On March 14, 2024, the legendary venue Olympia welcomed Mother Mother and Moncrieff to its stage, in a concert eagerly awaited by fans.
About Mother Mother...
Mother Mother is a Canadian indie rock band featuring Ryan Guldemond, his sister Molly Guldemond and Jasmin Parkin, who all lend their voices on stage, as well as Mike Young and Ali Siadat, the band's bassist and drummer.
Since 2005, the members of Mother Mother have sought to create a close bond with their fans, wishing to turn their shows into a refuge for people who don't fit in anywhere else.
In recent years, the band has enjoyed explosive success on social networks with their tracks 'Hayloft' and 'Hayloft II' from 2008's 'O My Heart' and 2021's 'Inside'.
Mother Mother took to the legendary and historic Olympia stage in France on Thursday March 14 for their 2024 European tour. A venue with a frontage as emblematic as ever, celebrating its 130th anniversary this year.
Discovering Moncrieff
At around 6.40pm, the venue opens its doors and the fans who have camped out early to be at the front are happy to settle in.
By the time Moncrieff takes to the stage, the room is full, and the young Irish singer quickly captivates the crowd with his touching smiles and catchy energy. He kicks off the festivities with his song 'Love Somebody'. He doesn't forget to greet the audience in French, making a few jokes about his difficulty in expressing himself in our language.
After a few songs, he takes a break and settles down on his synthesizer to tell us a little bit more about himself. Moncrieff lost his brother and sister to cystic fibrosis, an incurable genetic disease that affects the digestive and respiratory systems and drastically reduces the life expectancy of sufferers. He explains that he went through very dark phases during his bereavements, and introduces his track 'Young Men' by talking about the importance of mental health, particularly for men.
He asks the audience in near-perfect French if any of them have ever fallen in love, introducing the final track of his set with 'What Am I Here For', in which he wishes to talk about someone he has loved who is far away. It was to applause at the last notes of this song that Moncrieff descended from the stage, having successfully completed the task of introducing himself and warming up the room.
The wait wasn't long; the audience waited less than half an hour, listening to songs like Imagine Dragons' 'Believer' and Lana Del Rey's 'Summer Time Sadness', making the crowd dance and sing along.
Mother Mother on the Olympia's stage
Screams rang out as the room turned off the lights. The show began with their track 'Nobody Escapes' and then moved on to 'Arms Tonite', where the audience had a great time accompanying the band's three singers, but the energy in the room quickly increased when the first notes of 'Hayloft II' reached the crowd's ears. You could hear them singing "My baby's got a gun, I better run".
The tracks continued until 'Body', a song and text about hating your own body, dedicated to all those who feel bad about their own skin. Next, to introduce 'Sleep Awake', Ryan Guldemond asks the audience if they are accompanied by their loved ones, expressing how good it feels to be with family, especially with his sister Molly, for whom the song was written. She delivers a sublime vocal performance under the light of the audience's flashbulbs.
Ryan Guldemond takes the time to salute the architecture of the venue, "Olympia, this is a beautiful place to be", thanking in passing the people who built this mythical venue in the world of the French scene "whoever they are, thank you." Of course, he doesn't forget to thank his opening act, Moncrieff, "an amazing artist".
The acoustic set kicks off with 'Dirty Town', which had the audience clapping their hands in rhythm and singing "Get down to the dirty town" after being encouraged by Ryan. Other acoustic tracks included 'Ghosting' and 'Little Pistol', before Ryan addressed the audience once again to make sure everyone was alright in the pit, ensuring that fans had drinks from security before asking by show of hands who was at a Mother Mother show for the first time and who had come before, welcoming newcomers and insisting on inclusivity within their fan community.
Time to sort out a guitar problem, Jasmin Parkin receives a present from a fan. "We love presents thank you".
The audience remains assiduous and continues to sing along with the band, who finish the acoustic set with 'Oh Ana' before encouraging the fans to follow their dream with a long round of applause.
"Does anyone not believe in themselves? Remember that you can, you can! And you should win the life you deserve." With these words in mind, Mother Mother gets the crowd pumping their fists on 'Wrecking Ball', singing in unison "because i can".
The tracks continued to roll until 'Hayloft I', where the audience put in as much energy, if not more, than for 'Hayloft II', forgetting that some twenty tracks had been played in between.
Mother Mother's fans showed their commitment and unity, jumping, singing and dancing to this emblematic track, applauding ever louder.
As an interlude, Jasmin performs Lana Del Rey's 'Video Games', intimately accompanied by the crowd, before taking up the emblematic guitar solos of 'Hayloft I' with the whole band and plunging the room into darkness.
The lights come back on, Ryan Guldemond thanks the audience and also his team, "a beautiful family".
"There is so many people who take part for making that night possible. Man, that night was a good one. It's a gift to be alive with you tonight. It's medicine for the soul."
He then introduces 'Grief Chapter', a song about mourning, and reminds the band how precious and beautiful life is, with a message of hope for those who might be going through the same thing. "If you go through that, live for today, live for tomorrow, that's what they want".
Mother Mother close the show with 'Burning Pile', the fans as committed to the show as ever, singing along to the last word. "Farewell Paris we'll see you again, thank you! "
Mother Mother graced the Olympia with their presence and their music, with a touching concert and a committed, supportive audience. This solidarity and benevolence didn't stop at the end of the concert, as fans left the hall happy, stars in their eyes, chatting, getting to know each other and taking photos of each other under the red neon lights of one of France's best-known venues.