Soccer Mommy Gets Down to the Bones at The Blue Room

“Usually when I write songs, I wait a year to record them and then wait another year to play them for anybody,” indie-rock sensation Soccer Mommy told a packed house at The Blue Room at Third Man Records Sunday night. “I'm so glad I can be here to do that for you tonight.”

Earlier in the evening, the intimate venue was abuzz with excitement and nearly filled to capacity long before the show began at 8 p.m. This homecoming gig for songsmith and project principal Sophie Allison, ahead of a summer tour in the U.K. and Europe, was the last of a short run of solo performances dubbed The Lost Shows. Fans were eager and energized to soak in the promised mix of nostalgic favorites, rarities and sneak peeks of new material. Recently, Allison hinted that her next album might return to a more intimate, stripped-down sound — what better way is there to give us a preview? 

The night began with a bang — or rather, a sweet, melancholy strum — as Bats took the stage. The musical alter ego of Allison’s fellow Nashvillian Jess Awh (who also played solo) exuded a quiet confidence as she tuned her guitar with a shy smile. She introduced herself to the audience and opened with a combo of “Spinnerbait” and “Golden Spoon,” both from her second LP Blue Cabinet. It was like listening to a secret diary entry set to music — raw, intimate and relatable. She followed with “Life Is Amazing,” an anguished and as-yet-unreleased piece about struggling with alcoholism. The tune showed her lyrical depth and emotional transparency with a sound reminiscent of Angel Olsen or Phoebe Bridgers. It was the kind of soul-baring performance that made you want to hug your best friend and tell them, “It’s going to be OK.”

Awh invited her drummer James Goodwin to join her for “Going for Oysters,” which opens her latest release Good Game Baby. The song, like the rest of the album, expertly blends traditional country vibes with an indie twist. During “Are You Like Me?,” a tear rolled down her cheek midsong, as she sang, “I wish I was something / More understandable / Softer and safer to hold.” 

“I’m really nervous right now if you couldn’t tell,” she said with an anxious laugh. “I’m surprised I haven’t messed up more than that.”

Her candidness was refreshing, and made her performance all the more endearing. The whole set was powerful, but the undeniable highlight was “Blind Confusion,” the closer from 2020’s There’s a River Up High, which she whispered softly over a backing track of white noise. With an excited mention of post-show cheeseburgers with a friend, Awh departed the stage, leaving a lingering sense of bittersweet beauty and vulnerability.

After a quick intermission, the moment everyone was waiting for arrived, as Allison stepped onstage bathed in purple light — from her eyeshadow to her guitars, it’s clear she has a thing for the color. She took command of the crowd immediately with “Circle the Drain” from her 2020 album Color Theory. The song is a prime example of her masterful blend of New Wave and bedroom-pop elements and her knack for navigating intense emotional territory with sweet melodies. The recorded versions of her songs (and most live performances) are enhanced by atmospheric post-rock rhythm tracks and haunting synths; Sunday, she presented them in their rawest form with only her guitar and an occasional ambient loop accompanying her voice.

“We remember!” a fan shouted as Allison reminisced about her early days while introducing “Bloodstream.” Between songs, Allison shared her recent misadventures with a broken-down car in CMA Fest traffic and lost luggage — reminders that even indie stars who tour the globe have to schlep themselves and their stuff from place to place like the rest of us.

The set list was a perfect, seamless blend of old and new Soccer Mommy. Her latest single “Lost,” which hit streaming services June 6, looks wistfully from the long shadow of grief: “I've got a way / Of keeping her with me where I go / But how she feels / I'll never know / It's lost to me.” That song stood comfortably next to “3 a.m. at a Party” and “Henry” from 2016’s For Young Hearts and “Your Dog,” which appears on 2018’s Clean and was clearly a crowd favorite, with practically the entire audience singing along. When someone shouted for a song from her earliest release, her 2015 EP Songs From My Bedroom, Allison laughed and said: “I don’t actually remember any of those. They’re, like, a decade old!”

More highlights ensued: the moody “Royal Screw Up” and more unreleased songs like “Driver” (not to be confused with her cover of The Cars’ “Drive”), “Thinking of You” and the cheeky “Abigail,” a tribute to Allison’s “main wife” in Stardew Valley. “When I’m not touring, I’m either playing Stardew Valley or bingeing Pretty Little Liars,” she said.

After “Still Clean,” the crowd demanded more. For the encore, Allison busted out her cover of The Boss’ “I’m on Fire” — coincidentally, the 40th anniversary of Born in the U.S.A. just passed on June 4  — and invited us to sing along. As we filed out, that special electrical crackle seemed to linger in the air; a full-band Soccer Mommy show is a fantastic experience, but it’s rare that Allison has time for solo shows. This was something extra special that’s going to be with everyone in attendance for a long time to come.