Frightened Rabbit, HelloMorning @ The Curtin,Melbourne (28/01/10)

Mon 1st Feb, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Timetabling your movements at Laneway, or indeed any festival, can provoke at once a strange mixture of joyous anticipation and complete frustration. On the one hand, you have the perfect line-up, but on the other, you can’t possibly see everything. There are choices to be made – some sets to be attended, and some to be ignored – and its not always clear which is which. Frightened Rabbit staked their claim however, previewing their Laneway appearance two days before the event at the John Curtin Hotel.

The Hello Morning were first up, reminding me of a very early incarnation of End Of Fashion. It was as interesting and as adventurous as your standard pop-rock group, which didn’t bode well. I found it to be a little on the safe side – textbook verse into textbook chorus, repeat as necessary. You do your best to foresee a time where your mind literally explodes in a messy display of awe and excitement, but with the passing of each song, the imagination falters and any such hope fades bit by bit.

An apt parallel, perhaps, as The Hello Morning lack any great creativity or much that diversifies them from the pack. They’re very much identifiable and in league with the average Australian mainstream band, which unfortunately is a fine line to tread: when done even remotely well, you’re set, but anything less and you’re lumped in with the rest. Its just didn’t do anything for me. Their recordings sound a hell of a lot more promising, but this only confuses the matter – because, as live act, they’re a toe-tapping, inoffensive outfit that’s much less Hello Morning than Goodbye Evening.

Slated as a great departure from the supports, Frightened Rabbit took to the stage, opening with The Modern Leper from their 2008 LP The Midnight Organ Fight. It was a building, barn-storming, anthemic beginning to the set, a pacey kick drum complimented perfectly by the fierce roars and jangles of the band’s guitars. They’re the staple instrument of the band, accompanied by Scott Hutchison’s distinct voice, rich with sentiment. The other members combined for harmonies as Fast Blood and The Twist followed, drawing warm reactions from the Curtin. Requests were made for It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop, though each were humorously denied by way of Hutchison’s relentless logic: “Its not Christmas!”

A new song, Nothing Like You, made the set and will feature their imminent release The Winter Of Mixed Drinks. It was an encouraging sign of things to come just before the band played the stubborn yet heartbreaking My Backwards Walk, a definite highlight of the evening. Overall, I wouldn’t rate it as a profoundly varied performance – the band rarely straying from a formula – but it is a winning formula they have developed and honed into a powerful, energetic, appealing show. The five Scots were clearly happy to be there, and the Curtin crowd were happy to have them. An encore later – providing much of the same still in Keep Yourself Warm – and they called it a night.

Back and forth between rock and folk, their live show is notably different to what you’d find on their records, almost as if its lacking something, as if the band were bigger and better in your earphones. The more faithful and meticulous fans might find this disappointing, but nothing should be taken away from these guys. Frightened Rabbit put on what I like to call a cohesive, adhesive performance: it was tight, polished and will stick with me for a while yet. I’d take the time to see these guys again, especially amidst reports they were brilliant at Laneway. Top stuff.

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