@ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 14/08/08
Taking the stage, John B McKenna is visibly nervous. While he admits that he isn’t used to playing to such a “big room”, he needn’t worry too much. McKenna’s subtle vocals pull you in and it quickly becomes clear he is a songwriter with a maturity which belies his youthful appearance. He has a way with words too; ‘Tequila, Sugar, Tomato’ features the arresting opening couplet “The cat’s let out of the bag/walking past the robot farm”. The main let-down of the set is that he has to compete with the chatter of the crowd. While this is often the fate of the warm-up act, the punters would do well to pay more attention to McKenna’s performance. If they did they might realise they’re in the presence of an intriguing and highly promising talent.
There probably isn’t such a thing as a bad Frightened Rabbit gig, but if there is this certainly isn’t one of them. What’s so refreshing about the band is their complete lack of pretension and the downright enthusiasm with which they perform. To put it simply, they’re a fun band; they enjoy playing their music, and want you to enjoy it too. That doesn’t mean they don’t take their songwriting seriously, however. Feelings of despondency, self-loathing and heartbreak feature heavily in Scott’s lyrics but they’re exorcised in upbeat, energising songs with humour and panache.
The band’s time slot may be short but they make the most of it. Songs from their new album ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ are given an impressive airing, with ‘Square Nine’ being the only nod to older material. The high-energy bluster of ‘I Feel Better’ and ‘Fast Blood’ set the pace, but the highlight of the set is a solo acoustic performance of ‘Poke’ by Scott. Standing on the edge of the stage, with an unplugged guitar and no microphone, he brings a hush over the crowd. It would be hard to pull off this trick in a venue much bigger than the Liquid Rooms, but tonight it works perfectly. The audience listen so intently that you could almost hear a pin drop.
‘Keep Yourself Warm’ brings the set to a satisfying conclusion. ‘It takes more than fucking someone you don’t know to keep yourself warm’ offers Scott in the chorus, as the Liquid Room punters sing along with gusto. Frightened Rabbit may not be the most technically gifted musicians, or particularly cool, but I challenge anyone to find a band which plays with more heart.
While they may be label-mates and good friends, there’s still something slightly incongruous about Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad playing on the same bill. While one offers a feel-good sing-a-long, the other will take you on an intense, ear-blistering ride through the dark recesses of your soul. Okay, maybe that sounds a bit over-dramatic, but as The Twilight Sad take the stage to a loop of an expletive –laden answer phone message, there’s no doubt the mood darkens considerably.
You won’t get much friendly banter or jolly japes from these lads. Oh no. What you will get is the kind of brooding, menacing energy that few bands have the power to conjure-up. James Graham’s vocals have a raw, cathartic quality which cuts right through you. When he delivers haunting lines like ‘does your fear not grow/ when you see that you’re all mine /with a knife in your chest’ they linger long after they’re uttered.
The multi-layered, subtle textures of the band’s recorded output are given a more direct, stripped-down treatment in the live arena. Andy MacFarlane’s tense guitar lines are punctuated by ungodly volleys of distortion, imbuing songs like ‘Mapped By What Surrounded Them’ with a starkness and ferocity which is absent from their studio versions
The band are going to be supporting Mogwai on their forthcoming European dates, in what could be one of the most tinnitus-friendly pairings in music ever. Make no mistake, the Twilight Sad enjoy bringing the noise; listening to them live is a brutalising, frightening, and transcendent experience. I suggest you try it.
You can also check out this review on the website 'Real Buzz'
http://www.realbuzz.com/en-gb/The_Twilight_Sad_and_Frightened_Rabbit%2C_The_Liquid_Rooms%2C_Edinburgh/index?pageID=18772
1 comment:
great review! Love your descriptions of "brutalising, frightening, and transcendent experience".
I basically just did a search on google, cause i've been hearing that was the most brutal show the twilight sad has done... still can't find any videos :(
i can assure you that im more than willing to go deaf for a couple of days for these guys. as soon as they get back to the US, I'll hop on it! If I had moved a year earlier I may have been a pro watching them live, but reality is far from it... guess they'll be back early next year when they are ready to release their next album.
frightened rabbit and the twilight sad are like the two sides of the coin in my opinion. love them both though. but being in the same bill, its something they may not be able to keep doing for too long.
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