Corn Exchange, 16th November 2009
As they shuffle unassumingly onto the stage in front of the cavernous void that is the Corn Exchange, the five members that comprise Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit look decidedly out of place. With shoulders hunched like a man three times his age, frontman Scott Hutchison raises his guitar in the air before delicately and tentatively ringing out the opening grinding chords of ‘The Modern Leper’.
As the song builds up to its soaring, anthemic chorus, Hutchison visibly comes in to his own, raising his head up and spitting out lines so poignant and heart-wrenching in their delivery that they deliciously hang in the air for what seems like an age. And so it begins.
As the support act tonight for 90s indie heroes Gomez, Hutchison and the rest of Frightened Rabbit quickly set about getting the audience on side, assuming the role of a well-loved old pullover – rough around the edges aesthetically, but gloriously comforting and heart-warming all the same. By the time they drop the gorgeous set highlight that is ‘Fast Blood’, halfway through the set, the crowd has padded out substantially and seem well and truly won over. As Hutchison visibly trembles into the microphone the lines ‘Good night / It’s wrong time / Let’s get paralyzed down both sides’, looking around the room, it’s evident that there is more than one mouth agape at the enthralling proceedings on stage. Vital stuff indeed.
Frightened Rabbit press on, throwing into proceedings the first single from their forthcoming third album – the cathartic sing-along ‘Swim until you can’t see land’. Bolstered by their success in front of an audience that isn’t their own yet is by now is entirely receptive, a playful element creeps into the five-piece’s sound during the final few songs. Tossing around and playing with melodies around like aural balls of string, ‘Good arms versus bad arms’ is reworked into a slightly slower rendition than appears on record. Whilst perfectly palatable, tonight’s experimentation unfortunately lacks the drive of its recorded counterpart although is still a solid tour-de-force in songwriting.
The set closer takes the form of the sublime ‘Keep yourself warm’ featuring a claustrophobic organ intro segueing into a howled chorus complete with a hook gargantuan enough to land a sperm whale. As the song reaches its climatic release and with rousing applause, the quintet file triumphantly offstage. Frightened Rabbit were at the top of their game this evening. Spellbinding stuff.
Words by Chris Shipman
Photography by Pornrutai Lohachal
myspace.com/frightenedrabbit
What did you think of the gig?
Fulvio: 7/10 “They were really powerful though I wasn’t too keen on the singer’s voice.”
Nicki: 7/10 “Pretty good actually. The vocals on some songs had a bit of a ‘Yellow Submarine’ vibe.”
Becca: 10/10 “Amazing! They were even better than I expected.”
Alex: 8/10. “They were very good. Their set got better as it went on.”
