Photos by: AJ Frankson
Walking into the Downtown Artery on the night of October 10th, one would’ve been immediately greeted by a barrage of hipsters dancing and chatting in the mix of green and purple lights. Suddenly, from the stage a small, meek woman in a baggy light blue jumpsuit screamed.
The woman was Sasami Ashworth, better known simply as Sasami. She graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2012, and spent lots of time both as a music teacher in Los Angeles and producing orchestral tracks for commercials. Don’t be fooled by her background and appearance, though. In between her songs, she used phrases such as “How are you whores?” and “It’s about to get sensual.” Through the saturated lights and a steady cloud of haze, Sasami sung lyrics such as “I could take care of you” in her smooth, calming voice. Sasami’s singing contrasted her demeanor on stage, coming off as brash in person, and sensitive as an artist. Her catchy indie rock style made everyone in the crowd bop their heads and dance around. She was constantly so grateful to be there, ending her set saying, “You guys are the shit.”
Sophie Allison, also known as Soccer Mommy, found success with her newest release, Clean, claiming the top spot on college radio charts for four consecutive weeks and scoring the title of one of Pitchfork’s “Best New Music” releases. Yet, even with all of her recent success, Sophie still appeared laid back and calm on stage. She walked out wearing an oversized DKNY black sweater, plaid trousers, Balenciaga sneakers, and drinking water out of a black goblet-looking glass with animal skulls on the sides. She even talked about how she just bought “Spider-Man: Friend or Foe” while in Fort Collins, and joked about how she’s going to force her bandmates to play it with her. Her first few songs reflected her calm demeanor, but by the third song, “Last Girl,” off her newest album, the dark red spinning lights and sudden burst of energy had the entire crowd singing along and jumping. The energy kept on rolling with the empowering tune, “Your Dog,” and as they transitioned into “Cool,” her guitarist, Julian Powell, started jumping around on stage, keeping it upbeat. Changing pace, the entire band exited the stage, with only Sophie left. She performed a stripped down cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”, “Still Clean” from her newest album, and a song she wrote in college entitled “Allison.” Before performing “Allison,” she remarked, “If you’re not in a place you like, it could be worse in a couple years,” chuckling, she then went on, “…or better I guess.” The band came back for the last song, “Scorpio Rising,” which brought the guitarist to his knees by the end of the song. After a ruckus amount of applause, Soccer Mommy was convinced to come back out to perform one last song, “Henry,” from her 2016 album For Young Hearts. They left the stage with Sophie and the band thanking the audience immensely.