Mother Feather at The Knitting Factory: Totally Awesome

January 16, 2019 by

The Knitting Factory presented an evening of three diverse Brooklyn bands in December , featuring glam-punk rockers Mother Feather, with openers Vaureen and Mutant Scum.

Mother Feather Ann and Liz-resized and cropped for BK Roads

Ann and Liz of Mother Feather / photo by David K. Moseder

Lead vocalist Ann Courtney and vocalist/keyboardist Elizabeth Carena  —  backed by guitarist Chris Foley, bassist Seth Ondracek and drummer Gunnar Olsen — strutted on stage in their glossy, satiny, multi-colored outfits and dramatic eye makeup and launched into  the thumping  “Man, I Wish You Were Here,” immediately making us glad we were there.  It was one of eight songs from their newly released sophomore album, “Constellation Baby.” Courtney’s performance of the title track showed she was as adept at power ballads as she was handling the more rocking numbers, such as “Red Hot Metal,” “Snakebite” and  “Shake Your Magic 8 Ball,” dominated the set. When Carena sang along on such numbers as “Totally Awesome,” it was awesome indeed.

Mother Feather - Ann Courtney2-resized and cropped for BK Roads

Ann Courtney of Mother Feather / photo by David K. Moseder

The women’s ensembles (Courtney’s included fishnet stockings and a flowing, wings-like cape) and choreographed stage maneuvers, much of it playfully sexual in nature, complemented the rocking performance, saying “listen to me” more than just “look at me.” And listen we did along with dozens of enthusiastic fans; Mother Feather clearly has already developed a loyal – and well deserved — following. The crowd’s love was rewarded with the appropriately titled encore, “I Blow a Kiss,” after which Courtney dove off the stage and was held aloft by the myriad waiting arms of Mother Feather fans.

Opening act Vaureen, who cite Black Sabbath, Sonic Youth, and Siouxsie and the Banshees as influences, is a tuneful power trio fronted by Andrea Horne (guitar and lead vocals) and Marianne Do (bass and vocals), with Cale Hand on drums. They were also performing in support of a new album release, Extraterra. Top songs in their set, all written by Horne, included “run to the Forest” and their current single, “Stare Into the Sun.”

Mutant Scum followed with a crowd-pleasing sludge-metal set clad in animal suits and grotesque masks (except for the drummer, who wore a slime-stained lab coat lab, making him their “keeper,” we suppose)