Last Night: Frightened Rabbit at the Fillmore

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Frightened Rabbit
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Fillmore

Better Than: Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, and Lil Wayne.

In a recent blog entry, Scott Hutchinson of Frightened Rabbit lamented his own "certain brand of self-deprecation," and joked that becoming a professional rapper would allow him to express self‐confidence on stage "without coming across as a right cunt." Now, if last night's show at the Fillmore was any kind of indication, Hutchinson doesn't need any such career shift. His lyrics may be humble, heartfelt, and serious, but his stage presence is far from subdued. (In short, Scott, I think you could rock the heavy gold necklace and fur coat, should you so desire.)

Throughout Frightened Rabbit's 75‐minute set, Hutchinson stomped around the stage, railing on his guitar like it was an extension of his body. When he wasn't crooning into the mic, he turned to his brother, Grant, on drums and hammed it up like a kid playing air guitar.

"I never really thought I'd get to play the Fillmore, but here I am," Hutchinson announced after the first song ended in a crashing crescendo. Every song was an emotional journey, starting off meandering and reflective, only to build and explode into a shiver and shake finish featuring a ruckus of guitars, drums and harmonies.

The audience, which was the strangest mix of young and old I've seen in a long time, was nothing short of into it.

​"This is exactly what I thought it would be!" A kid with braces announced after the first song, "Skip the Youth." Turns out he was with a high school jazz band from British Columbia - they were on tour, and their teacher had brought them to the show (no they weren't getting extra credit, they didn't think). Later, one of the kids would attempt to crowd surf in the middle of "Swim Until You Can't See Land" and fall on his face in front of me, only to get up on someone's shoulders, rip off his shirt, and whirl it around over his head.