festival
Sat 28 Aug 2021 Leeds Leeds Festival
Sun 05 Sep 2021 Warrington Neighbourhood Weekender
Sat 25 Sep 2021 Bristol Dot to Dot Festival
Sun 26 Sep 2021 Nottingham Dot To Dot Festival
UK HEADLINE TOUR
Sat 02 Oct 2021 Manchester Manchester Academy
Tue 26 Oct 2021 Glasgow SWG3
Wed 17 Nov 2021 Nottingham Rock City
Thu 18 Nov 2021 Leeds Leeds University Stylus
Sun 21 Nov 2021 Dublin Whelan’s
Tue 23 Nov 2021 Bristol SWX Bristol
Thu 25 Nov 2021 London O2 Academy Brixton
