Frightened Rabbit - O2 ABC Glasgow (22/12/2009)
Steph Cosway | Thursday, 24 December 2009
Tonight is Frightened Rabbit's biggest Scottish gig to date so it was no surprise to see the band take nervously to the stage. Singer Scott Hutchison shyly walking up to the microphone to tell the crowd: "Hi, we're Frightened Rabbit." as if there is any chance someone in this 1,200 sold-out gig might not know just who Frightened Rabbit are. This was a room of die-hard Frabbit fans. There is, in fact, a young gentleman walking around dressed in a giant rabbit suit - now that's dedication.
Kicking off with 'I Feel Better' the crowd are instantly clapping and cheering this unusually timid band into their homecoming gig. Hutchison sounding like an oddly brilliant and unexpected concoction of Gary Lightbody (Snow Patrol) and Justin Currie (Del Amitri), he is one of few singers gifted enough to capture a crowd's attention without relying on gimmicks or stunts.
Everything about this gig is effortlessly simple. As the band move onto 'Fast Blood' the lights dim down until they are nothing but silhouettes accentuating the eerily hypnotic beauty of their music. 'Fast Blood' is the kind of song where you can close your eyes and feel like the only person in the room. But then Frabbit go and change the mood expertly by moving into 'Old Old Fashioned' which has everyone jigging along with the people beside them.
'The Modern Leper' has the crowd in a state of nothing less than ecstasy, which was the perfect time to introduce a new song: 'Nothing Like You' sees Frightened Rabbit step away from their folky, slightly mellow songs into a much more frenzied heavier affair. It's a sound which suits this band exceptionally, indicating a great new album to come.
Of course, it is when Frightened Rabbit return to songs like 'Twist' and new single 'Swim Until You Can't See Land' that they get the crowd really excited. Being Christmas, too, it was no shock to hear them play 'It's Christmas So We'll Stop'.
And as the set comes to an end with 'Keep Yourself Warm', every single person in the crowd was wholeheartedly singing every word – it really was a perfect end to an epic gig.
Rating: 5/5