There was something for everyone at Arizona Financial on June 7th for the Mother Mother / Cavetown tour with openers Meet Me @ the Altar. Whichever band fans came for, they definitely went home with some new favorite songs to add to their playlist.
Meet Me @ the Altar
The stunning pop-punk band Meet Me @ the Altar opened the show with an incredibly high energy performance. Lead singer Edith Johnson has an incredible stage presence, constantly engaging with the audience and utilizing the massive stage space. It was clear throughout the show that each member of the all-female band shared a deep love for the stage and each other. With such an interesting story behind not only the story of the band, but their personal lives, it’s amazing to see their chemistry on stage.
Guitarist Téa Campbell was a ball of fire, playing with such a passion it was hard to choose whether to focus on her or Johnson’s incredible vocals. Despite being tucked behind the drums, and personally being the quieter of the three, drummer Ada Juarez wasn’t short on fervor herself. The entire band matched each other’s energy well, creating a performance that was fun for them, as well as the audience.
Mother Mother
Rock music has always been one of the best genres to see live and Mother Mother is no exception. But not only was the show visually stunning, with beautiful, dynamic lighting and interesting staging of Ryan Guldemond, Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin, but the setlist was incredible. While the beginning of the show started off normal, with the band playing songs spanning across their almost two decades long discography. During this, the audience did get to know that “Sleep Awake” is Ryan Culdemond’s favorite song, which he wrote for his sister Molly. However, about halfway through the show they played a relatively stripped down mash-up with “Dirty Town”, “Neighbour”, “Wisdom”, “Ghosting”, “Little Pistol” and “It’s Alright”.
Ending the show was an incredible mash up of “Hayloft” and a stunning rock cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” sung by Molly. The final song on the setlist was Burning Pile, which received insane cheers from the audience. It was one of the most phenomenal setlists, weaving old and new songs that all fit together beautifully despite spanning almost 20 years. The lighting and production, combined with the stage presence of Parkin and the Guldemonds, created an intensely energetic and entertaining performance.
Cavetown
If you think live performances fall flat when it comes to set design, you haven’t seen a Cavetown show. Arizona Financial’s stage was turned into the most adorable garden, with mushrooms, a tree stump platform, and bright rainbow lights, perfect for the start of pride month. The band all adorned the cutest matching moth overalls, almost as if they were little bugs in the garden.
Throughout the show, it was clear that Robbie Skinner, a.k.a Cavetown, shared the same adoration with his fans that they have for him. While Skinner sung from atop the stump for a lot of the show, the moments spent on the stage were full of jumping and running and waving to fans.
A shift from the previous set, but nonetheless stunning, Skinner’s soft, indie sound floated through the venue with a well developed setlist. Songs like “Fall in Love With a Girl”, and “Juliet”, which the crowd absolutely ate up, ending with “Boys Will Be Bugs”, and an incredible encore of “888” and “Devil Town”. Rather than headbanging, Cavetown called for hip swaying. However, there was not a lull in energy from the performance nor the audience. Skinner’s stage presence combined with his songs created such a beautiful show, filled with joy.
