Frightened Rabbit w/ Little Kicks
It would be appropriate to describe tonight’s show as “the hottest ticket in town” had any physical tickets actually been released. Having only announced this brief stint of tiny Scottish shows the previous weekend, and requiring anyone looking to attend to simply pay at the door, it’s proven a crafty way to generate a real buzz about the show, and you need look no further than the massive queue assembled outside the venue hours before doors for evidence of that. Currently finishing up the follow-up to third album The Winter of Mixed Drinks, Frightened Rabbit have been pretty much absent from UK radar screens since their triumphant sold-out gigs at Glasgow Barrowland in December 2010, and it’s no surprise that the chance to see them in such comparatively humble surroundings this time around has proven cause for such excitement.
First, though, tasked with warming up the crowd are local heroes The Little Kicks who do nothing to harm their ever-improving live reputation with yet another star turn. With a set drawing heavily from their self-titled second album, there’s no trace of filler here, with the likes of ‘Anti-Work Song’ and ‘Before Today’ providing their most accessible moments. However, the real promise lies in their more adventurous material, such as the atmospheric, synth-drenched ‘Loosen Up’ and the excellent ‘First Place’, backed tonight by a two-man brass section. Dipping into debut album Boxing Clever for a closing brace of ‘Don’t Give Up So Easily’ and ‘Chances We’ve Had’, this is a sure-footed performance that seems almost unnervingly effortless. With more live dates on the horizon, 2012 looks set to be a banner year for Aberdeen’s premiere live act. (9)
It’s been a couple of years now since Frightened Rabbit played a full band show in Aberdeen, so it’s little wonder that a band who inspire such devotion from their fanbase are greeted like old friends when they take to the stage tonight. Taking the opportunity to road-test new material, it’s a setlist which draws equally from their forthcoming fourth album and their back catalogue, and with the new songs seeming to blend the best qualities of …Mixed Drinks and outstanding sophomore effort The Midnight Organ Fight, there’s little chance of many of the assembled masses complaining about that.
The high-points, though, come in the form of the classics. An always-thrilling ‘Modern Leper’ hits the spot as usual, and the straight-shooting, infectious ‘Nothing Like You’ proves the most warmly-received track from …Mixed Drinks tonight, with the obvious exception of ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ which is the closest thing the band have to a ‘hit’ in the traditional sense.
Their finest hour comes towards the end, though. On record, ‘My Backwards Walk’ is a mournful, barren hymn to lost love and that debilitating way the aftermath can outstay its welcome. Live, it morphs into a different beast entirely, reimagined, re-energised and building to an explosive crescendo. A simple but unfathomably effective move, it’s a prime example of how music that might – however good the song – sound bleak on record can be stunningly euphoric and unifying in the live arena. If it’s soundtracked everyone’s dark moments, then everyone gets it, and that can be a powerful thing. Frightened Rabbit’s finest output has always lent itself beautifully to these moments, and a closing ‘Keep Yourself Warm’ works similar magic. What we’ve seen tonight is a band continuing to age into a Scottish institution in the same way that Idlewild did. There’s something about this that feels universal and comforting, and that alone is rare enough. (9)
