The support slot is the age-old dilemma for musicians everywhere. Usually, it’s being dealt a dog-earred sound that’s rustled up mere minutes before the doors open by a world-weary sound-tech who spends his weekends on bass with the local Quo tribute band, only to then be greeted by an army of unappreciative fans who really rather wish you’d knock it on the head pronto so they can see what they’ve paid for. It’s something Hutchison & Co seem to know all to well, eagerly and sincerely greeting each patter of applause with a very-Scottish “Cheers…thanks for having us”. But as support slots go, this is far from a disaster. The hall seems to be filled with thirty-something’s reliving their glory days at the SUSU and, such is the of obvious influence of Gomez on FR, they actually appear to have gained a few followers by closer “Keep Yourself Warm”.
The thing that’s obvious from the off is that Frightened Rabbit are a band on the ascent. The recent addition of guitarist Gordon Skene, formerly of Make Model, is the move of an act with their eyes firmly set on the future. And although they give us only a few samples from upcoming third LP “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” tonight, it’s evidently a step forward by a band that has by their own admission “broadened their horizons sonically”. Hell, newie “Nothing Like You” could even be the most urgent and immediate thing they’ve ever penned. A straight-out rocker if you will, that stomps along mesmerizingly to a franticly flickering light display and a wailing Hutchison. A song so heavily layered it wouldn’t sound out of place in (dare I say it!?) a stadium.
On paper this could be disastrous for the loyal support that’s followed Hutchison like a Selkirkian pied piper since his first solo shows in 2003, but the vulnerability and emotion at the core of FR is still very apparent. The set consists mostly of material from 2007’s magnificent The Midnight Organ Fight and all it’s heart wrenching lyrical content is delivered as sincerely as you’d imagine. As a five-piece the music itself packs a much bigger punch than it does on record and is all the better for it. “My Backwards Walk” is the set highlight and when Hutchison passionately delivers lines such as “I’m working on erasing you/but I just don’t have the proper tools” like a wounded fox trapped in the headlights, it’s hard for even the coldest, most discerning audience member to not feel even slightly moved. The aforementioned “Keep Yourself Warm” is delicate and huge in equal amounts, much due to the precise drumming of Grant Hutchison and his strange but fascinating array of “concentration” faces. With one final guitar blast and a quick smile, they’re promptly off to the dressing room, only to reappear moments later to man their own merch stall. How modest is that?
WHAT TO DO NOW?