Liverpool Sound and Vision Ration * * * *
It was arguably one of those nights in which it didn’t matter who the support act was, who broke the ice at the debut performance of Kacey Musgrave in Liverpool, the audience, understandably, could be seen to feel the rising tension of the long-awaited appearance of the Country superstar in their midst.
It was a palpable feeling, a strange and ultimately awkward one that many might have struggled to control, like a conductor of a renown orchestra sensing that two violinists of equal stature were vying for the emotional top billing in a crowd that had come out in force to feel the effects of the symbolic wave of baton. It was up to the individual spirit to take on the stroke of partisan and to Soccer Mommy’s absolute credit, Sophie Allison and her band performed with honour, grace and the smile of a long lost love in their hearts.
Someone else’s expectant crowd is a hard one to win over, it is a wall of possibility that refuses to install grip points, in which no ladder can be found to aid the journey, and yet with teamwork and with all senses firing, the wall is not only scaled, the way is made easier for others to follow.
It was a wall ascended with gracious lyrics and a sound that typified the old school charm of Country before it was commercialised and in many cases allowed to be eaten, devoured, satirised by those who didn’t care about the rich history that saw it rival Blues and Jazz as America’s go to genre, those who only wanted the hits, those who saw it as a fad, as a fashionable item to wear round their necks and point to it as one would now make clear their shallow embracing of many a 21st Century theme.
The reminder of what country once was, is by no means an assault on the memory, it is a compliment to which Soccer Mommy rose to the challenge with passion in their hearts, an acceptance that such generous sounds, of the search for lyrical truth, often comes from the most unexpected of quarters. It is in the tradition of the country fair, the first love perhaps of finding artists such as Johnny Cash, the Carter family, of the pre-World War Two sensation Jimmie Rodgers and Jenny Lou Carson, serious lyrics, a great vibe, but ushered in to the new century with the introspection that goes with the times.
In songs such as Henry, Your Dog, Flaw, Cool, Still Clean, a different style groove attached to the Bruce Springsteen cover of I’m On Fire, and the set closer of Scorpio Rising, Sophie Allison as Soccer Mommy surrounded the wall, looked upon it with wonder, but were not daunted by it, surmounting the challenge and once at the top, finding that the view was pretty incredible.
An audience will always be verging on the partisan, they pay their money and it is up to them in the end but in Soccer Mommy, it showed that the monopoly of the night’s attention could be broken and played with a sense of excited purity.
Ian D. Hall