It’s a Fillmore show so the most important question on everyone’s mind is surely whether there would still be apples. The answer was yes but not red delicious. Some sort of fuji or gravenstein perhaps. Also new was that someone selected and handed me my apple because of COVID. I guess their job could be considered apple picker.
Only 2 names on this bill, and the first was alexalone.
alexalone are fronted by a guy named Alex, natch. His last name is Peterson. They only have 2,000 followers on Instagram, so here’s your chance to get in on them before all your friends do.
The five-piece took the stage at 945. They were equal parts REM, early Rilo Kiley, and Dinosaur Jr.
The crowd liked them. Halfway through their 40-minute set, they thanked two guys named Seth and Andy, whom they finally got to meet in person today. Peterson successfully got the crowd to chant their names in appreciation. In other words, Alex was not alone.
They began with a long instrumental and ended with a song that had a several-minute bridge, longer than the San Mateo Bridge, but somehow they were not self-indulgent. Despite four guitars there was no wanking at all. alexalone could practice in my neighbor’s garage anytime.
You can’t help but think this band doesn’t just play good music but also are nice people in general. I would see them again.
The crowd was half full at the beginning of their set, but closer to three quarters by the end.
So what of the masks and enforcement? It reminds me of 1998, the first year smoking was not allowed indoors at shows in California. There would be signs about the ban, but midsize venues were not incentivized to do anything about it until they started getting fined. I don’t see any foofaraw happening this time around so I would recommend getting your booster and hoping for the best.
After a 25 minute break, Soccer Mommy took the stage with four others. Sophia Regina Allison, as her parents perhaps call her, showed tremendous focus as she got into “Bloodstream” and “Circle the Drain.” The crowd, now nearly filling the Fillmore, did their part in singing along.
Soccer Mommy cares a lot about masks and thanked us for following the local guidelines. She judged us to be at a high level of compliance, leaving one to wonder whether other tour stops had been more problematic.
The audience went wild for “Henry,” a track from her debut “For Young Hearts,” which quickly set up the then-19-year-old for success.
She followed up with “Crawling in My Skin,” a personal favorite from “Color Theory.” This track really complemented the opening act, with its relatively long instrumental intro and well-formulated bridge, even if it were more like the Benicia Bridge by comparison.
Soccer Mommy’s stage presence is quite developed when she wants it to be. For example, when she introduced the band, she preceded it with some shit-talking about last night’s crowd, which was in Los Angeles so OF COURSE WE HATE THEM. It was a great way to get us to cheer for her stage partners. Nicely done.
She then launched into “Cool,” which many tour stops did not get, so it was quite the treat. Everybody seemed to appreciate it, as the dancing reached a peak. How did I know? I’ll tell you.
A personal thing I do in today’s world is move around a lot. You can stand near someone with COVID for a few minutes and probably be fine. An hour? Less safe. But what this did was give me the context of different parts of the crowd. The front, near the photo pit; the side, near the bar; the back, near the sound person—everyone seemed to just be happy to be there. Or maybe Soccer Mommy just attracts this type of crowd.
Anyway, this show had many costumed attendees, and Soccer Mommy asked us whether it was officially Halloween yet, before introducing a song about the devil, appropriately enough. “Lucy” never sounded so good.
Soccer Mommy then playfully kicked her band off the stage and played a couple of songs solo: “Still Clean” and the Slowdive song “Dagger.”
The set clocked in at about 80 minutes with encore, and one can’t help but wonder what venue in a post-COVID world could contain her. I think we’re talking Warfield, maybe in 2023? The sky really is the limit.
