With seemingly incessant touring and an ever-growing fan base, Ball Park Music are not new to the stage, and talk of the high calibre of their live shows precedes them.
However, the brilliance of a live Ball Park Music gig isn’t easily definable. It’s less in their musical talent and more in the atmosphere they are able to build around this talent.
Incorporating the audience in each new song was an aspect of their performance that was especially prominent as frontman Sam Cromack dived into the crowd during the encore (the sweetly sentimental “What’s on Your Mind?”).
This welcoming ambiance blankets the audience with a sense of youthful naivety and enthusiastic happiness.
Kicking off with the first track of their new album, Museum, a thunderous applause heralded the fast-paced, rollicking “Fence Sitter”.
Followed immediately with the equally upbeat and colourful “Sad Rude Future Dude”, the musicians flew into their set with an infectious energy.
An explanation that the next song is about visiting the merchandise desk after the show preluded “Costs of Lifestyle” and, grinning at vocalist Jennifer Boyce, Cromack called out to the crowd to stop selling him “shit that [he doesn’t] need.”
With charismatic segues that slipped easily between the songs, Cromack kept up a constant stream of insults directed towards Nickleback as they performed across the street at the Entertainment Centre.
The fluidity of Cromack’s Jarvis Cocker-inspired dance moves was captivating, as his fingers bloomed around the microphone and his swinging pelvis lead him across the stage, all the while sipping his beer and sporadically adjusting his glasses.
Still, the eyes of the crowd were not solely focused on him, but jumped between the talents showcased on the stage.
With keyboardist-turned-temporary-trombonist Paul Furness grinning wildly to both guitarist Dean Hanson and drummer Daniel Hanson, his excitement was reflected back to him as his fingers raced across the keyboard.
His (too) brief trombone solo during “IFLY” also elicited a frantic response from the audience, with several girls declaring their love for Furness through their applause.
The stunning (both aesthetically and aurally) Jennifer Boyce was enchanting in herself, as she allowed her eyes to routinely sweep over the dancing crowd and back to her fellow band members.
However, whether it was a fault of the impurity of the fickle crowd – some of whom only reacted with enthusiasm for a few of the more well-known numbers, standing motionless and expressionless besides – Ball Park Music’s performance style seemed to have undergone a change in the past few months.
Their demeanour as they danced through the set appeared slightly different, as if there had been a loss of something that was once a prominent aspect of their live shows.
Maybe it was the carefree playfulness of the musicians that had now been replaced with a slightly more mature understanding of playing live, the recent departure of guitarist Brock Smith; or possibly it had more to do with the comparatively large venue to what they had previously performed at when touring Adelaide.
Regardless, Ball Park Music is still definitely a band any fan should see live – a relentlessly animated outfit that never disappoints and always leaves an unwavering grin on the face of every crowd member.
Check out the photo gallery of Ball Park Music’s show at Adelaide’s The Gov here.
