Immediately two days after performing her latest single “Driver (stripped)” on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Soccer Mommy (Sophie Allison) took to the stage of San Francisco’s beloved poster-filled venue, The Fillmore on February 28th, as one of the many artists involved in this year’s Noise Pop Festival.
San Francisco’s Noise Pop Industries is the “oldest indie music and arts event promoter in Bay Area” and celebrated its thirty-second anniversary this year with a two-week festival that included stellar artists such as American Football, Chatpile (who I also had the chance to see), and even an orchestral performance for the late and great David Lynch. Amongst those artists, was headliner Soccer Mommy whose popularity spiked in recent years. With nearly one million listeners on Spotify, two consecutive sold-out shows at the Fillmore, and a television performance, Allison is gaining more and more traction- and rightfully so!
Opening for Soccer Mommy was Hana Vu, an alternative/indie DIY singer-songwriter. Vu, accompanied by her three bandmates, performed a 45-minute atmospheric set comprised of expressive drums, duetting guitars, and Vu’s reverberant voice. Between songs, Vu held lively conversations with the audience; in one interaction, she mentioned that she was actually born in the Bay, but now resides in Los Angeles. Like Soccer Mommy, Hana Vu also released her album Romanticism, last year, and her latest EP Movies dropped two days prior to her Fillmore performance, (Soccer Mommy’s “Driver (stripped)” released one day after Vu’s). How’s that for the Bay getting first dibs on these live performances?
Around nine o’clock, Soccer Mommy entered the floral-covered stage. The band started with “Circle the Drain,” a single on the slower and steadier side showcasing Allison’s vocals and acoustic guitar. The band then transitioned into their single “Driver.” Unlike their acoustic and unplugged television performance, Soccer Mommy indulged in their fuzz pedals for their Fillmore performance. Allison’s delicate vocals against the cutting of the guitars created an intricate yet balanced dynamic; a transaction shared between the contrast of instrumentals and voice. Though we did not get the recent rendition of “Driver (stripped),” what we received was an impressive and rather new side of Soccer Mommy. Perhaps we can anticipate the band experimenting with a more distorted and over-compressed sound in the future. Whether or not this is the direction of Soccer Mommy, one thing is for sure: never have any of their songs elicited such a strong chain reaction of head-banging before this.
The band finished with “Your Dog,” the single that pushed Soccer Mommy into the spotlight of the indie-rock/indie-pop hemisphere. It is as if this song was the catalyst in directing the band’s success as an up-and-coming, independent artist. Despite their rise in popularity, Allison seems to stick to her intimate and conversational style both in and out of the venue. Her lyricism is incredibly earnest and sincere, and her onstage presence mirrors that. Towards the end of their set, Allison asked the crowd, “Who’s coming to the show tomorrow?” To no avail, maybe three hands were raised, and her response was “That’s okay, this show is going to be the better one anyways!” I am not too sure which show actually ended up being better, but her certainty and humbleness made the performance all the more endearing.
Review by Makayla Hernandez, photography by Vienna Gaspar
