Nashville singer-songwriter Sophie Allison has been zipping through the country on a headline tour that included her first Los Angeles headline stop Tuesday night at The Echo. Though the air conditioning seemed to be broken, Allison was excited to bring her brainchild Soccer Mommy to the warm West Coast.
Soccer Mommy’s angsty tunes landed her on a lot of Best of SXSW lists (and our must-see SXSW preview list) as well as a feature profile on Rolling Stone as an Artist You Need To Know. Her songwriting is of a level that suggests she’s older than her 20 years. Her debut studio full-length record Clean dropped at the beginning of March and is an insightful listen from front to back and the audience at The Echo was attentive, even as they had to wipe the sweat from their brow regularly amongst the packed house.
A handful of songs into the set, lead single “Your Dog” drew the biggest excitement. “I don’t want to be your fucking dog / That you drag around,” Allison sings in the opening verse of the song about being in an abusive relationship. Her conversational-singing style is a bit relaxed Courtney Barnett meets David Bazan and elevates the storytelling in a unique way. The song “Flaw” is a great example of this and the song had the crowd following along her crystal-clear vocals. “Last Girl” is one of the heavier and more uptempo guitar jams she played.
Allison told a story between songs about driving from Minneapolis to Spokane and having to call AAA because there was ice on the roads, and the frustration that came with that experience. It put into perspective how unglamorous things can sometimes be for musicians trying to make things happen.
Soccer Mommy’s cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” was great, and it followed “Cool”, one of the more recent singles from the record which just came out with a video that Allison talked up. The hour-long set seemed to just breeze by, though I also had found a spot by a fan in the back that probably helped.
It was just announced Soccer Mommy will be opening for certain dates on Paramore‘s upcoming tour, though unfortunately not the Los Angeles date at The Forum. She’s also an opening act for Liz Phair on her upcoming tour, though not in Los Angeles either. Check out her full tour dates below the photo gallery.
I caught about half of opening act Madeline Kenney‘s set and really enjoyed what I heard. I was previously unfamiliar with the singer-songwriter and found out she’s from Oakland, pretty close to where I grew up. I’ve been listening to her debut album from last year Night Night At The First Landing while writing this review and it’s stellar. Soulful Los Angeles singer Hana Vu opened up the show.
Photos by Danielle Gornbein
Soccer Mommy — 2018 Tour Dates
4/13/18 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Jr. *
4/14/18 – San Antonio, TX @ 502 Bar *
4/15/18 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links *
4/26/18 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe $
4/27/18 – Lansing, MI @ The Pike Room at The Crofoot $
4/28/18 – Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall at Great Hall $
4/29/18 – Montreal, QC @ Quai Des Brumes $
5/1/18 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott $
5/2/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (main room)
5/3/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
5/4/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade NYC
5/5/18 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
5/7/18 – Norfolk, VA @ Charlie’s American Cafe %
5/8/18 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook %
5/9/18 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade %
5/17-18/18 – Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
5/27/18 – George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
6/2-3/18 – Bay CIty, MI @ Riverscene Indie Music Festival
6/4/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club #
6/6/18 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair #
6/7/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust #
6/9/18 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle #
6/12/18 – St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre $
6/14/18 – Simpsonville, SC @ Heritage Park Amphitheatre $
6/15/18 – Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheater $
6/17/18 – Syracuse, NY @ Lakeview Amphitheater $
6/18/18 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage $
6/20/18 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion $
6/21/18 – Bangor, ME @ Darlings Waterfront Pavilion $
6/23/18 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion $
6/24/18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing $
6/26/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center $
6/28/18 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live! $
6/29/18 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre $
7/1/18 – Indianpolis, IN @ Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park $
7/7/18 – Des Moines, IA @ 80/35 Music Festival
7/8/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
7/22/18 – Wooyung, AUS @ Splendour In The Grass
8/31/18 – Scotland, UK @ Electric Fields Festival
8/30 – 9/1/18 Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
9/4/18 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
9/5/18 – Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute
9/7/18 – Dublin, Ireland @ Grand Social
9/8/18 – Liverpool, UK @ The Shipping Forecast
9/10/18 – Nottingham, UK @ Bodega
9/11/18 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
9/13/18 – London, UK @ Scala
9/14/18 – Gent, Belgium @ Dok
9/17/18 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Oceanen
9/18/18 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Melodybox
9/19/18 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Ideal Bar at Vega
* with Madeline Kenney
# with Liz Phair
$ with Long Beard
% with Speedy Ortiz
$ with Paramore
