If you were fan enough of Frightened Rabbit to inquire about the free acoustic show at Reward Boutique in Old City, however you heard about it, part of you had to be in partial disbelief that a) a band from Scotland would be playing at a tiny boutique in our own back yard, and b) that they would do it for free.
It was with this "Too good to be true" mentality that I stood in the queue outside 55 N. 2nd Street Thursday evening. I had seen Frightened Rabbit back in October at the First Unitarian Church when they opened for The Spinto Band at their Record Release party. When they had concluded that set, the crowd pleaded for an encore which the band had to politely decline. “We’ll be back in January,” they promised. They played Johnny Brenda’s on the 16th, and were back for an intimate acoustic show before moving on to NYC February 2nd.
When the doors opened at 7:00 the crowd shuffled into the quaint little shop, grabbed a PBR from the makeshift bar, and got warm and cozy on the floor amongst the candles and the garment-lined walls. “We have no set list tonight,” singer Scott Hutchison forewarned with beer in hand, “so just call out requests. You’re running the show.”
And so the night began with the self-loathing “The Modern Leper,” albeit a quieter, more crude rendition than is heard on Midnight Organ Fight. Still, with drum sticks replaced with brushes, the song drove at a foot-tapping tempo that held the integrity of the album recording, especially through the vocal harmonies coming from drummer Grant Hutchison, and guitarists Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan.
The beat of the kick drum and the tambourine kept the rhythm for the lively “Old Old Fashioned,” a song that pitches the idea of turning off modern life for a while and having a good time without the TV: “Put the wall clock in the top drawer/Turn off the lights so we can see/We will waltz across the carpet/1-2-3-2-2-3.” The song was suitable for an evening where the fancy lights of the bigger venue and the bigger crowd were forgone for an evening among friends and quality time with Frightened Rabbit.
By request, Scott played a solo cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Song Against Sex.” His voice cracked through many of the notes, but he kept it going without missing a beat or breath. With his eyes closed he plowed through all 376 words, at times straining so much that his face turned red.
For the tender “Poke,” Scott chose to ditch (or “dinghy” as he called it, like the inflatable boat) the microphone and step out into his audience where every delicate word could be heard in the story of two lovers who have grown apart. It is in addressing some of the sad truths that exist in human relationships that Frightened Rabbit succeed most. “And now we're unrelated and rid of all the shit we hated/But I hate when I feel like this and I never hated you,” he sings at the end, like one who has no regrets, but has to accept that a beautiful thing has died.
By the end of the set, all of the favorites were covered: “The Twist,” “Fast Blood,” “Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms,” Backwards Walk,” and “Floating in the Forth,” and none of them suffered too badly from the lack of electric vibrancy that gives a rock show energy. Because they were limited as to how much they could really rock out as a band, the focus was on the lyrics and allowed for more appreciation of the cleverness, wit, and honesty that are packed into each and every Frightened Rabbit song. There were moments when the restraints were felt, but you knew that his words were true when Scott assured “We’ll be rocking out on the inside tonight.”
