Everyone who knows me knows that the only reason I bought tickets to the Pitchfork Music Festival was because Frightened Rabbit was playing. Well, honestly, I saw amazing bands that I am so very glad to have had the chance to see, but really, they were all just the gravy on the Frightened Rabbit pile of mashed potatoes, if ya know what I mean. And as Sunday neared I began to quietly count down the hours until they would take the stage, praying for the sound to be good, for the show to be long, for no disappointments. You know when you really want something to turn out sometimes it doesn’t. So yeah, I was a bit worried. First thing when they came out to play, Scott strummed the opening chord and no sound came out. I could feel his heart sink. He walked to the keyboard, no note rang when finger hit key. It was as if a master plug had been pulled somewhere. It was as if god was fucking with them. The sound check went well, mics were adjusted, the vocal mic especially was increased over and over again to his satisfaction.The entire band left the stage. I bit my lip…. held my breath. Within a minute they strode back up to their instruments, confidently… and yes, we had music! Oh my god, yes!  I could have cried right there if I wasn’t so conscious of the giant screens and cameras that intermittently scanned the crowd.

Frightened Rabbit won over everyone who saw them who wasn’t already a fan. Every review I’ve read has raved about the show saying that this was “one of my favorite musical moments from Sunday” (Chicago NPR radio), “quite possibly my favorite performance of the weekend… Every song was a winner and I literally had chills sitting there listening to them” (Aquarium Drunkard); they “evoke the clattering sound of aluminum cans being dragged down a highway” and are a band “ready for a bigger platform.” (Chicago Tribune)  Well, with each day selling out at the maximum 18,300 (and I’m guessing at least half that watching them at that moment, with it being the first show of the day, and some folks over at the other stage) that still is a mighty big stage! The cans dragged down the highway comment was a compliment, honest. It’s a Chicago thing, I swear it!

Here’s a fan video of “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms” … the sound quality isn’t great, but it shows you a little of what it was like to see them live in front of so many They did 8 songs, ending with a rousing, fuck-me-don’t-spare-the-horses version of “The Greys/Square 9.” And the crowd roared. Usually people say that and they are exaggerating, using hyperbole. Oh, not this time, my darlings. That crowd roared. I stood five or so rows from the stage and I could feel the heat of their collective breath on my back as they exhaled. It was an amazing feeling.

Yes, there were bits I wish had gone better, of course. The entire festival was plagued with sound problems. Every single show I saw had random mic feedback and sound balance issues. The big stages were particularly difficult to balance it seemed. Yo La Tengo started out, on Friday night, very muted and quiet, finally getting up to a decent volume just as they were finishing. Other acts had the problem that Frightened Rabbit did, the guitar and bass often overpowered the vocals. And it wasn’t that the singing wasn’t strong, it was simply a matter of balancing the volume of the mics and speakers. It was apparent that onstage the performers could hear themselves just fine, but we in the audience could not hear it the way they could. I wondered if this was because the main sound engineers were themselves very close to the stage and maybe not in sync with those positioned halfway out the field. I’m hopeless in understanding all this. I only know that it was far from successful and that every band really did make the best of it. (Well, save Wavves… their sound was so pathetically bad and I gave them my usual three song benefit of the doubt treatment before bailing on them. Honestly, who the fuck puts so much vocal distortion on every song so that in-between song stage banter is completely undecipherable? I hate bashing new bands, but that just really sucks.)

My only other complaint about Pitchfork fest and Frightened Rabbit is purely petty and personal. But they didn’t play my favorite song. How’s that for music criticism at it’s finest?!? So I left the field that afternoon a very happy Tart, confident that they would play ”Poke” (Daytrotter session) at their afterparty at the Bottom Lounge that evening.

Set list from Pitchfork Fest:
Modern Leper
Fast Blood
Old Old Fashioned
I Feel Better
Good Arms vs Bad Arms
Twist
Head Rolls Off
Keep Yourself Warm
The Greys/Square 9

I heard a few more bands that day. It’s fast becoming a blur, day three of a festival after you’ve reached your Holy Grail is really just a slide downhill from that point onward. And because there were so many people, albeit very nice and kind people, we ended up standing up for hours and hours to get a spot and keep a spot in good hearing distance of a band. That evening we took our aching selves to get one more dose of the Rabbits and it was even more delightful and glorious to see them up close and enclosed and a teensy bit jovial with whiskey and wine.

