Indie punk band Remember Sports formed in 2012, when the original members of the group met at college in Ohio. In 2020, they finally meant to embark on their first EU/UK tour – to be thwarted by the pandemic. Two and a half years, one album and one EP later, we finally got to see them perform at Berlin’s Badehaus.
In 2020, Remember Sports intended to tour with Ratboys, a fellow indie band of the scene. Unfortunately, Ratboys couldn’t support on the rescheduled tour. Many of the support acts ended up being local or semi-local bands, as was the case in Berlin. Riot Spears describe their blend of music as “grunge & angry pop”. Their first EP, I’m not an Object, not yet a Person, was released in 2020 and includes the single Hot, a strings & synth remix of Hot, and the third song Harvester. Their debut record released in 2021. It is a collection of live recordings done in the previous year, which hints at the live experience the band already has under their belt. Gloomy bass lines, rough vocals and a loud amp make the live sound altogether punk. An energetic opening experience to prepare the crowd for Remember Sports.
Remember Sports accompanied their tour with a diary on their Instagram. Anyone who had followed it up to the Berlin show would be aware of the myriad of joyful and, sometimes, exhausting experiences that had followed the band until now. This gig would be a special one, as old friends of the band were attending.
“So this is where everything leads / Looking around at old pictures of me”, begins songwriter Carmen Perry when the band gets on stage. It’s an intimate reflection of where the band has come since their early days, finally on the European stage, playing their early songs. It’s a tough balancing act when you’ve never gotten the chance to before. The first three songs are off Sports first two records Sunchokes and Get Bummed Out, two albums of which we would experience a few more outtakes throughout the set.
The middle of the set is characterised by new songs, two off their recent EP Leap Day, a couple songs off the 2021 release Like a Stone. The band is always energetic, swift, Carmen’s powerful voice resonating in the entire room. In-between songs we’re told anecdotes, like the first time bassist Catherine came to Berlin to go swimming in a murky lake, or the fact the songs are becoming faster and faster as the tour goes on.
As many of their tracks are short and sweet, the band gets off stage after roughly an hour. We are treated to an encore consisting of The Washing Machine, a song I consistently listen to when I do laundry and will pump up next time when I wash my new Remember Sports merch.
Berlin is on their last leg of the tour, but you can still catch Remember Sports at the Left of the Dial festival in Rotterdam or at one of their upcoming solo shows in Austria and Italy.