Modern Baseball @ Run for Cover Records

Modern Baseball
October 16th, 2016
Run for Cover Records, Allston, MA

Announced on Run for Cover’s Instagram only four days before the show, Modern Baseball made a special stop at the label’s headquarters in Allston, MA for a quick acoustic set. The office only hosted about 35 people so everyone got cozy, chatting as we all sat on the floor together awaiting the performance. I soon found out that Run for Cover employees made up a large chunk of the show’s audience and assume that Modern Baseball played the space due to a break in their current tour with The Front Bottoms supporting Brand New.

The last time I saw Modern Baseball was at the House of Blues in June of this year. Going from the screams of 2,000 fans dancing and jumping to the silence of 35 people sitting on the floor was such a stark difference – it made me realize how lucky I was to be there. Out of the four, only the guitarists/vocalists, Brendan and Jake, performed while the other two sat in the crowd watching. Jake was playing an acoustic guitar, and a running joke throughout the set was that one of them would turn the distortion up as if they were at one of their rock concerts. The set started off with the opener from their new album Holy Ghost, and the duo proceeded to play all the way through the album until “Hiding”. This album has been regarded as their best work and the audience was very excited to hear the songs, everyone quietly singing along to themselves. After “Hiding”, Jake switched to electric guitar and Brendan took over for vocals and acoustic. He then started singing “Fine, Great”, to which everyone in the room instantly cheered for, quickly transitioning into to the group’s biggest song, “Your Graduation”. At the breakdown half way through the song, where the drummer sings, Brendan asked the crowd to sing as loud as they could, and the crowd delivered. The duo couldn’t stop laughing as the room erupted in vocals for the song. Video of this was posted to the Run for Cover Instagram and I highly encourage you to check it out.

This show felt so different from the last time I saw Modern Baseball, where I was dancing and moshing with my friends, but the vibe was so similar, everyone present at both shows connected by the music. The band is incredibly talented at generating a memorable atmosphere for their audience and I would highly recommend experiencing it for yourself.