Sports Team announce their annual Bus Trip festival in Margate, an all-dayer that is shaping up to be bigger, better and boozier than the days that came before it. Starting as a humble bus trip on a 30-seater with no aircon three years ago - arrivals in Margate greeted with sand, cheap beer and an alumni of Wolf Alice, Swim Deep, Walt Disco - this year’s Bus Trip is set to take place on 10 July 2021 over two of Margate’s cult-classic venues.
After a fallow year (pandemic), one in which Sports Team released their critically acclaimed, Mercury nominated, #2 debut album Deep Down Happy, the band will host fans and the indie-elect at treasures of Margate, ‘The Britannia’, and ‘Elsewhere’. Headlined by Sports Team the scorcher of a line up includes performances from breakthrough bands TV Priest, English Teacher, Bull, Wet Leg, Los Bitchos, Courting and DJ sets from enduring names Billie Marten and Orlando Weeks and more to be announced. The day will include sea, sun, and surprises. Did someone mention stick-and-poke-tattoos? Tickets go on sale at 11am on Friday 30th April.
Bus Trip will be the first live show the band have played since the pandemic hit. “We’ve had a relationship with Margate from the start. We’re stepping up the annual Bus Trip to a full multi-stage festival of artists we love. Going to be one of the first ones back, can’t wait,” says the band.
Coming up on the back of word of mouth live hype, drawing round the block queues to chaotic early gigs at The Five Bells and Moth Club before releasing any music, live is the reason Sports Team became a band, to do what they love most, performing, and to create a space for their fans to come together. Lead singer Alex Rice recently wrote an essay for the Independent, urging the government to save festival season: “The Prime Minister’s defence of Britain’s culture [Football] must be taken as nothing more than a PR exercise until he takes action to defend that other crown jewel of British culture, the music festival.”
Last week, the band released ‘Happy (God’s Own Country)’, a summer-of-hope-anthem capturing the raucous energy, and infectious spirit the six piece have become renowned for. Taken from their limited edition B-Sides and Rarities Vinyl Plant Test, ‘Happy (God’s Own Country)’ is the first new music from the band since their debut album, and the official video encapsulates the six-pieces ability to poke humour at the status quo, and represents “a cut and paste diorama of cronyism, cottagecore and window-dressed Toryism”, as cited by lead singer Alex Rice.
Full Line Up for Bus Trip
TV Priest
English Teacher
Bull
Wet Leg
Los Bitchos
Courting
Sports Team
DJ sets
Billie Marten
Orlando Weeks
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES
Sat 10 Jul 2021 Margate Bus Trip 2021
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
Fri 01 Sept 2021 Glasgow TRNSMT 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
Fri 01 Oct 2021 Liverpool O2 Academy
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
