A “loading” sign sat in the window of a three-story apartment complex across from Hancock Playground in Olde Kensington. Nearly an hour later, the sign was taken down, the window was opened, and the sounds of Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack” rang throughout the park.
Suddenly, 29-year-old Brian Ulrich’s voice took over the speakers as his band, Mid Sentence, prepared for its next show.
“How are we doing out there guys? Are we having a good night tonight? Let’s have some fun out there.”
This isn’t a typical gig for the band that consists of Ulrich; Jeff Ross, 32; Shawn Cox, 29; and Ian Stutzman, 25. They usually perform at spots like Ruba Club, Kung Fu Necktie, MilkBoy, Dawson Street Pub, and The Grape.
But ever since a series of clips showing the band commentating on local Heyday Athletic recreational adult kickball games went viral on social media, Ulrich’s apartment window has become a new stage for the band.
“We’re a Philly indie band, and I think the videos really draw our community together,” said Cox, the band’s lead guitarist. “And that’s a big part of the content as well. Aside from us wanting to tie our music into it, we definitely want to tie Philly into it as a whole.”
‘You have to be innovative’
Ulrich, the lead vocals and rhythm guitar of Mid Sentence, has lived across the street from the kickball field at Hancock Playground for over a year. And every night he could hear the games being played from his window.
So, one day, he decided to turn his speakers toward the field and commentate as Ross, the band’s bass player, recorded the action. And he immediately became a favorite among players.
As he played the end theme of SpongeBob SquarePants, one player began to dance. Meanwhile another player yelled out, “Where have you been all season?”
”It was really to promote the band’s music,” Ulrich said. “So we started posting it on our band’s page. And the idea was to be like making something funny that also included the music in it. So we try our hardest to make sure you’ve heard one of our songs every time we make one of the videos.”
The band didn’t post the first video until September, six months after they recorded the footage.
Since then, they’ve turned it into a series titled “How to annoy your local rec kickball league.” So far, there have been four parts, and throughout each clip, the band has kept the players entertained — playing classic 2000s hits along with their own music, playing iconic theme songs from Wii Sports, and heckling some players in the process.
“No, [we didn’t expect it to blow up],” Ulrich said. “It was supposed to be a joke. God’s honest truth. It was literally just throwing a bone and seeing if it hit. And the first one actually didn’t hit; the second one didn’t hit. They were doing well on TikTok but not Instagram. And then we hit the third video, and that’s the one that actually went viral and is why we’re speaking to you guys right now.”
The band has been together since 2023, starting as a cover band before making their own music. They met through Vampr, a Tinder-like networking app designed for musicians to connect. After three years together, they aim to keep growing.
But as the music industry continues to change, so does the way artists have to promote themselves.
“Nowadays, you have to be innovative,” Cox said. “Like, you have to be a content creator as well as being a great musician. It’s not mutually exclusive.”
‘It’s gotten more eyes on us’
Six months ago, 32-year-old Walter Bayer and his team, Poultry in Motion, waited patiently at Hancock Playground for their opponents to arrive. Unfortunately, they never did. So they decided to play among themselves with a special rule: Each player had to have a drink in their hand while playing.
Bayer, who has been part of Heyday for five years, was ready for a memorable night. But what he didn’t know was it was about to get even more special.
This was the first day Ulrich decided to commentate on the game. And remember that SpongeBob SquarePants dancer? That was Bayer.
“That was hilarious,” Bayer said. “They just out of nowhere started playing some music and doing the color commentary one night. And then six months later, I saw someone sent me the video of it and I was like, ‘Oh wait, that’s me dancing. That’s my team. Ok, cool.’ And now it’s blowing up. … But, yeah, they provide a little added entertainment. Especially if we’re losing, then it’s fun to have them kind of distracting us. So, big fans.”
Sarah Rabo has become a fan of Ulrich’s work. The 42-year-old Fishtown native, who has been part of the league for 16 years, believes you just need to be on the right side of the commentary when it comes to game time.
“It’s a little distracting but it’s also really funny,” said Rabo, who’s the captain of Balls World Order (which might get renamed to Le’Ball James next year). “But it sucks, especially when you’re playing badly. He’s like, ‘Oh, big miss in right field.’ It’s kind of embarrassing, but it’s fun. I think it does razz people a little bit. But if you’re doing good, then it makes you feel famous.”
Part 3 of the series has over 2 million views and 300,000 likes. Since the clips have taken off on social media, Heyday, the adult sports rec league, has gained more attention, too.
“It’s gotten more eyes on us, and it’s gotten more eyes on the band,” said Brian Wagner, the chief administrative officer of Heyday. “So, you know, local Philly band, we want to help them. We’re a local Philly company, and whatever helps them helps us, too. So it’s definitely gotten more eyes on us and maybe has gotten more people playing. That’s all positive. So we want to lean into that as much as we can and it’s been a great relationship with them so far.”
However, not everyone is a fan of the antics.
”About like three weeks ago, my neighbor came down, it was like 10 p.m., and I was literally on the guitar playing, and he goes, ‘Hey, could you close your window?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, sorry. Is it too loud?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, it’s really [expletive] loud,’” Ulrich said. “And then my face got really red, I closed the window, and that was the end of that night.”
Finding rhythm: content creation and making music
When it comes to their new social media fame, the band is still trying to find the balance between their kickball content and their music.
“Ultimately, we don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, these are the kickball guys,” said Stutzman, the band’s drummer. “Like, no. That’s Mid Sentence. So that’s what we’re aiming for. If this is what we have to do to get the attention drawn on us at first, then we’re happy to do what we can to keep the attention on us. But we’re also going to respect our band while doing it.”
The band recently released their debut album, Please Be There When I Come Home in July. It features songs written by Stutzman and Ulrich before the band was fully established.
“You listen to the album start to finish, and you kind of find yourself in a little bit of an emotional roller-coaster in a good way,” Stutzman said. “It’s got a lot of different tastes to it, and I think there’s a song for everybody.”
And with all the new attention on them, they’re headed back to the studio next month to record their next EP. But before that, they will be competing in the Local Noise battle of the lands on Thursday at Brooklyn Bowl and will play Aug. 20 at the Ruba Club.
However, Heyday and the band are open to working together in the future.
“We do social events; we do other types of events, too,” Wagner said. “So there’s probably some more things we can do with them. They’ve given us some creative ideas that I’m not going to ruin for anyone, but we’re all for it. It supports us, supports them. And anything fun and interesting we can do together, we will.”
