The 9:30 club played host to three international acts last Monday that brought wonderful performances and a huge dose of energy.
It may seem like a dreadful thought to stand through two hours of warm-up acts to get to the anticipated act — in this case, Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit. But it was a pleasure to see the performances of the The Phantom Band, also from Scotland, and Plants and Animals, hailing from Quebec. After the former delivered an amazing performance some audience members deemed “trance-like,” the Canadian group brought the same level of enthusiasm to their performance — essentially really solid indie-rock.
But Frightened Rabbit was the reason most people were at the 9:30 club on this blustery fall eve, and the show did not disappoint.
Fronted by Scott Hutchison, Frightened Rabbit began the show with one of their most beloved songs, “The Modern Leper,” setting the tone for what would be an hour-and--a-half of upbeat, yet pained songs, each emotionally wailed by Hutchison.
The audience was quickly transformed from a bunch of 20-somethings in vintage blazers and flannel, into the kind of lot one would imagine exists in a romanticized version of a Scottish pub, feet stomping and hands clapping, singing tunes of past lovers.
Hutchison played all of the favorites from “Midnight Organ Fight” and their newest album, “The Winter of Mixed Drinks,” and the highlights “Backwards Walk,” “Good Arms Versus Bad,” “ Poke” and “Living In Colour.”
The greatest treat of the night, however, was the charming banter between Hutchison and his fans. He joked between songs, took requests, swigged beers and shared stories, creating real personal intimacy to couple with his songs of heartbreak.
The Eagle spoke with Hutchison about the band’s tour and its future.
“The Midnight Organ Fight,” an up-tempo, catchy break-up album full of angst, pain and melodies catalyzed the band’s fame in 2008, receiving rave reviews and getting them booked at larger venues.
“This tour’s been quite nice,” he said. “I think we were just too uptight about shows before.”
The band is now promoting “The Winter of Mixed Drinks,” another wonderfully upbeat and dark album that still rings with Hutchison’s delightfully pained accent. It is, however, a more hopeful album than those previously released.
Hutchison, who writes the music, attributes this to his being in a much better place, as he is now happily in a relationship rather than wallowing in post-break-up limbo.
Although Hutchison has begun working on the next album, the band is mostly looking forward to returning home from tour this Christmas. Some bands live for the live performance, but you can tell that songwriting is what Frightened Rabbit prizes, which makes the moments when the audience gets to join in all the more precious.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
