When listening to The Stanfields’ new live album, Welcome to the Ball, I’m transported back to a time that feels like a distant memory. If I close my eyes, I can visualize a packed, sweaty dive bar full of drunken strangers speaking moistly. The floor is sticky.
If this were an actual live show, I would be downing a $3.25 pint of beer as the band opens with “Blacktop Blues.” This sets the tone for the rest of the album; fast, energetic, pounding drums, blaring guitar. This is party music through and through, with vocalist Jon Landry’s hoarse voice shouting lyrics that are so stereotypically East Coast that they almost border on parody.
“Since Covid-19 has effectively made it impossible for us to play live shows safely and on our own terms, we thought that the time was right to release a live album. Luckily, we had this performance in the can. It’s fun to see how much the songs have evolved over the years, although it’s been a stark reminder to us of how much we miss our natural habitat,” says Landry.
As the record goes on, it becomes clear that The Stanfields are an act that is best experienced in person. The songs on Welcome to the Ballroom are fine songs and consistently high energy, but when listening alone without the inebriated camaraderie of a festival or bar it begins to feel a little repetitive. The Stanfields are definitely a band that has found a formula for success, and they make sure to stick to it.
That’s why the strangest part of the album is the final track, “Welcome to the Ball,” which is the only track recorded in-studio.
“Welcome to the Ball” is an anthemic ’80s New-Wave song; the shredding fiddle and distorted guitars replaced with triggered MIDI handclaps and synths that sound straight out of “The Final Countdown.” Landry sounds like a completely different singer on this track; channeling his inner Springsteen during the first half of the song before doing his best Vince Neil impression during the last verse. The song ends with prominent synths and “woahs” that sound like I accidentally put on a ten-year-old iPod commercial featuring that one Neon Trees song everyone knows.
While there’s nothing wrong or sonically offensive with “Welcome to the Ball,” it sounds like it was written solely as a theme song to use in promotional material for the band’s annual Blacktop Ball festival where the live tracks were recorded in 2019. It’s not at all indicative of the raw sound of the band’s live show presented on the album, so it’s a strange choice to have this as the title track.
“Welcome to the Ball” is available for download on The Stanfields’ website along with twelve identically designed “Welcome to the Ball” shirts.