Artists: Mother Mother, Winnetka Bowling League
Venue: The Regent Theatre
Date: January 13, 2022
For the last few weeks I’ve kept my fingers crossed and wished upon a star, hoping that the show I’ve been eagerly awaiting since April of 2021 would still occur despite the current Covid spike happening across the country. Thankfully, it appears that my crossed fingers & wishes worked, because Mother Mother arrived in Los Angeles last week and rocked The Regent. However, their show did not go completely unaffected by the virus.
DYLN was the scheduled opening act for the concert but, when the lights went down, two men sheepishly walked out on stage with a guitar & keyboard. They announced that DYLN had to cancel last minute due to Covid, and they were literally called about two hours before show time and asked if they could perform. I was pleased, however, when they said that they are two of the members of the band, Winnetka Bowling League. They grabbed what/who they could & rushed over to perform a stripped down acoustic set. Honestly, it was everything that I needed for an opening act. It was a coffee shop performance on a big stage. Lovely story songs, in-between song banter, humble hearts & and a real connection with the audience made their unexpected intro a very welcome breath of calm before the storm.
I have previously seen Mother Mother on stage at the 100 Club in London, which is a much smaller venue with less performance capabilities. That show was intimate – almost like “Mother Mother light.” The Regent, on the other hand, allowed Mother Mother to light it up! I feel like I got to watch them unleash everything they had, and it was epic. I’ve often listed them in my top five favorite bands of all time because of how their album, Dance & Cry, has gotten me through some really tough times. They’ve now solidified themselves as a definite top five band, not just due to their albums, but due to their energy & delivery live.
This tour follows up the release of their newest album, Inside, but they delivered a wonderful variety of all of their music through the years. You really got to see their range of musical styles & performance abilities. I do feel as though the show had a slightly darker overall tone – even in how they changed the orchestration & key for “It’s Alright,” making it sound more like a bit of reassurance during a lucid fever dream. I’m here for it, though. It was like musical therapy – helping us release some of the rage that’s built up inside (slight callback to the album title intentional) all of us over the last couple of years.
The newer tracks such as “Sick of the Silence,” “I Got Love,” & “Pure Love” sounded amazing live, but the audience busted out when they said they were going to visit some of their older tracks – including “Dirty Town, “Oh, Ana,” & Ghosting,” to name a few. They hit every album in between with a song or two. One of the highlights of the night, though, was finishing the show with “Hayloft I” (for which they just released a brand new music video) and their newest (yet to be released) song, “Hayloft II” (for which the video premiere will be happening on January 28th. You can watch it here when it’s released). “Hayloft II” was a new level of in your face rock, and I can’t wait for you to see/hear it!
I also want to take a quick segue to shout out to Howard Mordoh, a.k.a. The Dancing Man of L.A. My boyfriend & I had the honor of being next to his energy for the whole show. I’d recognize his signature spin anywhere, even through the masks we were all wearing. It was good to see him out & about & having a blast at live shows once more!
Mother Mother delivered almost everything I could’ve asked for. All that was missing for me was “So Down,” but I honestly didn’t expect it once I figured out the vibe they were going for on this tour. They said they plan on returning to Los Angeles in 2022, so I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed that I’ll get to hear it then. However, the loss of that song did not diminish the excellence of this show by any means. Rest assured, Mother Mother is one of those bands I will continue to try & see perform live as many times as life allows for me to do so.
Check out their new album & music video below:
The Indy Review 