{"id":34650,"date":"2022-11-12T19:50:34","date_gmt":"2022-11-13T00:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=34650"},"modified":"2022-11-12T19:50:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T00:50:34","slug":"review-soccer-mommy-house-of-blues-11-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2022\/11\/12\/review-soccer-mommy-house-of-blues-11-6\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: SOCCER MOMMY @ HOUSE OF BLUES 11\/6"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aranya Mukerji\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The energy outside Boston\u2019s House of Blues was electric as crowds of fans lined up on November 6th to see Indie rock singer\/songwriter Soccer Mommy on tour following the release of her latest album, \u201cSometimes, Forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rows of stompers and black combat boots covered the streets of Fenway as fans\u00a0enjoyed the unusually warm November evening, the sky illuminated by the full moon. \u201cThe weather is perfect. We have been waiting for two hours now, but it’s totally worth it for a spot close to the stage,\u201d said Valentina, a fan waiting in line. \u201cThe new album sounds kind of haunted in the best way, the perfect show for the lunar eclipse and Scorpio season,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The album \u201cSometimes, Forever,\u201d produced by electronic sound designer, Daniel Lopatin, transitions away from the melancholy and soft rock of Soccer Mommy\u2019s 2020 album \u201cColor Theory\u201d and moves into a more raw, experimental body of work. The studio album plays with Soccer Mommy\u2019s clever lyricism and Lopatin’s signature atmospheric, IDM-inspired production. Going into the concert, I was particularly curious to see how these electronic, soft grunge mixes would play out in a live music setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The show started at 8:03 p.m. with opener Lightning Bug – a New York-based rock band- setting the pace with some light shoegaze interpolated with powerful guitar solos and haunting vocals. Vocalist Audry Kang kicked off the performance with the mellow, yet inquisitive opener to the<\/span><\/p>\n

band\u2019s 2021 studio full-length project, \u201cThe Color of the Sky.\u201d The music switched from slowcore to psychedelic rock during songs like \u201cThe Return\u201d as the lead guitarist and drummer worked to juxtapose Kang\u2019s vocals with deep baselines and groovy snares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Halfway through the opening act, Lightning Bug announced that this would be their last performance on Soccer Mommy\u2019s America tour. \u201cI’m starting to lose my voice,\u201d said Kang mid-performance, laughing. As the U.S. leg of Soccer Mommy\u2019s tour draws to an end, a decline in energy was visible in Lightning Bug\u2019s performance as songs like \u201cThe Right Thing Is Hard To Do\u201d didn’t quite carry the same powerful delivery as the studio version, with the lyrics often drowned out by the instrumentals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shortly after an intermission of CharlieXCX and an Avril Lavigne sing-along that revived the crowd, Soccer Mommy took the stage. Appearing from a cloud of ultramarine smoke, she and her band got right into the music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first two songs were played in the order of the studio album tracklist. \u201cBones\u201d revisits some of the soft rock on her previous record with punchier drums and an instrumental segment at the end. The futuristic \u201cWith U\u201d is played next, where Daniel Lopatin\u2019s influence is seen heavily in the spacy, textured production. Rodrigo -who was on keys- replicated that energy through captivating synths coupled with a kaleidoscope of shifting patterns built into the set design.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Just after the performance of \u201cWith U,\u201d she introduced her band and dove straight into playing \u201cCircle the Drain,\u201d followed by \u201cShotgun,\u201d two of her most popular songs. I thought the live instrumentals gave the otherwise mellow \u201cCircle the Drain\u201d a new sense of energy, while \u201cShotgun\u2019s\u201d witty lyricism and catchy beat had the entire crowd singing along.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Soccer Mommy only addressed the crowd a few times throughout the show, her stage presence was definitely felt. Towards the end of the set, she gestured to a fan in the lower mezzanine holding a sign that read \u201cI need Scorpio Rising\u201d and said \u201cthis one\u2019s for you,\u201d as she played the song, a tribute to her birth chart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The show was set to end at 10:45 with \u201cYellow is the Color of her Eyes,\u201d a heartbreaking soft-rock ballad from \u201cColor Theory.\u201d Soccer Mommy revisits the song in her live performance perhaps from a \u201cSometimes, Forever\u201d grunge lens with heavier drums and a stage-commanding guitar solo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Soccer Mommy and the band took their bow and exit only to be met with continuous cries for an encore. A few minutes later they returned to say \u201cWe came back because we love you,\u201d and performed \u201cDon’t ask me\u201d followed by \u201cYour Dog\u201d, a fan favorite and a scream-along. The closer brought the entire room together and ended the evening on a high note.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the show was paced slow at times and the hour-long intermission between sets stretched the evening thin, the performance, both from Soccer Mommy and her band was energetic, captivating and the perfect amount of spooky, fitting for the lunar eclipse.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aranya Mukerji\u00a0 The energy outside Boston\u2019s House of Blues was electric as crowds of fans lined up on November 6th to see Indie rock singer\/songwriter Soccer Mommy on tour following the release of her latest album, \u201cSometimes, Forever.\u201d\u00a0 Rows of stompers and black combat boots covered the streets of Fenway as fans\u00a0enjoyed the unusually […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20911,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34650"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34652,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34650\/revisions\/34652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}