By DJ Honey Bucket
On April 16, the year of our lord, two thousand and twenty, indie rock quintet, Soccer Mommy, graced the virtual Club Penguin Rewritten stage to perform their newest album in its entirety to an audience of adoring penguin fans. As a Millenial/Gen Z cusper, I was pleasantly to surprised to see that the band “booked” a show, along with a Q and A following the performance, on the beloved childhood gaming site. As of late, my friends and I have been indulging in sled racing, pizza making, and puffle-adopting, all with the hopes of reliving our simpler, less apocalyptic, childhood glory. The announcement of a favorite band performing on Club Penguin was nothing short of intriguing.
At 5 p.m. PST, Soccer Mommy took the stage, with all five of the band members taking the form of indie penguin rockers. Waddling across the virtual stage, Soccer Mommy played their newest album, color theory, from start to finish. By the looks of the comments during the show, the audience was a mixed bag of college-aged fans and confused, honest to god, Club Penguin gamers who accidently waddled into this. There were penguins with usernames like “youngmoney420” and “zonicyouth” who were obvious Gen Zers, commenting “yes queen!!!!” and “who here listens to Mitski??” and those who presumably got lost on their way to the Ski Lodge commenting, “who is this”, “im bored”, and “they suck”. After the performance, the band relocated to a different room for a short Q and A. The audience asked them questions such as, “What inspires your music?” and “How did you all meet?” It was all very cute and weird.
The show lasted 45 minutes, the respective length of their album, and sounded like someone pressed “Play” on the band’s Spotify. “circle the drain” and “yellow is the color of her eyes” were crowd pleasers that night. The new album is slower, with familiar emotional lyrics that Soccer Mommy is known for. Although their show at The Catalyst this past September was more intimate and traditional, this virtual concert was undoubtedly fun. The way things are currently going, I don’t anticipate going to a live show for a long, long time. These virtual concerts, including Instagram Live, YouTube, and yes, Club Penguin, seem to be the bleak future of the music world. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. It would be very exciting and bizarre to have Club Penguin be the new DIY space.
Club Penguin X Soccer Mommy show
Lead singer, Sophie’s penguin avatar
Q and A following the show
