Leave the rest at arms length - Frightened Rabbit @ The Glee Club, Birmingham 30/03/2009

Frightened Rabbit are, it has to be said, one of the few bands around right now that give me the shivers. The Rabbits are very good at crafting songs that hit you right in the solar plexus, a little too close to home for those of us of the emotional disposition. Their recent album, 'The Midnight Organ Fight', has met mixed reviews on this side of the ocean (it should be noted, that this is their side of said ocean) with many music publications claiming that the record lulls into dull patches that don't grab you the way the rest of the record does. I think I am one of the few that actually believes the entire album is worth listening to - over and over again. It's the lyrics that will get you, not necessarily the tunes.

I had been looking forward to a night out with the Scared ones. I had heard that the live shows were something to behold, whether you enjoyed the album or not. It was something about Scott Hutchinson's voice that would make you fall in love when it came to the live show and he was about to take to the stage and stun the Glee club crowd.

Before this could happen, though, the audience was treated to a performance from the support act, Ross Clark & The Scarves Go Missing. Ross is a solo artist who has roped in a band to help him beef up his tracks while on this tour. A 20-something from Glasgow with incredible wit and character, his songs were just as brilliant. The songs were layered, affecting and fun. I went and bought all of the CDs available, with the stripped down versions. Clark's voice something of the strained, emotional type with shouting and dancing. He was clearly enjoying his time on stage and so were the audience who all had their feet tapping and heads nodding by the end of the set. It warmed us up nicely for the Rabbits.

A short break meant that the crowd that was gathered could locate the nearest bar and then get ready to be assulted by the FR guys. Everyone got back to their seats and Frightened Rabbit took to the stage, guitars and synth at the ready. Opening with a staggering beautiful verison of 'My Backwards Walk', stripped down for the "acoustic" evening, kept the audience glued to the stage. I don't think anyone managed to look away as Scott sang with more emotion in his little finger than any band I've seen for a while. He meant every single word.

After this spellbinding opener, Frightened Rabbit played almost all of the latest album, bar about 3 tracks. Each track getting its own acoustic make-over where needed and others getting the crowd clapping, smiling and tapping those feet. The perfect example of the latter was 'Old Old Fashioned' which saw the seated crowd enjoying the Rabbits' more upbeat song, along with 'The Modern Leper', 'I Feel Better' and 'Head Rolls Off', which all saw the crowd participating from their chairs.

The moments of the evening that were the most cause for 'celebration' in this little review have to be the performances of 'Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms', which was so beautiful that I could feel the tears stinging the back of my eyes and the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as the band played a simply perfect version of the album favourite. The other incredibly moment that I have to mention is the song that opened the encore, 'Poke'. Scott took to the stage, just him and his acoustic guitar, walked away from the mike and unplugged himself completely. He then went about singing one of the most affecting songs from the album, one which uses the c-word to great effect. The crowd sat in stunned silence as he sang the last bars; none of them had seen anything like this before.

Another, comepletely different, highlight was the yell of "SET YOU FREE!" from the back of the room. Frightened Rabbit, four guys and their instruments, set about covering the N-Trance song with great aplomb, they made it their own and they got the crowd smiling along. "Everyone's been felt up to Set You Free..." - Scott Hutchinson.

Frightened Rabbit ended the set with one of my favourite songs from the latest album, 'Keep Yourself Warm'. A song that does emotional like no other track on the record. A song about one night stands not fulfilling the need to be with another human being. "It takes more than fucking someone you don't know, to keep warm..." The build of the song gets me every single time and when Scott wails "Can you see in the dark, can you see the look on your face?" for the final hit, I get goosebumps all over. That night was no exception and the Rabbits kept true to the record where possible, even if it meant a few wobbly notes here and there.

Overally, the show was deep, thoughtful, witty and had emotion in buckets. Much like the Rabbits themselves who came across as a very different kind of "rockstar". These guys clearly didn't do this for the limelight, this was just for the music. I think I enjoyed that fact as much as the set itself which oozed beauty at every single turn.

There's no need to be Frightened anymore, Rabbits.

Frightened Rabbit performing 'Poke' at the Glee Club: