Review of Frightened Rabbit live in Edinburgh, 18th August 2009
By Milo | August 19, 2009
Guest post by Stuart Lewis
It’s ironic that in the year we’re meant to be celebrate the anniversary of Burns’ birth that there was a real sense of homecoming about Frightened Rabbit’s appearance at Edinburgh’s Queens Hall. Certainly as Scott Hutchison looked out at the crowd who are singing every word of first encore Poke – a song which he himself had stopping singing and playing at least thirty seconds previously, you couldn’t help but feel that this was their moment; the culmination of months touring ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ to a growing fanbase, on the back of some serious critical acclaim. It’s a beautiful moment and the disbelieving grin on the singer’s face says it all.
It didn’t start quite so well – opening duo The Modern Leper and Fast Blood seemed rather muted, almost as if the size of the venue might get the better of the band and their sound. Thankfully, a storming Old Old Fashioned saw the band really hit their stride. Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan, starting to make use of the space available to them, prowled the stage while Scott belted out salty lyrics, surely far too rude for the average age of this mystifyingly young crowd.
Earlier on, Meursault, one of the few bands who can get away with using both a laptop and mandolin on stage, had delivered a well received short set, which suggests they could be destined for bigger things. The same could be said about opening act The Moth and the Mirror, who gave us a brisk half of hour of driving folk, reminiscent of My Latest Novel.
But tonight was all about Frightened Rabbit. With both crowd and band now fully warmed up, the Queens Hall was shaken to its foundations by a set culled mostly from Midnight Organ Fight, but with a few newies thrown in. Scott’s mumbled announcement that new material will be out in November was naturally met with a huge roar, although none of the three songs played were a massive departure in style. You have to feel, however, that the band are on something of a roll and if the next album is as good as how these songs sounded live, they could be ready to step up to the next level.
The magical Poke moment is just the start of an encore that rounds off a spectacular night. After I Feel Better seems to have brought the night to a close, they return to the stage a second time for a bruising Keep Yourself Warm with the crowd still singing along. By the end it looks as if drummer Grant is ready to collapse in a heap, but he has enough energy to stagger off after his bandmates to enjoy a backstage libation. After this performance it was the very least they deserved.
2 Comments
last year's girl on 19/08/2009 at 9:40 pm.
That rabbit doesn’t look frightened at all. Try harder, Lewis
Great review, wish I could have got along! Damn my skintness, finally making it to Edinburgh this weekend though for Amanda Palmer and the Indelicates.
Evil_Stu on 20/08/2009 at 8:33 am.
Oh come now, he looks a little worried, at least!