The Soap Girls’ first visit to Raleigh, NC exposed the band’s social and political beliefs, plus a whole lot more.
Every town needs a venue like The Pour House in Raleigh, NC. Owned and operated by people who are unafraid to give their stage to artists with a strong voice and welcome anyone who enters their doors. This was the perfect venue for The Soap Girls and opening band, Pie Face Girls who both delivered wildly entertaining punk and rock sets to a small but very excited crowd.
Pie Face Girls, a self-proclaimed “angry band,” are local to Raleigh, NC. Everything from their origins as a band to the musical backgrounds of some of the members, to their on-stage antics makes them a textbook example of everything a punk rock band should be. Prior to their set, all members of the band were at the bar, laughing with friends, and fitting in sound checks for their instruments along the way. If you didn’t know who they were, they appeared as excited and gregarious fans out for a night of music and a good time. After their set, every member of the band was once again out and about, enjoying the headliner’s show and having a ball without hesitation.
Pie Face Girls tore through a roughly 12-song set including “Get On The Floor” and “Dude Yr Girlfriend Sux” from their 2017 Formative Years release and “F**k You, I’m Pretty” from the 2014 release First. Vocalist and guitarist Dani Hoffpauir acted out the lyrics of every song with a wildly expressive face and a powerful voice that could scream with the punkers and sing with the rockers. Klay Misenheimer on drums refused to have anything less than a great time, cracking jokes one moment and thrashing the drum kit the next. Vocalist and bassist Lainey Harrison absolutely owned the stage and took the prize for “having the most fun in the room.” Pairing a gleaming smile and full-body laugh with gritted teeth and frenzied leaping into the air while playing, Lainey channeled and amplified Dani and Klay’s energy into a powerhouse punk rock trio.
The Soap Girls took the stage in a ridiculously short amount of time after Pie Face Girls finished their set, proving extended delays between support and headliner are just not necessary. Instruments were set, tuned, and ready to go so quickly, that the energy in the room from Pie Face Girls was still present. Sisters Camille and Noemie Debray are currently deep into a very long tour that started in early 2023. If the band was exhausted from the extensive time on the road, it didn’t show at all. Playing a 15-song set, ferocious and alive from start to finish, The Soap Girls easily traversed between rock, punk, and a touch of metal to produce a set that was hard-driving, fast, and hugely energetic. This was The Soap Girls’ first show in North Carolina and they took advantage of every opportunity to poke fun and tear down the stereotypes that surround the city and its people.The setlist included songs from most of their discography, including their latest release In My Skin released in June 2022. “Wasted” opened the evening and “Psycho” and “Demons” from In My Skin found themselves in the middle of the set. “Real” from Calls For Rebellion closed the evening after a stage filled with fans delivered a memorable rendition of “Breathe.”
Throughout the set, both Camille and Noemie shared their unfiltered opinions on politics, and the value of freedom, and repeatedly shared a message of self-acceptance and self-love. The Soap Girls are warriors, fearlessly speaking out against greed, hate, and oppression by challenging their audience to value themselves and demand everyone fights for the fairness and freedoms we wish for ourselves as rights and freedoms for all. From world politics to the public visibility of nipples, The Soap Girls share their views of equality and acceptance in a way that amplifies the power and importance of their music.
North Carolina can now count themselves as one of the lucky, now that The Soap Girls have finally visited the state. The energy and power as a band coupled with fearless opinions and Camille’s gravity-defying contortionist poses make The Soap Girls a not-t0-be-missed experience everyone in the audience hopes they will be experiencing once again in the future.
THE SOAP GIRLS
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