Benjamin Gibbard performs at Grace Cathedral on Feb. 25, 2025.

Fogcutter is SFGATE’s weekly roundup of cultural happenings. Typically, we use these (web) pages to recount all manner of events — hikes, sesame balls, film screenings, art shows — to depict the pace of life in the San Francisco Bay Area. But recently, the city has been flooded with so many great concerts that today, we’re focusing exclusively on music. 

This week’s column is dedicated to San Francisco’s homegrown Noise Pop Festival — a roster that includes the teary reunion of a ’90s band. Read on for more highlights.

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After shuffling up the stairs at the Fillmore on Friday night for Soccer Mommy, the first sight for the sold-out audience was an embellished stage that seemed plucked from the pages of a Lewis Carroll novel. The tops of amplifiers were adorned in flowers while stage lights cast a mystic purple, but the focus was on a huge white oval that hung behind the instruments. It looked like a hovering tambourine where, instead of metal jingles, the edges were encircled by even more bouquets. Visual artist Abigail Portner designed the stage for Soccer Mommy, and by the time the band appeared, the crowd was already transfixed. 

Soccer Mommy plays at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Feb. 28, 2025.

Led by Sophia Allison — a Nashville singer-songwriter who supercharges confessional lyrics with arena-sized chorus hooks — Soccer Mommy was touring in support of the band’s fourth album. “Evergreen” was released in October 2024 and suitably matched the season’s somber moods and crisp freshness. The Friday Fillmore set, the first of two back-to-back nights, opened with “Abigail,” which is one of the record’s more pulsating moments, built on a synthesizer melody that could have easily appeared alongside the Cure on MTV in the 1980s. As the band performed, projections of bucolic fields, Monet watercolors or fairy stags appeared on the oval behind it. This portal lured fans closer into Soccer Mommy’s world, where intimacy and rock ’n’ roll entwine. — Silas Valentino, SFGATE travel editor

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After this concert, I was awakened with the divine realization that my life must be partitioned into two epochs — a time before MeloDious and a time post-MeloDious.

The pair of sisters caught my attention when I was researching what musical acts to cover for Noise Pop. For one, I was tickled when I learned that Micaiah and Memphis Dempsey are local musicians from Oakland. Additionally, the siblings bring a dynamic blend of musical skills, such as gospel, jazz, R&B and soul. And just when I thought I couldn’t be more impressed, I found out they were 20 and 17, respectively, … which made me feel like a complete loser. So this loser popped over to SFJAZZ’s Joe Henderson Lab as an ordinary soul and emerged forever enlightened.

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As a member of Gen Z, this is how I rate this performance: a sister-act slay (our elder millennial senior culture editor had trouble understanding this generational vernacular). Micaiah and Memphis, along with the fabulous bassist and electric guitarist, captivated every single audience member with their silky voices, their perfect harmonies and their gushingly darling sisterly love. I was furiously tapping my loafers on the ground to the beat of the melody and having a hoot in the first row.

The performance was so delightful that I wanted to record every single moment. And now my phone is literally out of storage. — Melissa Cho, SFGATE social video producer

This year, Noise Pop attendees had the choice between not one but two reunited emo bands, with the word “American” in their name and a vibraphone on stage.

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The American Analog Set play at Gray Area in San Francisco on Feb. 26,........

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