Audio is becoming a familiar haunt at the moment, and is a great venue for bands who want a more intimate show in Glasgow. Small (150 cap), conveniently located and with decent sound it’s a cracking little place with friendly staff and no barrier at the front.
Opening tonight’s punky show were Mother Vulture, an act I’ve been aware of for ages but never really had a chance to listen to. Very much something I’m catching up on now. They absolutely embodied “energy” as they high-kicked, bounced, screamed, twirled and sprinted around the stage. Which is impressive as it’s not a huge stage.
They rattled through eight songs, and were one of the most entertaining bands I’ve seen on stage in ages. No fancy props or costumes, only loud music and a bunch of personality. I don’t think they stopped smiling for their whole set.
Vocalist Georgi has one of the most impressive vocal ranges I’ve ever heard, and I did at one point look to see if he had any effects pedals for his mic… but, no. All talent. Credit to the rest of the band, too, especially repressed frontman Chris who is as funny as he is good at playing bass.
While I can’t really comment on individual songs due to a lack of familiarity with them (to be addressed as I bought their recent album after their set), I can say they’re one of the tightest live bands I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of bands. Plenty of bang for your buck out of this lot!
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Despite interviewing lead singer / guitarist Jørn twice, I’ve not seen live before. Finally I get to find out why Lars Ulrich wanted them to open for Metallica on a few intimate shows a couple of years back!
Jørn himself is a Danish man mountain, his guitar looking like a toy in his hands. Despite the loud punk music he’s a gentle giant, though, who engages well with the audiences between songs (and G&Ts). Bassist Ole does a great job keeping that background rumble going, but I loved watching Olav Dowkes hammering on the drumkit. Despite the ferocity and technique, he made everything look easy. And he deserved that drink after nailing the hardest song for him in the set (I think it was “Retaliation”)!
Typical with punky material, the songs aren’t long so we were treated to an impressive 18 during their show. They covered all four of their albums, including the most recent All Out of Dreams which came out a year ago. I’m pretty sure they intended to tour on it a little closer to the release date, but better late than never!
While the audience weren’t exactly bouncing and thrashing around, they were obviously really into the music and each song was given a huge cheer and applause when it finished. Their music really inspired a bit of headbanging and is far more technical than you may expect. At first it sounds quite simple and catchy, but watch the fingers flying over fretboards and it’s not a simple mixture of power chords.
It’s hard to pick out “the best” songs as the set went by with machine-gun rapidity, but “Vultures”, “Bradford Death Squadron” and the aforementioned “Retaliation” were definitely amongst them.
A great show from a bunch of guys you want to hang out with (and can – they spent ages afterwards talking and g stuff) is the perfect way to spend an evening. I’ve mentioned this a few times recently, but keep an eye out on the smaller venues in your local area. You don’t need to spent £100 on an arena ticket to have a great night’s entertainment!
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Photos by Non Serviam Photography
