It was the first visit of Bokassa to the town of outlaws but not their first rodeo with the unique personality of a British crowd. The band brought their Molotov Rocktail to The Chapel in Nottingham along with the vibrant energy of Mother Vulture.
Bokassa – Mother Vulture
The Chapel, Nottingham – 18 April 2025
Words And Photography: Matt Pratt
Bokassa immediately warmed themselves to the boisterous intimate audience with the age-old trick of badmouthing local rival towns and expressing their love of Greggs pastries.
What they may not have expected was for the attendees to be so talkative. Lead vocalist Jørn Kaarstad appeared befuddled as he was subject to 20 questions from a member of the crowd, who he later labelled as his hype man, akin to Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav.
The Norwegian three piece have already made waves, being hand picked by Lars Ulrich to tour with Metallica and Ghost back in 2019. The band are now touring their fourth album All Out Of Dreams and building up to a huge European tour with American rock legends, Clutch.
It is easy to see why the Metallica drummer rated the Trondheim outfit so highly. The band sport a similar sound to the Metal giants despite covering slightly lighter themes, such as the impeccably named song Immortal Space Pirate (The Stoner Anthem).
Barring a brief intermission where the band kindly signed a fan’s merchandise before they were forced to make an early departure, the evening was wall-to-wall hard rock anthems. Both technically gifted in their performance and charming in personality, the show felt relaxed and informal, the perfect way to warm up to the start of a long weekend.
I expect we will be very lucky to see Bokassa perform in such an intimate setting in Nottingham again any time soon. The smiles in The Chapel suggest this thought is not lost upon the attendees.
While we do not have a Nottingham return date scheduled, the band will be visiting nearby Birmingham in November which they joked was close enough, being another “ham”.
If the engagement this evening is anything to go by, I would be stunned if nobody present made the short trip to the West Midlands to catch them again this winter, rightfully so, given their astute performance tonight.
Mother Vulture
I was shocked to find out that Mother Vulture were providing support this evening. Having played a local headline show of their own at the similarly sized Bodega just a few months back, you would expect that they would be using support opportunities to gain exposure on a larger stage such as Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms or even Rock City.
Their experience in this setting showed as the fourpiece, tightly packed onto a modest stage, leapt around like excited children.
In a moment of either bravery or blind stupidity, the guitarist climbed the woodwork of the stage to ascend an amp, nearly seeing an end to himself in the process.
The energy was matched by the vibrant sound that had the audience bouncing along. The band was sure to thank all who had arrived so early for supporting local venues and up-and-coming acts that find themselves in the support slots.
