The Home Team Makes it Loud in Cleveland
BY ANNA PORCELLAAfter laying their roots in pop punk with a string of EPs beginning in 2015 and their debut album Better Off in 2018, The Home Team slowly began carving out a space for themselves in the alternative scene. With the release of their second full length album, Better Off, in 2021, the four-piece band hit a turning point, finding their signature sounds and self-proclaiming themselves “heavy pop.” Upon the release of their third full length album The Crucible of Life in 2024, the band has truly hit their stride, embarking on their biggest tours and their largest rooms yet. Since the album’s release last summer, the band has consistently been on the road as both support and headliner, in both the US and overseas. To round out this era, The Home Team has returned back to the US for a nearly completely sold out fall headlining tour. Armed with support from Makari and Arrows in Action, the tour arrived to a snowy Cleveland and a sold out House of Blues on the eve of Thanksgiving.
The Home Team, consisting of Brian Butcher (vocals), Ryne Olson (bass), John Baran (guitar), and Daniel Matson (drums), is well-known for their energetic performances. With new tracks like “Loud” and “Turn You Off” exemplifying the heavy pop sound, it is all too easy to dance, to mosh, or to jump along to the set - the floor was shaking the entire night. The energy is infectious, the band wearing huge smiles, and even throwing in a mini choreography moment during “Brag.” The Home Team also added an interactive feature to their set: preceding it a QR code was displayed on stage, allowing the audience to vote for a song they wanted to hear that night. Cleveland’s pick was “Slow Bloom,” the title track of their sophomore album.
Having been in the scene for nearly ten years, The Home Team has spent years honing their sound and their performances. Always outspoken and uplifting, The Home Team uses their set to highlight one of the strongest foundations of the alternative scene: community. Both of the opening acts are highlighted during The Home Team’s set: Arrows in Action guitarist Matthew Fowler provided a solo during “Rat Queen,” vocalist Andy Cizek of Makari performed Ollie Baxxter of Broadside’s featured verse in “Somebody Else’s Face,” and Arrows in Action vocalist Victor Viramontes-Pattison joined the stage for “All Squeezed Out.” Butcher had plenty of praise for the opening bands as friends and fellow musicians, taking a moment to reminisce on their history of touring together “in much smaller rooms than this one . . . we’ve come a long way.”
The tour comes on the heels of the release of the deluxe edition of The Crucible of Life, which includes new song and set closer “Worthy,” a track that Butcher calls their favorite they’ve ever worked on. The Home Team continues to pick up speed with no sign of slowing down, each new release rising to greater heights than before.