The Bottom Lounge was packed to overflowing and we were very much crushed in the front rows of the club. Sweaty, exhausted, and for a while, behind the tallest man in the universe (why do they stand in the front rows?) we danced ourselves silly and sang ourselves hoarse to every song. This was, by far, the best Frightened Rabbit show in the history of the band, I’m quite sure of it Just enough whiskey was had to make Scott forget a line or two, and adorably button his shirt during a song, muttering apologies into the mic. His voice was strong, hitting the high notes with grace and clarity. Throwing his head back, he just completely infused life into these songs that they’ve been performing for over a year now. I truly don’t know how he does it. It was as if he had just written them last week and also as if he had been carrying them around with him for the past 10 years, all at the same time. Grant was tireless on his kit, beating out the time with varying levels of insanity to match the moment. At Pitchfork, earlier in the day, I noticed how he fueled the band — how Scott turned to him a few times for energy (?), grounding (?), and of course we all saw how Grant drove them home in the end with that amazing finish. You can not talk about Frightened Rabbit without understanding how a drummer like Grant is the engine of this thing.

Billy Kennedy’s guitar work is simply wonderful, but his backup vocals are often overlooked, which is a shame. Being able to see them play twice in one day, I was able to scan through them all, noting who was doing what and when instead of just gazing adoringly at the lead as I’m wont to do, the silly groupie that I am. Never underestimate the side players. Andy Monaghan lends much energy and charm to the whole thing. He turns his back to us to jam, he gazes into our faces in concentration. Even when his guitar went mute for whole bits of a number of songs at the evening gig, he kept on keeping on, eventually coming to some sort of working state. One begins to wonder if there is ever a gig that goes off without a glitch! This well traveled band takes it all in stride and most people knew nothing about it.

Bottom Lounge Set list:
I Feel Better
Fast Blood
Good Arms vs Bad Arms
Modern Leper
Yawns
Twist
Old Old Fashioned
Poke
Head Rolls Off
Backwards Walk
Music Now
Floating In the Forth
Square 9 (Daytrotter session)
———
Swim (new acoustic song, just Scott)
Keep Yourself Warm

So, what can I say about Frightened Rabbit that will make you love them? Here’s the thing. The songs are honest. No pretense, no wordplay to make the “kids” like it, there’s not a shred of pretending to be something they’re not, on any of this. And that’s exactly what you get on stage too. There’s no goofy costumes, no fancy shoes, nothing that says “I’m important and you should listen to me!” And I really love that about musicians in general. I really love that someone can just be themselves and make music that speaks to people. And hey, if you’re fashionable and like to wear fancy shoes and wear costumes and play dress-up, well more power to you, be yourself then! But it’s not who most people are, ya know?!? Even I get in the mood for that type of thing here and there, but it’s this “regular” kinda of guy that turns my head most often.

And the thing that struck this point home for me was when I waited in line after the show to meet Scott. I’m horribly shy. I mean, it’s a sickness, how shy I really am in real life. I’m so shy that when I did meet him, the whole band had come out by then, and that threw me completely and I didn’t even remember to shake his hand. And I don’t know how they do it… stand there and meet people and sign things and (gasp) hug people! But as I watched, it seemed that every new person he greeted, it was like he thought to himself, “oh, Hi, you want to meet me too, cool?!?” Not that he was a dope or anything, but he just didn’t take it for granted that people would be waiting there for him, if you know what I mean. Everything I’ve heard about this band, that they’re just regular guys… well it rang true. And for whatever success comes their way, I’m pretty sure they’ll continue being just that.

They’re working on a new album, we’re waiting eagerly for it. In the meantime you can catch them on tour. Please do go see them live. It’s a real treat. And of course go buy Midnight Organ Fight, it was my #8 on my top 15 records of 2008! These regular guys rocked the fuck outta Pitchfork and the Bottom Lounge, here in Chicago. And they did it with heart-wrenching honesty. Now how many times can you say that about a band? xoxo

Tour Details
Jul 21 2009 8:00P
Magic Stick Detroit, Michigan
Jul 22 2009 8:00P
Horseshoe Tavern – SOLD OUT Toronto
Jul 23 2009 8:00P
Petit Campus Montreal
Jul 24 2009 8:00P
Jerky’s Providence, Rhode Island
Jul 25 2009 8:00P
Iron Horse Music Hall Northampton, Massachusetts
Aug 8 2009 8:00P
Off Festival Myslowice
Aug 18 2009 8:00P
Queens Hall Edinburgh
Aug 29 2009 4:00P
Rock at the Racecourse Kelso!
Sep 12 2009 8:00P
Monolith Festival Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado