On January 25th, a cold Saturday night in Philadelphia, Soccer Mommy and L’Rain played at Union Transfer. Opener L’Rain, from Brooklyn, New York City, who was on tour with Soccer Mommy, opened up the show with an experimental and stunning mix of soul, pop, psychedelia, R&B and jazz, defying genre at points. Her most recent album was ‘I Killed Your Dog’ (2023) on the label Mexican Summer.
After L’Rain, Soccer Mommy and her band took the stage. She opened the show with the sunnier pop song Abigail from her newest album, “Evergreen”, which came out in October 2024. The new album has strong songwriting as well as her extensive back catalog, with heavier moments than previous records. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Soccer Mommy (Sophia Allison) has been releasing music since about 2015, as a freshman in college. The lighting was purple and blue as Allison sang, with fake flowers adorning the stage. The majority of her set was songs from this new album, about 8 out of 15 of the songs. She played a smattering of songs from her 3 previous records, Color Theory (2020), Sometimes, Forever (2022), and Clean (2018). The audience seemed to be mostly younger. Allison said she was always happy to play in Philly and at Union Transfer in particular. As she was closing the show, the final song they played before the encore was the iconic ‘Your Dog’, about wanting freedom from a controlling relationship. They all came back for an encore and played ‘Changes’ from Evergreen and ‘Don’t Ask Me’, from Sometimes, Forever. The vibes of this show were warm and inviting, Allison’s soft and pretty voice resonating throughout the historic room of the venue, and her backing band was on tight and on point.
