Touring the country as part of the Groovin’ The Moo line-up, Scottish five-piece Frightened Rabbit graced The Corner’s stage for a second night last Wednesday.
Fellow Scottish indie rockers, Admiral Fallow opened the night, their set displaying Celtic undertones and sweet harmonies between frontman Louis Abbott and Sarah Hayes throughout, but particularly during their song ‘The Paper Trench’.
‘So, you’re the true Frightened Rabbit fans – you got your tickets first!” laughed Abbott, referring to the fact that the night’s sold out show was the original Melbourne date.
Taking to the stage at 9.45pm, Frightened Rabbit eased into their set with ‘Living In Colour’, which saw their thick accents – which harmonise impressively- matched with the percussion that the band are known for.
By the set’s second song, ‘The Modern Leper’, the night was in full swing, and this was the first of many sing-alongs. The majority of the night’s set was comprised of songs from the latest album, Pedestrian Verse and their sophomore The Midnight Organ Fight however, whilst a great deal of songs from their sophomore album were played, the frequently requested ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ was not.
Refusing to cave into the dozens of requests for the track, frontman, Scott Hutchinson stated “Y’know when you look at a photograph of yourself from when you were eighteen and you think you looked shit? Well, that’s how I feel about that song ”.
Nevertheless, the crowd continued to request it, yet were equally as pleased with the band’s choices, obvious from the sing-alongs during ‘Late March, Death March’, ‘The Oil Slick’ and ‘Old, Old, Fashioned.’
Although, it wasn’t until during ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ towards the end of the night that the band utilised their die-hard fans’ voices, with the frontman requesting the audience fill in for the accordion the band were missing.
“They were the best harmonies we’ve ever heard!” Hutchinson told the room, “If I could bring you all back to my hotel room, so you could do that until I fell asleep, I would!”
Beginning as a solo project for Scott Hutchinson in 2003, mid-set saw Hutchinson take the stage alone to play a few songs including ‘Scottish Winds’, which was dedicated to two raucous Scots from the night before. With a significant proportion of the audience being Scottish themselves, the ode to the band’s homeland became one of the night’s highlights.
Another highlight was the last song before the encore, ‘Acts Of Man’, which really shone a light on the individual talents possessed by each musician. The finale began with early Kate Nash-esque keyboards courtesy of Gordon Skene and was built up with great bass from Billy Kennedy and percussion (think Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’) courtesy of both Hutchinson and an anonymous tour member who really did deserve an introduction.
However, whilst it was an impressive ending and it was clear that the audience contained some devout fans that knew the words to each song from both bands, the crowd’s call for an encore was quite lacklustre considering how much energy came from the band during the last song. Regardless, the five sauntered back onto the stage, beginning with the radio favourite, ‘The Woodpile’.
Finishing the night and their time in Melbourne with a nice choice from their third album, ‘The Loneliness’ – like many other songs from the night – was a builder and saw added percussion from both an added cymbal and crowd participation.
The chanting, which filled the room, resulted in this song choice being the perfect way to finish the night. This tour is the band’s fourth visit to Australia and front man, Hutchinson thanked the room, reassuring that they will be back as soon as possible, “Melbourne is one of our favourite cities in the world… and I promise I don’t say that every night!”
