“I saved Mother Vulture,” read the free pin badges on the merch table at Rough Trade Bristol—a heartfelt token of appreciation from a band deeply grateful for the unwavering support of their beloved fans.

Back in late December, Mother Vulture fell foul of the unfortunate rite of passage impacting too many touring bands nowadays. Their van was not only broken into but also stolen outright, gear and all. After sharing news of the theft online, fans urged the band to set up a fundraiser that subsequently reached the £10,000 goal within an impressive nineteen hours.

Blown away by the support, Mother Vulture vowed to repay the generosity, so four months on from the robbery, we found ourselves crammed within a capacity crowd in the back room of Rough Trade Bristol, everyone in attendance who managed to secure a sought-after ticket a donor to the fundraiser.

Liquid State provided the first of two powerful female-fronted supports, uniquely, in singer Keren Lea Ashley’s case, while being five months pregnant—talk about starting them early. Projecting a strong sense of togetherness, Liquid State delivered a self-assured opening to the evening, Ashley impressing with skillful screams as well as sincere, clean vocal work.

“Pop music you can beat your friends up to,” followed by Bitter Kisses, melding gothic moods, riffs for dancing, and a twist of electronica. At this point, we were two for two on the blow-your-socks-off Bristol blinders.

The Rough Trade stage is far from big enough for a band like Mother Vulture. In the cases of guitarist Brodie Maguire and bassist Chris Simpson, we are talking physically, with the duo a mirror image of each other, leaping off speakers from both sides of the stage, throwing themselves into the crowd, and frequently ending up on the floor. Along with the equally energetic drumming from Matt West and the soaring vocal capabilities of singer Georgi Valentine, the quartet exuded the confidence of a band with fully justified self-awareness of their own potential. Indeed, a now notorious and feral Mother Vulture gig aboard the Thekla in October was nominated for Gig of the Year, the band was recently crowned Best Rock Band at The Devon Music Awards. Neon arrow signs point to this band as not just one of them but the band to watch.

Storming through a set of thrashy, punky, and bouncy tracks, mostly from 2022’s Mother Knows Best, such as the aggressive “Mr. Jones,” catchy as hell “Monster Crunch,” and singalong favorite “Rabbit Hole.” A few promised surprises were also chucked into the mix in the form of upcoming releases “Break Me” and “Slow Down,” along with a stripped-down version of “Objectify,” in which Valentine showcased his vocal prowess with some compelling off-mic high notes that still managed to hit the back of the venue.

“Literally everyone in this room has helped us be a band again, we can’t thank you enough for that.” Simpson gushed to rapturous applause and whooping. Thanks also went out to Rough Trade and all the contributions to Mother Vulture’s endeavour to put on this free show, which was wrapped up in the only way that makes sense—with the fever pitch anthem “GO BIG OR GO HOME.”

Mother Vulture deserves the growing attention they are receiving, not least because of their skill in executing live performances that, whilst being fully immersive and ruckus, maintain an impressive level of technical ability, but also due to their humility and deep respect for the community that holds them up. Personally manning both the door and merch desk at this special show, Mother Vulture gave back to their fans their energy and investment with a wink and a promise in their own words of—

“We are gonna make it if it kills us.”