Mother Mother rides the wave

By Quinn Damery

dame0013@algonquincollege.com

The crowd came to be impressed, and Mother Mother and The Wooden Sky did not let them down during their Oct. 7 show at The Observatory.

The Wooden Sky worked a little bit of magic during their opening slot that set the tone for the quality performances of the evening. The Toronto four-piece played a 30 minute set of songs rooted in folk with one foot firmly on modern ground.

Singer Gavin Gardiner’s voice drew the crowd in like campers around a fire as he led his band through Blue Rodeo-like storytelling numbers. They opened with the quiet love letter “When Lost at Sea”, backed by finger-picked guitars and pedal steel, before tearing away their inhibitions to storm through more raging numbers. The crowd was won over almost instantly by the solid song writing and expressive performances.

The evening switched gears when Mother Mother took the stage. The Vancouver quintet let loose their orchestral pop barrage on a thrilled crowd, with a set that drew heavily on songs from their month-old release, and second proper album, O My Heart.

It was rare that all three singers, front man Ryan Guldemond accompanied by his sister Molly and Debra-Jean Creelman, weren’t treating the crowd to their impressive harmonies. This is a band that builds its’ sound around the voices of its’ three singers, and several times during the night the crowd took up the opportunity to join in. The title track off of their new album drew the greatest response due to the heavy play its’ video is receiving on Much Music in recent weeks.

The mediocre attendance was another example of Algonquin students not taking full advantage of the quality acts being brought to The Ob.

Still riding a wave of buzz that began a year ago when infamous Internet gossiper Perez Hilton endorsed them as a personal favourite, Mother Mother are currently in the middle of the Canadian leg of a North American tour that will take them to New York at the end of the month before making their way across the rest of the United States.

“[We have] very low expectations,” joked Guldemond. “I can’t imagine there being throngs of Mother Mother fans in Kansas City.”

Regardless of expectations, if the critical reception to O My Heart and their performance at the college is any indication, Mother Mother is likely to continue getting bigger. Remember: They played Algonquin before they played the big venues.