Soccer Mommy and her Fall 2021 tour of North America rolled through New York to play at Brooklyn Steel, and I sure do feel fortunate that this was the first show I got to cover during my temporary stay in NYC.
Kicking things off was Squirrel Flower, who was tapped to support the first half of the tour, opened things off to perform many of the songs that make up her 2021 album released under Polyvinyl Records, Planet (i). The chill vibes Squirrel Flower delivered with renditions of “Flames and Fat Tires” and her cover of Caroline Polachek’s “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” fit right in with what you expect to observe at a Soccer Mommy show.
The biggest moment came with set-closer “Hurt A Fly,” for which Squirrel Flower and her live band upped the tempo from the original and giving us a livelier version. The bass was thick and sludgy and the contrast between that and the delicate singing we heard throughout the set finally having a lot more weight now, was made better when the band built the momentum to its highest peak, and then dashed straight down to that familiar calmness for the last lines of the track.
Finally able to tour in support of 2020’s Color Theory, Soccer Mommy’s headline set stage was flanked by cardboard cutouts in the shape of old tube TV sets with the “screens” displaying alternate sets of colors. When she finally appeared, the artist also known as Sophie Alison came out to some heavy music donning an all-black outfit and wearing a cape which made the crowd yell from the excitement.
There was definitely a sense of fans not knowing how to act at concerts anymore now that shows finally came back after a long, pandemic-induced hiatus. The milder incidents included the guy that loudly screamed “Oh fuck!” while everyone else was calm and collected (and most importantly, silent), as well as another fan that waited for things to cool down after the band first took the stage to share “I love your cape!” The more aggressive moments consisted of when someone randomly said “Don’t mess up,” to which a surprised Allison jokingly responded with “oh, I’m gonna fuck up.” Four songs into the set, when Soccer Mommy was simply thanking everyone for coming out, someone in the audience chimed in with “what about Squirrel Flower?” which also left her confused and prompted her to answer with “I was going to say that… give it up for Squirrel Flower.”
Ultimately, none of that mattered, as Soccer Mommy went on to rock the house and left everyone with a positive impression by delivering more powerful and vibrant performances of her typically chill songs. The first instance of this approach was with “Last Girl,” which punched-up the vocal delivery to match the lively energy from the drummer, and the crowd was sending those vibes right back. If I had to pick my favorite performance of the night (and I couldn’t pick the fan favorite “Your Dog”), it would be the New Wave stylings of “crawling in my skin.” The tune was a lot more dance-y thanks to the glistening guitar work (the lead guitar in particular) and the injection of more Electronic elements thanks to use of the keys treatment, while the mic having a grungy bounce was the icing on the cake. Not even halfway in, I took off my earplugs just so that I can take in the sound in a cleaner way and just enjoy the jamming.
A little bit of @sopharela covering Slowdive’s “Dagger” pic.twitter.com/0tM9ZOoMCd
— Oscar Oliva Jr (@oscarolivajr) September 22, 2021
Another memorable moment came when Soccer Mommy was alone on stage. She shared a story about her early days playing in NY and how Squirrel Flower felt like Allison must be keeping everyone in her band on a “short lease” because of how well they used this part of the set to take a bathroom break and quickly return just in time to join her on stage. One of the solo tracks that stood out was “still clean,” which was the first time I could hear the audience singing along, as well as the emotive cover of Slowdive’s “Dagger.”
The final act consisted of “yellow is the color of her eyes” as the unofficial set closer, followed by her biggest songs “Your Dog” and “Scorpio Rising” capping the show as the encore. These three songs are what best captured this updated vision for what Soccer Mommy is bringing to her set as part of this tour. During “yellow is the color of her eyes” we got to feel the thunderous drums and saw Soccer Mommy wailing on the guitar and headbanging like a classic rockstar. “Your Dog” was dedicated to “the cutest husky” she saw one time while having dinner, but the performance saw her and her band flex their muscles with the kind of passion they demonstrated throughout the track.
I couldn’t have asked for a better show to check out, and this was quite a way to return to live concerts after I waited for 1.5 years for this. Thank you, Soccer Mommy. The second half of her tour starts on October 21 in Houston and will end on November 9 in St. Louis, and if she’s scheduled to play a show in those cities or any of the rest in between, I recommend you be there.
Photo Credit: Oscar Oliva Jr / Pursuit Of Dopeness
