Frightened Rabbit @ Siren

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Allow me to preface this post before I delve into Frightened Rabbit‘s performance at Siren. They were, by far, the act I was most looking forward to, as I have been utterly obsessed with the The Midnight Organ Fight, and to a lesser extent, Sing The Greys. I also was well aware of the fact the guys were from Scotland and wasn’t expecting to see them around for a while. Yet here they were, embarking on their American tour (as aforementioned) right in New York City.

What has attracted me most to Frightened Rabbit’s sound are the intense, gut-wrenching, heart-breaking vocals from Scott Hutchison. While the band is incredibly talented and has a knack for making brilliant pop songs with their staggering crescendos and unique arrangements, before Siren it had been blatantly clear to me that Hutchison’s voice made Frightened Rabbit. Without him, they were another great indie band – with him, they were one of my favorites. So I went into the show expecting this sentiment to be the case. But boy was I wrong.

It should be noted that Hutchison’s vocals are no less stunning in person. But what I didn’t expect was the rest of the band to hold up their end as well as they did, and I apologize for not having given them more credit beforehand. I’ll expand: When Frightened Rabbit took the stage, I told Jon I wanted to hear them play “The Modern Leper”, “Keep Yourself Warm”, and “Backwards Walk” – and for the rest it could be anything – they’re all on the same (high) level playing ground. Me being the expert psychic and all, FR naturally started with Modern Leper, and it was looking to be like one hell of an experience. I was ready for a Hutchison vocal drop-kick to toss me to the ground. But the main stage just wasn’t delivering the vocals the entire day – they were soft, blended in with the sound, and almost became a background noise at times – not only for Frightened Rabbit but also for the other main-stagers. FR struggled through that first song (disappointingly), sounding confused and out-of-touch. But as the set moved on, they became all the more comfortable and adapted to the poor levels of the main stage, churning out the guitar and bass lines as best they could. By the time “The Twist” and “I Feel Better” came around (among others) they were in “the zone”.

The highlight was an awe-inspiring second-to-last song, which I can’t even name for you – because honestly, there was so much going on up there at once, with different sounds coming together into one huge musical orgasm, that I had no idea what I was listening to – I think (with Jon’s help) it was a reworked version of the end of “Square 9” from Sing The Greys, but I’m not going to pretend to know just for the sake of being indie smart – I could be totally wrong.

Oh yeah, and if there was any doubt, FR finished off the set with “Keep Yourself Warm”, as Hutchison’s Scottish red beard dripped of spittle and the echo of perhaps the most memorable lyric off The Midnight Organ Flight,  “It takes more than fucking someone / to keep yourself warm”, reverberated throughout the crowd.

Frightened Rabbit – “Keep Yourself Warm” [MP3]

Frightened Rabbit – “Last Tango in Brooklyn” [MP3]

More photos after the jump.

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[All photos by James B. Hale/Knox Road from Siren Music Festival]

6 comments to Frightened Rabbit @ Siren

  • I am so incredibly jealous. beautiful post.

  • Nice post. I posted a review of the Maxwell’s show from 2 nights before with a decent video of “Keep Yourself Warm” here: http://blackraptor.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/frightened-rabbit-played-to-a-packed-sweaty-maxwells-video/

    Thought you might appreciate it.

  • Lee

    Hanan – Thanks for the kind words, and I hope you get to see them soon.

    Blackraptor – Great review – thanks for directing us to it! Sounds like some similar stuff went down in Hoboken as Coney Island in terms of noticing differences in their live show.

  • Great recap, I had a similar experience with them at Pitchfork Fest the Sunday before this. And yes, the whole band experience you describe was truly an eye opener! Your pictures are gorgeous!!! I’m jealous!

    Come on over to Love Shack Baby to see my recollections of the two Chicago shows they did. They blew me away! xoxo

    Lee Reply:

    thanks Tart, just left you a comment on it ;). wonderful review.

    Lee Reply:

    And thanks about the pics too! Jamie’s an incredible photographer. I can’t take credit for them.