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Tour-ready Mother Mother plays first of 5 sold-out concerts at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom

Local quintet can now claim the title of ‘Canada’s biggest alternative-rockers’
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Vancouver-based alt-rock band Mother Mother at the Commodore Ballroom on Thursday night, Dec. 2. (Photo: Tom Zillich)

Like Duran Duran before them, Mother Mother is a band so good, they named them twice.

It’s alright, it’s OK – just a bad dad joke. But for hundreds of standing, cheering, mostly mask-wearing fans at a sold-out Commodore Ballroom on Thursday (Dec. 2), Mother Mother was as good as it gets on a relatively rare night of live music in Vancouver.

Of course, the historic Granville Street hall has been dark for many months, due to the pandemic, and the alt-rock band did its very best to light up the place during the first of its five sold-out concerts there this week.

Confident and polished, Mother Mother can now claim the title of “Canada’s biggest alternative-rockers,” as Warner Music Canada has dubbed the Ryan Guldemond-led band, which also features Molly Guldemond, Jasmin Parkin, Ali Siadat and Mike Young.

That Mother Mother sound – angular, infectious, guitar-driven hooks – filled the ballroom, the famous floor of which was lined with rows of chairs that served to physically-distance fans who stood from the first note, and never sat down.

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The quintet is primed for an early-2022 tour that swings around the U.S., to some big cities of Europe and back into Canada next spring.

But first, they have this week’s run at the Commodore, including an all-ages show Saturday afternoon (Dec. 4). Then there’s Mother Mother’s opening date for Bryan Adams’ New Year’s Eve party at Rogers Arena.

As for recorded work, this week the band announced a deluxe edition of its Inside album, with seven new recordings, including a new single, “Life.” The collection includes “Hayloft II,” a follow-up to the band’s breakout hit, “Hayloft.” A new video, directed by Ryan Guldemond and Rich Smith, follows the song’s explosion on TikTok in 2020 and the genesis of the sequel.

Watch it below on YouTube.



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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