[ATTENDED: November 21, 2021] Pom Pom Squad S.G. Goodman [rescheduled from May 28, 2020 and April 18, 2021]
Initially the opener for this show was supposed to be S.G. Goodman who had a song with a lot of airplay on the WXPN. I liked it and then I got sick of it, but was interested in seeing her.
But when she was replaced by Pom Pom Squad I was pretty thrilled.
I had seen a Pom Pom Squad video some time ago and I loved their 90’s grunge sound and attitude. They seemed like a bit of an odd fit for Nada Surf who is a bit more mellow, but it seemed like they were maybe going set the tone for Nada Surf a bit more.
The band was initially a solo project for Mia Berrin, but have expanded to include an unnamed bassist, Shelby Keller on drums and Alex Mercuri on lead guitar.
I had recently read Rock Stars on the Record and Mia Berrin was interviewed in it and she said her favorite album was Live Through This by Hole. That totally makes sense given their overall sound. However, Mia, who is in her early twenties, seems relatively drama free at the moment.
I loved Mia’s outfit, with incredibly high red pleather platform boots and a babydoll dress. Drummer Shelby seemed to be wearing a school sweater vest. And then there was Alex Mercuri who had a kind of flowered shirt, a retro haircut and sunglasses. He stood out and fit in at the same time–and his solos were roaring. I didn’t catch the name of the new bassist.
They played half of their debut album, but also went back to earlier EPs and they played their new single as well. Mia was a fun frontwoman. It amused me when she introduced “Drunk Voicemail” because I couldn’t help but think she looked too young to drink.
The last song, “Be Good” has an opening melody that is very similar to (in melody and style) “Mr Sandman.”
There was an older couple (not us) who were hovering around the stage during the set. They seemed very out of place (the woman had a very large handbag that she was clutching rather tightly). S. and I speculated that they were the parents of someone in the band (maybe the bassist)
They were a great opening band–full of a ton of energy and they got everyone really charged up. I couldn’t help thinking that Nada Surf would be a great headlining act for any young, up and coming band since they seem like such nice guys.
Pom Pom Squad is coming back on tour in 2022.
- Lux ⊗
- Drunk Voicemail ⊗
- Protection Spells ⇓
- Head Cheerleader ⊗
- Cake ⊗
- Shame Reactions⊗
- Cherry Blossom Ø
- Again Ø
- Heavy Heavy Ø
- Until It Stops *
- Be Good ⊗
* Until It Stops single (2021)
⊗ Death of a Cheerleader (2021)
Ø Ow (2019)
⇓ Hate It Here (2017)
Leave a Reply