SOCCER MOMMY + FRANCIS OF DELIRIUM – CHALK, BRIGHTON 1.9.22
Thursday night at Chalk courtesy of local promoters Love Thy Neighbour saw singer- songwriter Sophie Allison, better known by her stage name Soccer Mommy, and her band play the second night of their UK tour to promote the new album ‘Sometimes, Forever’.
Sophie Allison began posting home-recorded songs to Bandcamp as Soccer Mommy back in 2015. Today, three studio albums later, ‘Clean’, ‘Color Theory’ and ‘Sometimes, Forever’, she’s widely recognised as one of the leading indie rock singer-songwriters.
There was a sense of anticipation in the fairly packed crowd waiting for Soccer Mommy. When the band came on stage to an electronic almost dance intro, I knew this wasn’t going to be the usual singer-songwriter set up.
Sophie was joined on stage by four band members, a drummer, bassist and two guitarists, one of whom, Rodrigo Avendano, doubled up as keyboard player. The focus is rightly on Sophie, but her band were very tight and deserve a mention.
Soccer Mommy’s set was very varied with styles ranging from an acoustic performance of ‘Still’ to grunge rock. They opened with the dreamy intro of ‘Without U’ from their latest album; while other songs had a more menacing feel such as ‘Unholy Affliction’ and ‘Darkness Forever’. Others like ‘Lucy’ were almost pop. Yet even with all these styles it was a very coherent performance, not a mismatch of musical genres. The way many songs built from almost delicate numbers towards a wall of sound was very impressive.
The variety of styles could be explained by the diverse musicians Sophie cites as her influences such as Mitski, Slowdive, the Chicks, Taylor Swift and Avril Lavigne as well as the music scenes in Nashville and New York.
For the penultimate song of the main set, the rest of the band left the stage, leaving Sophie to perform ‘Still’ solo. This showcased yet another side of Sophie’s vocal repertoire. Her band members returned to raise the tempo on ‘Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes’.
The encore included another track from the new ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album, ‘Don’t Ask Me’, with old favourite ‘Your Dog’ from the debut album ‘Clean’ as the finale.
Judging by the crowd at Chalk, Soccer Mommy appeals to a wide age range. From their reaction to Thursday night’s performance, Soccer Mommy also has a very enthusiastic fan base. After seeing Soccer Mommy live, I’d count myself as a fan.
Soccer Mommy setlist:
‘With U’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Shotgun’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Circle The Drain’ (from 2020 ‘Color Theory (Selected Demos)’ EP)
‘Bones’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Unholy Affliction’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Darkness Forever’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Lucy’ (from 2020 ‘Color Theory’ album)
‘Crawling In My Skin’ (from 2020 ‘Color Theory’ album)
‘Feel It All The Time’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Newdemo’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Still’ (solo acoustic) (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Yellow Is The Color Of Her Eyes’ (from 2020 ‘Color Theory’ album)
(encore)
‘Don’t Ask Me’ (from 2022 ‘Sometimes, Forever’ album)
‘Your Dog’ (from 2018 ‘Clean’ album)
Find more about Soccer Mommy HERE and check her out on Bandcamp HERE and if you wish to read the Brighton & Hove News Music Team Soccer Mommy Brighton concert report from back in 2018, then click HERE.
To use a football cliché, Thursday at Chalk was a gig of two very good halves. The support act Francis Of Delirium, from Luxembourg, were very impressive. A rock/grunge band, who had that loud quiet style of The Pixies. The vocalist, 19-year-old Jana Bahrich, handled both the loud rock parts and the quieter parts with ease.
Their half-hour set was varied with an atmospheric song such as ‘Circles’ sitting comfortably alongside the rockier tracks. For final song of the set ‘Quit F*cking Around’, the audience enthusiastically joined in on the chorus, after Jana led a practice session before performing the song.
Francis of Delirium are a band I’d definitely see again. From the audience’s reaction, I won’t be the only one. The band postponed their own tour to support Soccer Mommy. Their rearranged tour sees them return to Brighton to play The Prince Albert on Wednesday 25th January next year. One to look out for in the New Year. Purchase your concert tickets HERE. Overall, a great night’s entertainment with two bands delivering quality, passion and variety in their performances.
Francis of Delirium are:
Jana Bahrich – vocals and guitar
Chris Hewett – drums
Jeff Hennico – bass
Francis Of Delirium setlist:
‘The Funhouse’ (from 2022 ‘The Funhouse’ EP)
‘Red’ (from 2021 ‘Wading’ EP)
‘Circles’ (from 2021 ‘All Change’ EP)
‘Let It All Go’ (from 2021 ‘Wading’ EP)
‘I Think I’m Losing’ (from 2021 ‘Wading’ EP)
‘Ashamed’ (from 2021 ‘All Change’ EP)
‘Quit F*cking Around’ (from 2021 ‘All Change’ EP)
Check out their Bandcamp page HERE and also visit francisofdelirium.com
