Canadian band Softcult brought their “music for mall goths” to Mahall’s in Lakewood, Ohio on Friday, March 10 as a part of their first North American headlining tour.
Written & photographed by Amanda Cook
Canadian band Softcult brought their “music for mall goths” to Mahall’s in Lakewood, Ohio on Friday, March 10 as a part of their first North American headlining tour. Along with them came fellow softies Soft Blue Shimmer from Los Angeles.
Before Softcult took the stage, Soft Blue Shimmer started the night off right with their alternative music that’s “here to make you think about stuff. Or forget about stuff.” The three-piece is made up of Charlie Crowley, Kenzo Cardenas and Meredith Ramond. They all had been part of other projects when they bonded over their shared interest in UK and Japanese shoegaze and dream pop bands. As a result, Soft Blue Shimmer was formed in 2018.
The name came from their love of cinema, where Crowley combined movie titles “Blue is the Warmest Color” and “Heat Shimmer Theatre” with a touch of softness. “It needed to evoke a specific enough emotion that still felt abstract and undefinable,” explains Crowley.
Soft Blue Shimmer’s music is all about the ideas of connection, loss and love. They also use their platform to write about what it’s like to struggle with mental health. “Music is such a good vehicle for these themes and conversations,” says Crowley.
Currently the band is working on new music, with hopes of touring more throughout the year.
The headliner of the night, Softcult, is described as a mix of grunge, shoegaze, dreampop and indie. Their music will easily take you from jumping to swaying to maybe even shedding a tear over their emotional lyrics. Between songs, lead singer Mercedes Arn-Horn took the opportunity to speak out about various social justice issues. As she put it, they’re “a band that wants to leave the world a better place than they found it.”
After the show, Arn-Horn stuck around to take pictures with loyal fans. Both the fans' and the band's dedication to each other shows that Softcult is accomplishing their mission to make the world a better place. They’re raising awareness about important issues through their music in a way that connects with people. The ability to create a community through music is a beautiful thing, and anyone who can do that is certainly improving our existence.
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