Frightened Rabbit
– Review
Manchester Ritz
November 8th
2013
My second review this year was originally supposed to be
“Frightened Rabbit live from Manchester Gorilla” but due to unforeseen
circumstances regarding needed ID (damn
my youthful looks) I never made it in. Now the year is almost up, but
thankfully I managed to sneak a Frightened Rabbit show in anyway – this blog would have felt incomplete without
it.
For those of you who haven’t heard Frightened Rabbit, they
are a Scottish five piece with a unique sound. Lead singer Scott Hutchison’s
lyrics are often poetic and explore themes of loneliness, separation, sex and,
frequently – death. Early on Hutchison joked about a recent gig: “I said “this
next song is about wanting to kill yourself” and a guy shouted out “which one?””
Though their themes are often bleak and coated in
self-loathing, the live show is Frightened Rabbit’s third dimension. Their set
in the Ritz was a rollercoaster of emotion. They are modest, but that doesn’t
mean that they don’t have you in the palms of their hands from the very first
song.
The atmosphere was great, both sing-a-longs and hold your pints
in the air moments were at home in this set. Their opener Holy (from their newest and now well-toured album Pedestrian Verse) sounded crisp and
Scott’s voice was noticeably on form – recently touring and playing with The
National can’t do a guy’s confidence any harm.
They aren’t the type of band to try too hard to work a
crowd, but that’s part of their charm. They get on with their jobs whilst
providing great backing vocals for Scott to work with. His voice isn’t always
note perfect, but in the second song The
Modern Leper it became clear that perfect vocals do not matter at a
Frightened Rabbit concert. Scott’s voice is raw and honest and he uses this to
his advantage – as when he pushes himself, for instance the line “I cut off my
foot to spite my leg”, his voice has an uncanny ability to send a shiver down
your spine.
They mixed it up with dancing song Old Old Fashioned, which was the first chant-based song of the
night. December’s Traditions shows
how tight Frightened Rabbit have become as a band, the song works upon the same
few riffs but layers are added as the song progresses. It strange how an album
track from the new album can be as engaging as an old favourite.
Scott introduced The
Wrestle as “a song about being eaten by a shark”, it really took me by surprise
as it gets somewhat lost within the watery depths of The Winter of Mixed Drinks, but it bares its teeth live, earning
its place in a strong set.
The band became a three piece for Nitrous Gas, Scott’s brother Grant left his drums and took to the
front of the stage to provide backing vocals and guitarist Andy Monaghan
remained to join in with the “ohhs”. Scott was then left alone for the acoustic
portion of the set.
He introduced support act Lanterns on the Lake’s Hazel Wilde
to the stage to perform the first ever live duet of the chilling Fuck This Place. This was a real treat,
with Hazel’s blissful tone matching Scott’s wistful lyrics stride for stride.
With Hazel gone, Scott now called on the crowd to provide
backing vocals for Floating in the
Fourth. These acoustic moments are a great showcase of his brilliant song
writing and it is a pleasure to see the songs in their most stripped back form.
The absence of Poke from the acoustic
section surprised some nearby crowd members but Frightened Rabbit aren’t scared
to chop and change songs from their set. Some would see this as a problem, but
I would like to think that when a song becomes a set rarity it becomes that bit
more special.
It would be hard for them to leave out My Backwards Walk. It is changed noticeably from the album version,
with rhythmic drums powering the song forward. There were loud cheers of appreciation
when the drums briefly let off and Scott belted out “I’m working on my
backwards walk, ‘cause there’s nowhere else for me to go”, before the song’s
cracking alternate-rock outro.
Scott thanked Manchester for sticking by the band since they
had played a support slot in the same venue some years back, and repaid that
debt with Midnight Organ Fight single
Head Rolls Off. One of the most
impressive songs of the night was Acts of
Man, its extended outro got heavy,
which is not usual associated with Frightened Rabbit. But, their set did seem to
constantly be simmering just beneath this explosion of rock energy, and so when
it came, it was well worth the wait.
The last three songs were the strongest of the night.
Beginning with The Woodpile, any of
the three songs would have amply filled the position of the set closer. Scott
introduced Keep Yourself Warm by saying they promised themselves they wouldn’t
play the song this year, but they wouldn’t be back for a while so it seemed necessary.
And I think the whole venue would have agreed! Scott took the microphone from
the stand and fell to his knees roaring “you won’t find love” during the
rousing outro.
The set ended with The
Loneliness and the Scream, a song which strays between reflective and
chaotic, and live this battle takes centre stage, the musical result being quite
breath-taking. The crowd continued the song’s final chant as they filed out
into the night.
Verdict: This gig was a different experience entirely
to any of the previous gigs this year. With a relaxed atmosphere backing it, it
was easy to just sit back, watch, and get lost in the music. And, if you do
have knowledge of Frightened Rabbit, your favourite imagery-loaded lyrics are
guaranteed to send tingles down your spine.
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