LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: MOTHER VULTURE AT EXETER PHOENIX, EXETER 31/01/26
Ever wished you could go back in time to see your favourite arena band in a smaller venue? A venue where you can crowd surf over the barrier and high five the singer, or hang out at the merch table after and buy a shirt from the drummer? Many of us will have had this daydream, the regrets for not getting out to the local venue when that- then- underground, and underappreciated act was in town.
Well the next, next big thing are out there now, lugging their own equipment, slinging their own merch, and at the end of a long, cold January, they were selling out The Phoenix in Exeter.
“Man are we in for a good time tonight” bassist Ed Tucker from Big Lava promised as the local noisy boys thundered through a set of their self styled ‘high-functioning stoner rock’.
Every song on the band's set list had its own rise and fall, the duality between sweet, melodic moments and the thrashy heights of the riffs, beautifully navigated. ‘FEDZ’ , a powerful, soaring number, didn’t overextend itself but still managed to raise goosebumps on the skin.
With Big Lava there's a touch of White Stripes, a dash of Royal Blood, a hint of Arcane Roots and a whole lot of throwing themselves around the stage.
“Phoenix you're really good fun” Big Lava assured the crowd before finishing their set on the rootin’-tootin’ ‘Bad Timing’.
Next up, the force of nature that is Native James absolutely set the room ablaze with his untamed rap-metal, impressing both returning fans and newcomers.
“Are you ready to get turnt?” Native James - AKA Aaron James asked the already warmed up mosh pits, with a roar of enthusiasm in response.
The genre blending artist from Ipswich has had a promising handful of years so far with appearances at Reading & Leeds festivals and a MOBO nomination under his belt, the feral energy James brings to his music and performance is utterly compelling.
“I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am” James checked in on the fans. It was indeed hard to tell who was having a better time- James himself or the spinning masses in the pit. The energy was on par all through the room.
For the main course, it was then time for Mother Vulture to debut their album Cartoon Violence. Mixing things up - literally, the playthrough wasn't linear. New album tracks were muddled in with old favourites and curated expertly to keep the audience on their toes.
The set did start however with the album opener ‘Mike Check’ and commenced a full force, relentless stampede through typical Mother Vulture carnage with singer Georgi Valentine slamming into the high notes and wading through the growls, bassist Chris Simpson doing an uncanny impression of ‘man walking on hot coals’ for the entirety of the set, guitarist Brodie Maguire delivering riff after riff and drummer Matt West holding the whole thing together.
How earlier Mother Vulture tracks are going to end up sitting within future setlists is yet to be seen. ‘Mr Jones’, which, for a long time formed part of the top of the set- a song to be played once fever had already reached its pitch, instead sat second in the running order amongst the newcomers of Cartoon Violence. The band's biggest ‘problem’ now will potentially be having too many essential tracks to fit into their live shows.
“Last time we were here there were half as many of you. You sold it out!” Simpson was jubilant as he garnered joyful enthusiasm from the room. This capacity crowd notable, not only for the quantity of fans that the band are now able to pull in, but also for the step up in production they are demonstrating with this new album cycle. From decorative banners with the ominous statement- ‘Don't Look Away’ printed on them to the impressive big screen graphics that played throughout the set, to the Looney Tunes style drum head sticker, Mother Vulture are taking their messaging seriously, with polished, cohesive confidence.
‘Sufferin’ Succotash’ hailed a new level of chaos within the pits of the Exeter Phoenix, and ‘Rabbit Hole’, a long time crowd pleaser continued the party. ‘Bedbugs’ enjoyed a great reception for its live debut and the earth-shakingly intense ‘Slow Down’ sent the room into a frenzy.
Keeping a tight grip on their sense of fun, plastic blow up mallets and clubs were distributed to the audience via Olivia Grace Heath in a penguin costume during the breakdown of ‘Honey’, just in time for everyone to beat the crap out of each other (in a, non-harmful, good spirited way, of course) at the drop, while Heath launched herself into the battling crowd.
A brief respite followed, where both band and audience performed yoga poses to calming sounds and visuals, giving everyone an opportunity to reset and prepare before the first notes of the thundering ‘Treadmill’ rang out and it was immediately back into the chaos.
Another live debut followed with the equally hulking ‘Knuckles’. Mother Vulture’s direction of travel with Cartoon Violence seems to be a more intense, doomy, bass-led sound. When ‘Slow Down' was released last year, it seemed like an outlier in the band’s catalogue, but with the context of the full album and tracks like ‘Treadmill’ and ‘Knuckles’, the full picture is revealed.
The band then took a second to thank the supports and especially Ed Tucker from Big Lava who, as well as providing a cracking opening set, also stepped up on guitar for the headliners.
Moving into the latter part of the set, there was still an abundance of dancing to be done. ‘Fame or Shame’ from 2022 album- Mother Knows Best kept the flag flying for the old school party tracks before ‘La Matadora’ turned up the intensity with a healthy dose of Spanish inspired fiesta.
The overwhelmingly feel good gang vocals of ‘Mountain of Youth’, Cartoon Violence’s closing track, could be a natural end point for the night but Mother Vulture weren't done with The Phoenix. ‘Homemaker’ and ‘The Masquerade’ took us to the encore, the latter another live debut and much anticipated as one of the immediate fan favourites from the album.
‘Phoenix’ provided the penultimate jump around before Simpson announced- “This is the part of the set we call casual Fridays”, Before the room went absolutely nuts to ‘Go Big or Go Home’, the band recognising the weight of their well loved, quintessential finale track even at a celebration intended for their new album.
As the band head out on eleven more dates around the UK to celebrate the release of Cartoon Violence, Exeter Phoenix will provide the benchmark for the energy fans should be bringing to the table, but quite honestly, that's gonna be hard to beat.
Words and photos by Imogen Bird