Downtown Vancouver was buzzing Saturday (June 15) with a pair of big events including the Lions' football game at BC Place (featuring a pre-game performance by rapper 50 Cent) and, across the street at Rogers Arena, a concert by Mother Mother.

The arena date represented a landmark homecoming show for the Vancouver-based band, currently co-headlining a tour with singer/songwriter and producer Cavetown.

Mother Mother formed in 2005 and slowly earned fans with catchy alt-rock songs including early hits O My Heart and Body of Years. By late 2020, the band's music went viral on , causing a surge in streams and popularity. Four years on, they have arena/amphitheatre concert dates across North America this spring and summer presented by Live Nation Entertainment. Tickets for the Vancouver show .

Mother Mother's current lineup features lead vocalist/guitarist Ryan Guldemond with Mike Young on bass, Ali Siadat on drums and both Jasmin Parkin and Molly Guldemond on vocals and keyboards.

When tour concert tickets went on sale in January, Mother Mother's new single was Nobody Escapes via Warner Records.

鈥淲e sing cheerily about the indiscriminate nature of death and how, regardless of status, good looks or physique, the reaper comes for us all,鈥� Guldemond explained in a Live Nation news release. 鈥� that accompanies our rollicking and blasphemous album opener follows suit, depicting a sinister factory where conveyor belts and machinery crudely sort through freshly fallen souls.鈥�

Saturday in Vancouver, there were teen-girl screams aplenty for Mother Mother and also co-headliner Cavetown, who looks like Harry Potter's more hairy cousin and plays simple, catchy but ultra-safe pop songs. He wore colourful overalls similar to his band members. Adorable.

With bigger stages and more streams (and screams), Mother Mother's rising popularity means more focus on new songs in concert. Saturday's set list included some older numbers but sadly neglected some of the band's best songs, including Monkey Tree, Bit By Bit, O My Heart, Body of Years, Let鈥檚 Fall in Love, Simply Simple and The Stand, and that's too bad.

The arena's upper bowl was curtained off, meaning around 8,000 fans filled the lower bowl for the concert, pretty much.