It has taken British sextet Sports Team nine months to recover from their first U.S. tour last December, when they were robbed at gunpoint on one of the earliest dates. Thieves ransacked the group’s van, and when their tour manager confronted them, they drew a gun on her. The incident has since become a frequent talking point for a band that, until this—sadly not uncommon—experience, spent most of their time romanticizing the mundanity of suburban British life, which they claimed had been voiceless for so long.
No one can accuse Sports Team of holding back. They’ve filled plenty of column inches tearing down fellow musicians, insisting their band and the fan community around them are different.
Across three albums, including a Mercury Prize nomination for their debut, Deep Down Happy (2020), Sports Team have expanded their lyrical manifesto to broader political issues while becoming more musically adventurous. Their latest, Boys These Days, recorded in Bergen, Norway, with Matias Tellez, blends Scandi pop sensibility with post-punk, indie pop, and new wave.
They return to the U.S. in September, supporting Supergrass on the I Should Coco 30th anniversary tour. Once upon a time, Sports Team would take every gig-goer out to the pub afterward. Those days are likely over, but frontperson Alex Rice remains better than Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor combined when it comes to recommending watering holes. Here, he offers 10 (plus one) essential picks for the best bars in the world.
Angie’s Free House (London, U.K.)
When we graduated, Rob, Oli, and I lived on 2nd Avenue in Westbourne Park. We were all working office jobs, trying to get the band going. In the evenings we’d go out and drink six pints at Angies and talk about how to get noticed. Carlsbergs were under 3 pounds and had quite a distinct metallic taste that after a while became irresistible. Spud at the bar still works there and says hi if we pop in–which is probably more than we deserve. I remember we shot a cover for this magazine So Young there where we all look about 14.
Sporting Clube de Londres (London, U.K.)
Another Westbourne Park classic–and one I always felt we shouldn’t really know about–Sporting Club is essentially a Portuguese expat bar in a garage opposite the skate park by the canal. When we first went, Ronaldo was slamming in goals for Portugal at the Euros, the lovely matriarch Paula would say “Hello darlings” to us and the same pianist would come out every night and play “Volare.” We were always a bit shy to dance. You could sit and eat “steak towers” with unlimited chips. I think Paula admired our hearty appetites. Two-pound Super Bock. Real days of our lives stuff.
The Oxford (Margate, U.K.)
Rob and Ben have just bought a flat together on King Street in Margate so we’ve ended up spending a lot of time on the coast there now. Our first manager Stu set up a pizza restaurant there called Palms and our current manager runs a hotel with the Libertines on the seafront. We’ve got our own studio next to Kan-Doo Timber that we share with the guy from the Mystery Jets too, so it’s a lovely set up. This is by the mile the best pub there. There’s a really big scary dog I don’t think is allowed to wander around anymore. Pints are cheap and people laugh at us when we try and look cool. Chelsea behind the bar is getting married this year and we wish her all the best.
DD’s Double Shots (Tulsa, U.S.)
I’d never really liked bar culture in the big cities in the U.S., people talking to you was concerning–even if our accents seemed charming to them. This was our first experience of a really good bar in the States though. Our friends Wilderado who are on the same label as us took us there when we were playing a show in the city. I’m not sure we paid for a drink except through a full Robbie Williams set I sang on the karaoke machine. Truly the best hospitality I’ve ever experienced. They had a little chili buffet anyone could use. People showed us the mural for their friend who died outside and then everyone in the place came to the show after. It was all a bit chaotic. Makes it into the top 10 bars in the world with ease.
The Laurieston (Glasgow, Scotland)
This is maybe the best pub in the world. It’s still got the old school set up where you have a lounge bar and a sort of drinking only bar. I think it has a name but I can’t remember. Cash only which is a good sign. A place where we got to hang out with our mates from Glasgow, Ally the drummer in Lucia jumped into a bin there I think. He’s sober and really into cycling now though which is great. Seems like the sort of place you could bring a horse into. Five stars.
Travis Marina Bar (Sausalito, U.S.)
Rob and me are really into incredibly long grueling walks out of the cities we play in. In the U.K. people think it has a sort of bohemian Withnail and I charm, but in the U.S. they just think you’re a vagrant. Anyway, we did this walk with our old manager Stu the first time we went to San Fran, 25 miles and over the Golden Gate Bridge into Sausalito. This was the first place we stopped for a drink, had light like you wouldn’t believe. We went on to meet an intern from our label at the Seahorse bar along the coast. It was the first time he’d been given the company card and we basically strongarmed him into buying us big drinks with prawns in them. Then there was a forest fire warning and the whole place had the lights turned off and we had to leave.
The Flying Beaver (Vancouver Airport, Canada)
This one was a bit unexpected. We were waiting for a little biplane to take us over to Victoria to play a festival there. I’ve seen airport bars. They’re terrible, but this one was amazing at the little domestic terminal you fly right out into the islands from. Beautiful wooden bar, but the best bit was all the planes landing in procession on the water about 50 meters from the smoking area. Ben is terrified of flying so really overcooked it on craft ales, made the turbulence much worse for him.
Super Marios (Lisbon, Portugal)
Not really a bar but if you order food, they will serve you drinks in exchange for euros. We had the biggest fish dinner I’ve ever had here before Mario himself came out and chatted about music with us. Right at the top of the steps. Just go, it’s great.
Cafe de Zaak (Utrecht, Netherlands)
I think I felt famous for the first time in my life in this bar. We’d played a show somewhere in the city and headed out for a drink after. Guy behind the bar told me I looked quite a lot like “Alex Rice from Sports Team.” When I revealed I was, in fact, Alex Rice from Sports Team, he closed the bar and initiated one of the most grotesque lock-ins I’ve ever experienced. The Dutch have got this beautiful way with words where they’ll say things like, “That was a really great set… for you guys” and “Yeah the sound could definitely have been worse I think.” So you can usually get an honest take on stuff. I reckon it’s something to do with Protestantism, but the Dutch and English have got the same sense of humor about stuff. One day we will go back and play their King’s Day celebrations.
The Halfway House (Brenchley, U.K.)
This is our bassist Oli’s local. It’s in a little village in Kent, the county they call “The Garden of England.” It’s perfect. All the ales are local and absolutely horrible. I think enjoying their taste like the locals is one of the last things to really aspire to in drinking. People consider us too young to drink there. They have a beer festival every year in the enormous garden. I seem to remember a story about someone in there who always wanted the last pint of the day and because it always had time to sit in the really old pipes they got lead poisoning or something. Anyway, worth a visit if you’re driving through Kent. Sure you’d be alright to stay at Oli’s too.
Victoria Pub (Bergen, Norway)
Our last album was the first time we really got to have a residential recording experience. We spent a month in Bergen, the “Gateway to the Fjords” with Matias Tellez. This was where we headed most nights. It was in an old offal restaurant. I kept trying to order it from this menu that I think was just for show. That was perfect for me really. I got to feel like Bourdain without actually having to pretend to enjoy offal. Anyway, that was the best bar—in Bergen.
The Essentials is a thematic annotated list where artists share their top 10 non-music-related (but potentially music-adjacent) items.
