Monday, November 3, 2008

Frightened Rabbit Played At Bottom Of The Hill

At 9:20 we got off of a plane from New York, and at 10:30 we were at The Bottom Of The Hill. That's how much we wanted to see Frightened Rabbit. It's not just that they're from Scotland, and so West coast trips might tend to be infrequent. No, it's much more than that: Their latest record The Midnight Organ fight has caught us off guard, and is on the fast track to becoming our favorite record of the year.

Apparently much of San Francisco agrees with us. Word is that the band's Saturday night show was utterly and completely sold out. What's more the band actually ran out of copies of their record to sell. We'd have to guess that in the world of being on the road, there are worse things than kicking so much ass you simply can't hold on to copies of the record you're there to promote.

Last night's show got rolling around eleven, and it was everything we could have asked for and more. The album's harmonies and rhythmic counterpoints were totally recreated live, and Scott Hutchison's vocals were even more passionate in a live setting. What's more, the band are a versatile bunch of instrumentalists who had no problem switching gear throughout the set.

It's difficult to describe the elation we had in seeing these songs played live, but we'll do our best. Most of the material was from The Midnight Organ Fight, and its presence in a live setting simply took the best bits of the record (of which there are many), and amplified them in unison. The record has quite a few highs and lows, and the dynamics live were just as (if not more) versatile. Hutchison sang "The Twist" at the keyboard, and it was gentle and emotive. But when the band closed the (encore-less) show, it was in wave of noisy guitar frenzy. It was, quite frankly, fantastic.

What else can we say? Frightened Rabbit has a rock solid record, and they're backing it up with a killer live show. In all likelihood, if you miss this band right now, then you'll simply be seeing them later, in a much much larger room. And yes, we'll see you there.

Many more pictures at the HAD Archive

2 comments:

Hanan said...

I am so freaking jealous! I was supposed to go but it was my friend's birthday dinner (rescheduled from Saturday, when I was out of town) and I couldn't forsake my friend. hopefully they'll be back soon though. at a smallish venue? damn I hope they come to BOTH again, it's a fantastic venue.

liz said...

could i get a copy of these pictures?
For use just in my home!