Live Review

Modern Baseball – Studio 2, Liverpool

• 27th Apr 2016

Three Man Cannon were up first at Studio2, playing a mixture of their old and new albums. The Philly four-piece played a super tight show and the crowd initially seemed to interact with the band well. As the set played on, the crowd seemed to lose interest – perhaps this could be to do with the tempo of the band. They didn’t seem to be entirely suited to this tour with two pop punk bands, although they put on a great performance with every song in tune and every note being hit. Three Man Cannon most definitely had fun and the Liverpool crowd certainly made them feel at home.

Next up were PUP. Could they have been any better? No is the answer. Opening up with a fairly new song “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” the four-piece looked like they had an amazing time; lead vocalist Stefan certainly couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

The band seemed surprised at how polite the Liverpool crowd were, singing along to all the songs and chanting for more at the end of their thirty-five-minute set. Stefan interacted with the crowd exceedingly well, telling a story of the girl that got away (think heading to bed on your own, drunk and being a 19-year-old guy). They followed up with a new song and then played into “Reservoir”, when the crowd knew it was time to give the guys something to remember before they head to Derby. Overall, PUP gave an incredible performance, perhaps outshining the band before them.

Finally, headliners Modern Baseball hit the stage with a killer set that lasted over an hour. Brendan Lukens opened the set with “Fine, Great” – an immediate banger that everyone singing along. The band looked like they had the best time, although after each song they stopped and there didn’t seem to much flow to the set. They played two new songs off their upcoming album ‘Holy Ghost’ and the crowd was treated to some maraca shaking – what more could you want from a pop punk band?!

The set did drag out a little and it could be seen that some of the crowd had lost their initial excitement, until, that is, the chords were struck for ‘Your Graduation’. The whole crowd surged forward and out came the crowd surfing, something that should have been there all along. Modern Baseball seemed blown away at how wild the Liverpudlians had become. The whole room seemed to be refueled with energy and excitement. A good Modern Baseball show relies very much on crowd reaction, and boy, that was a cracker.

– Victoria Handley

Venue: Studio 2, Liverpool
Support Band: PUP, Three Man Cannon